Michaela School Judgement

London Central Mosque has issued a statement saying it did not suggest that obligatory prayers could be delayed and was not involved in the Michaela Community School court case in any way.

The statement comes after a High Court judgement stated that headteacher Katharine… pic.twitter.com/JeESiCfDDp

— 5Pillars (@5Pillarsuk) April 18, 2024

School "prayer ban"

BBC News, Michaela School made being Muslim seem toxic, former pupil says, 5 Mar 2024 "

"The "prayer ban" by a school facing a court challenge made being Muslim "seem toxic" and "evil", former pupils claim."

School "prayer ban"

ITV News, 'Britain's strictest school' facing High Court challenge from Muslim pupil over ‘prayer ban’, 17 Jan 2024 "Michaela Community School in Brent, north London, introduced a policy in March 2023 "banning prayer rituals"."

Wales' Schools and Discrimination

Pupils called 'monkey' and attacked with rocks as shocking scale of racism in Wales' schools. Muslim girls abused and assaulted in other shocking case studies highlighted.

Pupils say the N-word is 'normalised' in schools.https://t.co/PMz3DsTPCX

— Tell MAMA UK (@TellMamaUK) November 28, 2023

The link to the Children's Commissioner's report is here (PDF).

There's also a children's version of the report (PDF).

'Islamophobia in schools'

The Scotsman, Teaching union calls for action on Islamophobia in schools "A teaching union is calling for more action to tackle Islamophobia in Scottish schools, saying understanding the issue should be integrated into the curriculum."

Updated: the Trojan Horse Affair (podcast)

Updated: here's a link to my Virtually Islamic blog page on the Trojan Horse Affair podcast.
New York Times, Why Claiming British Identity Is Complicated

This long-read looks interesting, and has an accompanying podcast series.

"This article was produced in collaboration with a new podcast from Serial and The New York Times.

“The Trojan Horse Affair,” an eight-part mystery, investigates a strange letter that transformed Britain — and the lives of many British Muslims."

Direct link to podcast (from different providers)

And here's the trailer on Spotify:

History on the Curriculum

Nation Cymru, Wales to become first UK nation to make Black, Asian and ethnic history mandatory on school curriculum "Subject to final sign-off by the Senedd next month, the Welsh Government has added learning about the diversity of communities, in particular the stories of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people, into the new Curriculum for Wales guidance."

Teaching in Wales

Proud teacher moment! My children on Sky News, talking about how children in Wales will be taught about racism and the contributions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. @laurabundock @wgmin_education @charwilliamsOBE @BameedWales pic.twitter.com/Du2RempLXX

— Mrs Aziz (@MSPSMrsAziz) May 30, 2021

Batley School

Sky News, Batley Grammar School parents call for calm after uproar over image of Mohammed used in lesson

"On Sunday evening, Yunus Lunat, spokesperson for the Batley Parents And Community Partnership, said the teacher had failed to realise the image was "loaded with Islamophobic tropes"."

WATCH: #BatleyGrammerSchool parents issue statement saying “grossly inappropriate materials” of Prophet Mohammad caricature used in RS lesson last week has led to “productive” conversations with school.
They “call for calm and space for a transparent investigation”. @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/F6AGCxRHBp

— Inzamam Rashid (@inzyrashid) March 28, 2021

Earlier coverage: Sky News, Batley Grammar School: Is Prophet Mohammed caricature offensive or freedom of expression? [opinion and analysis]

A Levels Fiasco

MCB, MCB Responds to UK Government U-Turn on A Level and GCSE Results plenty of coverage on this, including on my Twitter feed, but it's important to see the impact on deprived communities

Ofsted Sued

Guardian, Birmingham Islamic school sues Ofsted after being failed for leaflet "Ofsted rated Birchfield independent girls’ school in Aston as “inadequate” after inspectors found an “inflammatory” leaflet about a 1994 Islamic conference in the library."

LGBT Protests Update

BREAKING: A judge has permanently banned anti-LGBT equality teaching protests from taking place outside a primary school in Birmingham.

Follow the latest on this story here: https://t.co/ug7VWnNosf pic.twitter.com/e0R7IVbqyB

— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 26, 2019

Mushy

BBC News, What Educating Yorkshire's Mushy did next "Educating Yorkshire, the Channel 4 series which followed life in a Dewsbury secondary school, became a sensation after one of the pupils – Mushy – learnt how to cope with his stammer; that was thanks to his teacher Mr Burton and a pair of headphones."

LGBTQI Education

Victoria Derbyshire, BBC iPlayer, 2 Sep 2019 "The programme recreates a relationships lesson with a story about a chick with two male parents. A lesson that has led to protests."

Schoolboy Payout

Mail Online, Schoolboy, 11, wins £3,500 payout after teachers at east London school wrongly accused him of wearing T-shirt supporting ISIS into class "The unnamed boy turned up at a school in Tower Hamlets, east London, when he was eight years of age wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan: 'I want to be like Abu Bakr al-Siddique'.
"Abu Bakr al-Siddique is a prominent figure in Islam born in the year 583 who would later become the father-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, who married his daughter."

Syrian schoolboy sues Tommy Robinson

Metro, Syrian schoolboy sues Tommy Robinson for saying he ‘violently attacked’ English girls, 4 Mar 2019

"A Syrian refugee who was allegedly waterboarded by bullies at his former school is suing former English Defence League leader, Tommy Robinson, over videos in which he claimed the boy had attacked English girls."

School pupils to be taught about relationships

BBC News, School pupils to be taught about relationships "Primary and secondary pupils in England will learn about relationships, keeping safe online and looking after their mental health as part of compulsory lessons from September next year."

'Don't back down on LGBT guidance, faith leaders urge DfE'

Guardian, Don't back down on LGBT guidance, faith leaders urge DfE Something of a controversial issue here, which would make for a lively seminar. Other opinions are available on this critical issue. "The argument over whether schools should teach children about LGBT issues arose in a Birmingham state school last month when 400 predominantly Muslim parents signed a petition calling for the topic to be dropped from the curriculum."

‘Integration? It’s about top exam grades’

BBC News, ‘Integration? It’s about top exam grades’, 16 Mar 2018 ""People sometimes don't see past the name," says one of the pupils at Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School, in first place in the secondary school league tables, now based on how much progress is made by pupils."

Sunday Times 'twisted' hijab ban story to stoke debate

Middle Eastern Eye, Sunday Times 'twisted' hijab ban story to stoke debate, teachers say, 9 Feb 2018 "Teachers say newspaper's story was 'completely misleading' and journalists came to London school with 'agenda' to stir up controversy." Allegations. "The headteacher at a London primary school that was forced to back down from a ban on Islamic headscarves has accused the Sunday Times newspaper of "twisting" her words to stir up controversy around the issue, according to a recording obtained by Middle East Eye."