[4], Student ambassadors, known as "religious police" by some staff, are appointed at Park View to report "the names of staff or students who exhibit behaviours deemed unacceptable by conservative Muslims". Posters were found in the classrooms encouraging children to begin lessons with a Muslim prayer, one saying: "If you do not pray, you are worse than a kafir", and staff reported that loudspeakers were set up in the school to broadcast a call to prayer. The educational advisers to the Clarke Report did not set out the guidelines applying to religious education and collective worship in schools and no information was provided about the locally agreed SACRE curriculum which continued to be taught in the schools. Richard Kerbaj and Sian Griffiths, writing in The Sunday Times, reported that over 100 teachers would be charged with professional misconduct. Ofsted found a breakdown of trust between governors and staff and that family members had been appointed to unadvertised senior leadership posts[5], Park View Education Trust were found to be in breach of the Education Funding Agreement by failing to promote social cohesion, failing to promote the social, moral, spiritual, and cultural development of pupils, failing to promote balanced political treatment of issues, and failure to comply fully with safeguarding issues concerning criminal records checks. [7] Pupils and teachers from Park View School denied this version of the story, saying that after this assertion had been raised by a boy during a presentation on sexual education teachers organised an assembly where they explained that "marital rape was legally and morally wrong". It also provides useful information and guidance and features of good practice in meeting those needs. [4] Governors also restricted teaching topics which were part of the Department for Education's Prevent strategy, such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation. [5] The inspections found that head teachers have been "marginalised or forced out of their jobs". The decision to discontinue disciplinary proceedings was based on procedural grounds not on a shortage of evidence". [19] It found evidence that the "five steps" to destabilise a school's leadership, as outlined in the original Trojan Horse letter, were "present in a large number of the schools considered part of the investigation". Of 21 schools investigated by Ofsted, and 14 schools investigated by the Clarke Report, charges were brought against teachers at just 4 schools. [100], In a letter to Park View Trust chairman Tahir Alam, Education Minister Lord Nash criticised its running of the schools, saying he was "deeply mindful of the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations". [29] Its author described the plan as "totally invisible to the naked eye and [allowing] us to operate under the radar". [4], The investigation obtained 3,000 messages, spanning 130 pages of transcripts, of a private WhatsApp discussion between a group of teachers at Park View School called the Park View Brotherhood. Trojan Horsewalkers' Team | Conditioning horses since 1961 Products Lead Walkers Free Flow Exerciser Rebuilt Kit FAQ Price Quote About Us Contact Us 855-265-4222 Products Lead This affected the teaching of English, Art, Religious Education and Personal, Social and Health Education. [116] Tahir Alam, a governor at Park View School since 1997, and former chair of the education committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that the accusations had been "motivated by anti-Muslim, anti-Islam sentiment". [95], After the reports were published, Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, said that cultural division in Birmingham had been caused by the rhetoric of the government, and "[Birmingham]'s school system is so fragmented it feels at times likes the Balkans". The Truth about the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair (2017). The Department for Education inspection found the seating arrangements "often with boys sitting towards the front of the class and girls at the back or around the sides". Information and Guidance for Schools and is available as an appendix to the Kershaw Report. Click here to [58] Ofsted stated that the school had failed to protect students from "the risks of radicalisation and extremism". We have taken action to remove and continue to take action to remove people from being in schools who don't follow British values."[129]. The name of the Trojan Horse is taken from a classical story of the Trojan War. [124], In January 2022, a new podcast by The New York Times, The Trojan Horse Affair, cast many doubts on the multiple investigations and the version of events that emerged. [64] The Ofsted report stated that "students' understanding of other religions is scant as the religious education curriculum focuses primarily on the study of Islam"[65] and said there was a "perceived unfairness and lack of transparency" over appointments to the school and that female members of staff had felt intimidated. [citation needed] Later, he was critical of the Conservatives' plan to teach "British values", claiming that it would alienate moderate Muslims. [21], The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that "protecting our children [was] one of the first duties of government" and convened an emergency meeting of the Extremism Taskforce and a ministerial meeting to discuss the affair. Instead, the report concluded, the council was focused on community cohesion. The annual sports event for boys and girls was scheduled in different days. [28] This included a special concern with the achievement of pupils of Asian heritage, as set out in its "Asian heritage achievement action plan" of 19 December 2003. These questions have been left unanswered She has not been held to account. [93] The report said that the extremism went unchallenged as the council prioritised community cohesion over "doing what is right". [2], In January 2022, The New York Times released an investigative podcast about the Trojan Horse scandal which characterized it as an "Islamophobic hoax" and compared it to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a historical antisemitic hoax. [85] The governors of the school were sacked in April because of inappropriate interference in the running of the school. It described a "madrassa curriculum" and reported that "posters were written in Quranic Arabic in most of the classrooms visited. [56][bettersourceneeded], Park View academy had been identified as outstanding in a 2012 Ofsted report, the first school to be inspected under a tougher new inspection regime introduced by then Secretary of State. This stated that, on 14 October 2014, they had received "25 of the Clarke transcripts to include transcripts of 10 interviewees who went on to be witnesses for the NCTL in these proceedings. Now the audio game-changer has made a divisive UK story the focus of a new eight-part series, its first overseas outing. Its just a Trojan horse for gentrification: austerity and stadium-led regeneration book By Mark Panton, Geoff Walters. Speaking after withdrawing her resignation, Ms.Kondal said: "The pressures outlined in the Trojan Horse letter are very real and it mustn't be allowed to happen again. Serial Productions recently released its latest investigative podcast series, "The Trojan Horse Affair." [2], Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said the organisation could not fully endorse the report. [2]:15, In May 2015, the National Association of Head Teachers' annual conference heard that the problems associated with Operation Trojan Horse persisted, and there were claims that teachers had received death threats for attempting to dissuade students away from homophobia. Using a graphic book to disseminate academic research findings. The drawn out nature of the cases meant that there were no journalists present to report the detailed rebuttal of claims indicated above, for example of banning Christmas celebrations, or teacher handouts promoting the obligations on wives to consent to sex with their husbands. This had been initiated by Sir Tim Brighouse, who had been Chief Education Officer in Birmingham between 1993 and 2002, and was highly critical of the 2014 Ofsted reports and the subsequent inquiries. It interviewed Mohammed Zabar, a Muslim parent who wrote to the Prime Minister in December 2013 about the lack of cultural balance in the curriculum at his daughter's school, Oldknow. It tries to deceive the user to load and execute the files on the device. The report found that attempts were made to introduce Sharia law in schools. The educational advisers to the Clarke Report did not set out the guidelines applying to religious education and collective worship in schools and no information was provided about the locally agreed SACRE curriculum which continued to be taught in the schools. They included:[3][4], The report found there had been changes made to the curriculum and education plans, including increasing the faith component. Segregationism dividing the world into 'us' and 'them', with them to include all non-Muslims and other Muslims who disagree; Attempts to impose its views and practices upon others; Intolerance of difference, whether the secular, other religions or other Muslims. [98] New clauses were added into funding agreements for academies, stating that the Secretary for Education could close schools whose governors do not comply with "fundamental British values". In a discussion on 5 February 2014, a teacher at Oldknow and governor at Small Heath School, revealed that the group's favoured candidate had become the head teacher at Small Heath. In 2012, head teacher Chris Robinson resigned, having felt that her reputation, integrity and leadership were being questioned by governors. He said the government would be terminating its funding arrangement with three of the schools. Staff were prevented from teaching Sex and Relationships Advice freely as well as aspects of Safeguarding and Child Protection. There was evidence from officials at the Department for Education responsible for managing the incorporation of schools into PVET, as well as initiating a memorandum of agreement between PVET and Oldknow (paragraph 123). There were posters in schools warning the children that if they did not pray, they would "go to hell". He asked for publication to be delayed pending "clarification". [135][136] No mention was made of the fact that allegations of extremism had not been any part of the charges against teachers. WebIdomeneus King of Crete, hero who defended against Hector, and killed 20 Trojan heroes. [61], Subjects such as Personal, Social and Health Education, Biology and Sex and Relationships Education were bowdlerised to conform with a conservative Islamic teaching. [96] He said that "protecting our children" was "one of the first duties of government" and convened an emergency meeting of the Extremism Taskforce and a ministerial meeting to discuss the affair. Mark was definitely the author. [75] The school's curriculum was deemed inadequate because it did not promote tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions. The way the letter is written it is like an outsider's perspective on how Muslims would communicate or talk. At the same time, The Trojan Horse Affair ultimately tells us more about the two hosts than this central mystery, as they chase leads and question each other, leading up to a Pages 21. eBook ISBN 9780429057625. The Panel had been ready to announce its decision in the case on 23 December 2016, but an urgent application for disclosure, relating, in part, to transcripts associated with the Clarke Report, was made by defence lawyers on 24 November 2016. [126], Akmal said that jailing gay people and adulterers was a "moral position to hold" and that they should be exiled from the community. Staff wishing to discuss LGBT matters were lambasted by governors. He found "very clear evidence" that young people were encouraged to "accept unquestionably a particular hardline strand of Sunni Islam that raises concerns about their vulnerability to radicalisation in the future". "[128] Bhupinder Kondal left the school again shortly after. Imprint Routledge. [81], During the tribunal it emerged that a photo of a white person was shown to students as an example of what Christians look like. Opera News describes veteran baritone Mark Walters as a force to be reckoned with as Don Carlo in La forza del destino. Altogether the documents that were deemed to be relevant amounted to about 1600 pages. External speakers were improperly vetted. The New York Times podcast "The Trojan Horse Affair" uncovered this secret document that disproves one of the central allegations of the Trojan Horse letter, that there was a conspiracy against the headteacher of Adderley primary school. [17], Birmingham City Council announced an investigation into the allegations, estimated to last six months. At Park View, Golden Hillock, Nansen and Oldknow academy, it is alleged that teachers were instructed not to use images in any subject which displayed even slight intimacy between sexes. [4], Figures in the group included Park View Headmaster Mozz Hussain, Deputy Head of Nansen Primary Razwan Faraz and Shahid Akmal, the Chairman of Governors at Nansen. It was entitled Towards Greater Understanding: Meeting the Needs of Muslim Pupils in State Schools. The teachers were barred from responding to the allegations due to confidentiality orders as part of their employment contracts that were binding also after the suspension. This was after the government had cited the Trojan Horse affair as justification for its new plans to counter extremism.[130]. [citation needed] A senior teacher told inspectors that the solution to all problems would be a global Caliphate under Sharia law. [1], Year 11 pupils about to sit their GCSEs at the school were instructed to partake in an Islamic fast, taking neither food nor drink, to place them in the right "spiritual frame of mind" for the exams. is for sale online, in a number of independent bookshops, including one in Seattle, and in a major bookshop chain in London. Although the school describes itself as "multi-faith", there are claims that the Islamic call to prayer is broadcast to the entire school. It also included evidence from then secretary to Birmingham SACRE, given to the Clarke inquiry but not reported by him, which "conflicts with the evidence of NCTL witnesses who had been saying that it was wrong for collective worship to be solely about Islam when a school had a determination but [the secretary] who had been with SACRE for 9 years, said it was acceptable" (paragraph 125). The findings were quashed on grounds of serious procedural irregularities. While this kit can be [29] The letter was alleged to have been written from Birmingham and sent to a contact in Bradford to expand the operation into that city. The pupils were told at an assembly not to send Christmas cards and that Mary was not the mother of Jesus. [86], The investigation found there to be "no evidence to suggest that there is a problem with governance generally" nor any "evidence of terrorism, radicalisation or violent extremism in the schools of concern in Birmingham", but said there was "evidence that there are a number of people, associated with each other and in positions of influence in schools and governing bodies, who espouse, sympathise with or fail to challenge extremist views". [87], The report outlined instances of Islamism or Salafism found in the schools. Alam remains[when?] Media reporting expressed alarm that the transcripts were those of 'whistleblowers' who had provided statements under terms of confidentiality.[132]. [66], On 9 June 2014, Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for schools, wrote to Tahir Alam concerning the OFSTED and EFA reports and outlined the actions required by the school.[67]. WebPanton, Mark and Walters, Geoff (2018) Its just a Trojan horse for gentrification: austerity and stadium-led regeneration. He raised concerns about the governance of Golden Hillock 20 years ago stating that the Trojan horse plot "reveals something, something that is true". It also did not report any interviews with members of Birmingham Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) responsible for the agreed curriculum on religious education taught in local authority schools in Birmingham, and also responsible for approving deterninations of daily acts of collective worship for other than Christian worship. Government officials and policy advisers, as well as journalists previously involved in the case, rushed to announce that the cases had collapsed on a 'technicality'. [citation needed], An investigation ordered by the government found a "sustained, co-ordinated agenda to impose segregationist attitudes and practices of a hardline, politicised strain of Sunni Islam" in several Birmingham schools. [2] They described the Trojan Horse affair as a "false narrative" spread by a hostile British press which led to "a serious miscarriage of justice" against the teachers, drawing comparisons to the Hillsborough affair. As noted above, governors and teachers accused in the various investigations were given no opportunity to respond to the allegations and the claims made in the various reports were not subject to independent scrutiny until misconduct charges were brought by the NCTL against teachers associated with Park View Education Trust. "This is a reminder that this is a serious issue and something that is not going to be solved overnight. In the podcast, the link between the Trojan Horse letter and the Headteacher of Adderley Primary School in Birmingham, Rizwana Darr, is explored and it is alleged that Darr is the real author of the Trojan Horse letter. Park View was more compliant than would be the case for other schools. Agent: Mark Walters - (772)-201-5650. [20] After the Trojan Horse affair, this[clarification needed] was replaced by a new duty to promote "fundamental British values". It effectively ended the war, demonstrating the ingenuity of the Greeks. [75][78] The summer play was criticised by staff for its "use of musical instruments" and a teacher was observed covering his ears during his music lesson. Mark Panton and Geoff Walters (2019) Tottenhams Trojan Horse? [40], Based on interview and research in The New York Times podcast Serial, the producers argue that most levels of government did not prioritise the identification of the letter's author. [5] Ofsted subsequently expanded their investigation into schools in East London, Bradford and Luton over concerns regarding a limited curriculum and pupils' detachment from the wider community. Book review by Rick Howard Like Zero Day, another Mark Russinovich novel I recently reviewed for the Cybersecurity Canon, Trojan Horse is a book Id recommend for casual readers.Cybersecurity professionals wont learn anything new here, but all readers might enjoy wallowing around in a Tom Clancy-esque story What has happened has brought the integrity of the process into disrepute". Ofsted subsequently expanded their investigation into schools in the north and south-east of England. [62], Forced segregation of the genders was observed in some classes at Golden Hillock and was mandated in some departmental policy documents. It is designed to steal, damage, or do some harmful actions on the computer. Community cohesion and PREVENT: how have schools responded? Share. This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 23:24. Three schools were commended. Responding to those claims, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said that there was no place for extremism in education, and there was still more work to be done to eradicate it. [19] Like Peter Clarke, Kershaw seemed unaware that all schools had a duty to promote community cohesion. Children were urged to join in anti-Christian chants. Responsibility for determinations for academy schools passed to the Department for Education, but they put in place no measures for renewing determinations. [2], The leaked letter on the alleged plot was reported by media including the BBC on 7 March 2014. Michael Gove. [91] Another participant in the discussion said that "JEWS" (emphasis in original) were making websites with false information on the Quran, while Abdul Malik, Deputy Head of Golden Hillock in Bradford wrote "Al-Islam will prevail over all other ways of life. 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