Do you remember that story about a school who made girls sit at the back...

[MadCap]

I just saw in the Huff Post that OFSTED shut the school down on the first day of its inspection. Sorry couldn't find original thread.

[mathanxiety]

'Community conscientiousness' is what the parents wanted.

[mathanxiety]

And having sent my RC children to RC schools I know how 'opt out' options work for those who are not signed up for First Communion prep, etc.. I can only imagine how it feels to be the only child not to take part in what everyone else does. You might find yourself sitting outside the classroom at a desk in the corridor during the class devoted to Islamic Beliefs or whatever.

[lalalonglegs]

There was a throwaway line on PM the other evening when the whole leaked Ofsted report was top of the news. The reporter who had been sent to Derby said he had spoken to several parents about their reaction to the news that Al-Madinah was likely to be closed down and they were upset as they really liked the fact that the school was prioritising Islamic values. I must admit to being about this as it seemed an extremely narrow interpretation of (a) Islam and (b) the value of education.

[Pliudev]

Well mathanxiety, I do agree but I know Christian evangelicals who home educate for the same reasons you suggest. ACE, a form of Christian education based on biblical teaching and delivered by parents after a scant induction process does nothing to prepare children for real life. It seems to me that, rather than encouraging anyone with an agenda to set up schools, more should be spent on improving the ones we already have. I never thought I'd say it but thank goodness for Ofsted.

[mathanxiety]

I agree, a lot of 'baby' was thrown out with the bathwater.

I suspect the parents were very attracted by the 'community conscientiousness', which means making sure children stay together as a community, with the community able to police dress and thought, ensuring they are not exposed to western values and are not given the tools to integrate (via a decent formal academic education that would enable them to leave the community or get away from the influence of the family), because contamination by the Infidel is the worst thing imaginable, along with 'losing' your children to outside, evil influence (and I suspect especially, 'losing' your daughters). Sending the to a 'safe' place where they could be protected from influences the parents did not accept was their priority. Parents like this do not place any value on western/secular education and view its content with deep suspicion.

(Very like ACE, and arising from the same deep-seated suspicion of a culture they see as alien. Irish Travellers do pretty much the same thing - take children out of school at puberty lest they get away from the Traveller life and their family lose influence over them.)

[Pliudev]

You've summed it up so well. The particular children I'm thinking of are my nieces and nephew and if family can't help break down the paranoia about 'outside' influences I don't see how we progress. It's a situation that the proliferation of free schools only encourages and maybe Mr.Miliband and co. should think again about their recent statement.