“Christian School Downgraded,” The Telegraph, London, Nov. 21, 2014: “A successful Christian school has been warned it is to be downgraded by inspectors and could even face closure after failing to invite a leader from another religion, such as an imam, to lead assemblies, it is claimed. The small independent school in the Home Counties was told it is in breach of new rules intended to promote ‘British values’ such as individual liberty and tolerance in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, involving infiltration by hard-line Muslim groups in Birmingham. Details of the case are disclosed in a letter to the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, from the Christian Institute, which is providing legal support to the school. The group warned that the new rules intended to combat extremism are already having ‘disturbing consequences’ for religious schools and forcing Ofsted inspectors to act in a way which undermines their ethos. It follows complaints from orthodox Jewish schools about recent inspections in which girls from strict traditional backgrounds were allegedly asked whether they were being taught enough about lesbianism, whether they had boyfriends and if they knew where babies came from. In the latest case inspectors are understood to have warned the head that the school, which was previously rated as ‘good’ that it would be downgraded to ‘adequate’ for failing to meet standards requiring it to ‘actively promote’ harmony between different faiths because it had failed to bring in representatives from other religions. They warned that unless the school could demonstrate how it was going to meet the new requirements there would be a further full inspection which could ultimately lead to it being closed.” Photo: Alamy “Christian School Downgraded,” The Telegraph, London, Nov. 21, 2014 Comments are closed.
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