One of Birmingham’s most popular schools has been placed in special measures after Ofsted inspectors deemed its leadership as “inadequate”, but the Chair of Governors for the Islamic school argues that the local authority has used a fake “Trojan Horse” letter to initiate a Muslim witch hunt.
Al-Hijrah School in Bordesley Green is the city’s only Islamic school and caters for children aged from four to 16.
Each year more than a thousand applications are received for its 60 secondary school places – making it one of the most oversubscribed schools in the country.
Ofsted inspectors visited the school in April and a report published last week slammed governors for planning to construct a new building while the school remains £400,000 in debt.
It also claimed problems were made worse due to a bad relationship between the governors and Birmingham City Council and branded a school improvement plan ‘not fit for purpose’.
The report said: “Governors continue to spend more on projects that are not addressing the key weaknesses of the school.
“Governors and the local authority are unable to work together. A recent meeting was abandoned because of a break down in discussion.
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“Recent attempts by a local authority officer to visit the school have been thwarted by senior leaders.”
The school, which opened in 1988, became voluntary aided in 2002 and, therefore, secured funding from the city council.
But the report said the school had not accepted all the alleged failings.
“The Chair of Governors believes that the school has been targeted as part of a ‘witch hunt’ and has an unrealistic view of the capacity of governance,’’ it stated.
“The Chair of Governors describes the local authority’s statement of action ‘fiction and fanciful’.’’
The report did say that quality of teaching had improved after a new temporary headteacher helped staff to ‘refocus’ on improving standards.
Trojan Horse scandal – Muslim witch hunt
In a press release published today, Al-Hijrah’s Chair of Governors, Waseem Yaqub OBE said: “The officers and directors of Birmingham’s LA have been failing in their basic duties but when I reported it informally to the Director of People, Peter Hay, instead of dealing with the root causes of the misconduct and potentially illegal activities, he and his officers used a fake “Trojan Horse” letter to turn on us and use local Muslims as scapegoats.
“They sent in repeated Ofsted inspections to schools, of all faiths and none, who complained or questioned the dictatorial manner of the officers and directors. Ofsted was happy to oblige because private companies like the American owned SERCO would get more profits for more inspections!”
“Local people have long been whispering about the “Witches of Aston Triangle” referring to the BCC LA officers and directors who sit in plush offices of the BCC LA between Lancaster Circus, Woodcock St and Edmund St.”
Mr Yaqub added that, “This is not just about Muslims, or local schools, but goes to the heart of our British way of life, our system of governance and is now so serious it may lead to Genocide in Britain at a time when the Pope says “Never again” and I hope all good British citizens will stand with me to choose a better future for everyone.”
5Pillarz tried contacting Al-Hijrah school but they could not be reached for comment.
