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Original poster

Batley Grammar School

207 replies

Brahumbug · 26/03/2021 06:29

I am outraged that a howling mob of thugs has been allowed to gather at Batley Grammar School to threaten a teacher and demand his sacking. The headmaster has issued a groveling, spineless apology. The threats have been condemned by such as the National Secular Society. The cause if this nonsense? During a lesson on blasphemy, its self the ultimate victimless crime, the teacher showed cartoons of Muhammad. Free soeech is once agsin under attack by religious groups claiming special privileges for their beliefs, absolutely disgusting.

OP posts:
Bonnie90x · 26/03/2021 06:54

Completely agree!!! Was livid watching it on the news last night...

pluckafeather · 26/03/2021 07:05

I agree. Are the parents getting fined? The covid laws were applied to many in the London vigil but some of these parents were in crowds without masks on. Haven't heard of any arrests.

Sittinonthesand · 26/03/2021 07:06

Agree - why on earth did the headmaster apologise. Coward.

radiateforme · 26/03/2021 09:27

I remember watching Life of Brian in school about 20 years ago. Our science teacher put it on in the last week of school before summer holidays. Nobody batted an eyelid.

Quadrangle · 26/03/2021 10:16

Given that a teacher in France was beheaded for doing the same does he need police protection? It only takes one extremist..

Quadrangle · 26/03/2021 10:18

Oh I see he has been given police protection and the school has had to close

Originalyellowbelly · 26/03/2021 10:21

Police should be moving these people on, meeting like this are not allowed in a pandemic. The headteacher should not have apologised for a teacher doing his job. Most of all, anyone making death threats should be jailed.

SprungisSpringYaY · 26/03/2021 10:47

It is such a worrying situation, especially for here in the UK and I really hope everyone involved is safe.

I really feel all religions need to move with the times, we are in an open internet age.

Newname12 · 26/03/2021 10:59

I agree. Are the parents getting fined?

Parents? As far as I could see the crowd was exclusively male.

Due to the local demographic Batley Grammar is predominantly muslim. The school is theoretically non-denominational, but the community it’s made up of isn’t.

Personally I think religion should be open to challenge. I went to a catholic school and we regularly had very open discussions with teachers and priests, everything from pre marital sex and contraception to Life of Brian.

SprungisSpringYaY · 26/03/2021 11:05

Everything should be open to challenge, nothing should be sacred, its very worrying when discussion is closed down , look at catholic church and priests hiding behind this sacred cloak .

TooOldandTired · 26/03/2021 11:13

It's awful, where is the local mp and teaching unions on this. The headteacher is a disgrace for suspending the teacher and should be fired.

middleager · 26/03/2021 11:28

I agree OP.

TheQueef · 26/03/2021 11:30

@TooOldandTired

It's awful, where is the local mp and teaching unions on this. The headteacher is a disgrace for suspending the teacher and should be fired.
I wondered the same. No one will touch this.
BarbaraofSeville · 26/03/2021 11:34

It's awful, where is the local mp and teaching unions on this. The headteacher is a disgrace for suspending the teacher and should be fired

This is the same constituency where the last MP was murdered in the middle of the street after speaking out against issues that most of the local population were probably supportive of.

I can't see her putting her head above the parapet on this matter.

SprungisSpringYaY · 26/03/2021 11:35

what can be done re education and assimilation with British values, its hard to believe such parents have grown up in our liberal education system.

bellropes · 26/03/2021 11:37

I think the protestors need to get a grip.

An apology and being sent on a training course would have sufficed.

CuthbertDibbleandGrubb · 26/03/2021 11:40

Much as I think the point and challenge could have been made without cartoons and a mention of why this offends Muslims, the protests in a time of a pandemic I disagree with.

Anordinarymum · 26/03/2021 11:41

It was made to look worse by the spin the local news put on the story last night, and the footage of those thugs outside the school would be enough to put any prospective parent off sending their child here IMHO

TooOldandTired · 26/03/2021 11:46

@bellropes

I think the protestors need to get a grip.

An apology and being sent on a training course would have sufficed.

The school shouldn't be giving into bullies which is what they have done. The teacher doesn't need to be sent on a course. There is no blasphemy laws in the UK for a reason. People seem to forget it's only a few months since a French teacher was murdered because of this and the school think issuing an apology is appropriate. It is absolutely disgraceful.
lunar1 · 26/03/2021 11:50

The protesters need to be moved on, just like is happening to other protesters right now. I can't believe this is happening at a school.

If I was a parent I'd be extremely worried about sending my children back there. I wouldn't fancy it much as a teacher either, not after what happened in Paris.

Thesearmsofmine · 26/03/2021 11:54

This is very local to me and I know people with dc who attend the school. Jo Cox was the MP for Batley and Spen before she was murdered and now it is Tracey Brabin.

I feel the school shouldn’t have given in to intimidation, they should be standing up for their teacher who by all accounts is a very good teacher. Religion should be open to challenge in 2021, if there is an issue then it should be dealt with through the proper channels instead a large crowd of males standing outside a school with pupils as young as 4.

TheQueef · 26/03/2021 11:59

Are the protesters being dispersed?
From the beeb report it looks like it's just being stewarded.

Hoppinggreen · 26/03/2021 11:59

While I can understand why patents may have found this offensive and the RE teacher was being a bit unwise to do this the reaction has been absolutely ridiculous and The Head is completely spineless
We had something similar happen at the dcs Primary school and a group of Muslim parents tried to get a petition going to get someone sacked - one friend of mine was told not to show her face at The Mosque if she didn’t sign but the Chair of Governors shut the whole thing down straight away (he was Muslim himself)
RE is about studying religion of different types and challenging it. I am sure if parents don’t want their dc exposed to anything other than strict Islam they can find an Islamic school, there are several in Batley and the surrounding area.

SprungisSpringYaY · 26/03/2021 12:12

Thesearmsofmine

I agree its very intimidation and I wouldn't want my child having to walk in or out in that atmosphere.

FallenSky · 26/03/2021 12:18

Absolutely outrageous the way these parents are reacting. If they're even parents of pupils at all. There are no blasphemy laws in this country. I firmly believe all religion should be able to be challenged, debated and explored fully by schools.

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