An Ofsted inspection at an Islamic School in Luton had to be abandoned last week after angry parents confronted school inspectors over claims children as young as nine were asked about their attitude to homosexuality.
A review of the Olive Tree Primary School in Luton had to be halted after parents said they would withdraw their pupils from the school if the inspectors remained.
Parents were said to be concerned that the Ofsted staff were discussing sex with the children without their consent.
A scheduled meeting between parents and inspectors saw the appropriateness of the questioning raised and after discussions the inspectors withdrew from the school a day early.
But the chair of the school trust that runs the school, Farast Latif, said that the meeting between the parents and inspectors was largely amicable. He added when the inspectors realised the parents were serious about pulling their children out of the school, they left.
Mr Latif told the Guardian’s Richard Adam: “One of the parents said to them, and all of us agreed, this is a safeguarding issue, we are not comfortable about adults speaking to our children about issues of sexuality. When they realised we were serious about that, they left. This is about sexualising young children.”
A spokesman for Ofsted confirmed that inspectors withdrew from the school but that sufficient evidence was gathered to complete the inspection. They also added that inspectors were left to their own discretion when asking pupils questions about sexuality.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
The news that inspectors withdrew from the school comes following reports a similar line of questioning was used on Muslim pupils into an investigation into schools in Birmingham over the alleged Trojan Horse plot.
However, an Ofsted spokesman added that questions about sexuality weren’t restricted to predominantly Muslim schools.
A spokesman told The Guardian: “As part of any school inspection, inspectors will ask pupils about the effectiveness of the school’s actions to prevent and tackle discriminatory and derogatory language.”
