A suspended pro-LGBT curriculum at the centre of a row will return to a Birmingham primary school.
The ‘No Outsiders’ programme at Parkfield Community School sparked protests, which later spread to Anderton Park Primary School, with Muslim parents stating the lessons were not “age appropriate” and contradicted Islamic beliefs.
The Birmingham primary school said the updated version of the curriculum had been designed to respect parents’ concerns.
But a parent group has argued that it feels the programme is still “biased” towards LGBT matters.
The new scheme, called ‘No Outsiders for a Faith Community’, will re-launch at Parkfield Community School in September.
The school said the implementation of the rebranded programme followed five months of consultation with the Department for Education, parents and community representatives.
It said that in the updated curriculum, classes referenced sexual orientation, gender, gender reassignment, disability, age, race and religion fairly.
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A spokesperson Parkfield Community School: “As a result of the consultation ‘No Outsiders for a Faith Community’ has been especially designed for Parkfield Community School acknowledging and respecting the concerns and sensitivity expressed by some parents in the present school community.
“Our school ethos of equality and everyone being welcome remains a key aspect of our school.”
However, the Parkfield Parents Group said it had voted against the new programme.
They said: “This is because it is well known that the original programme and now even the new programme is heavily biased towards LGBTQ, whereas an equality programme doesn’t need to be.”
Parent Fatima Shah, whose daughter is at the school told the BBC: “We just haven’t been listened to.
“We have said we don’t want children in reception to be shown books with same sex relationships. It’s confusing for them.
“But the school has said it will do exactly the same as it was doing before but with a slightly different name. How is that taking our views into account?”
The No Outsiders programme has been implemented in more than a hundred state schools across England.
It was designed by Andrew Moffat, the assistant head at Parkfield School, in 2014.
Ofsted had previously ruled the lessons at Parkfield Community School were age-appropriate.
Anderton Park School in Birmingham has also faced months of parent-led protests over pro-LGBT lessons.
Protesters have been prohibited from the gates by a High Court injunction, with a trial to take place later this month to decide whether parents can resume their peaceful demonstrations outside the school.
From September 2020, it will be mandatory for all state schools to implement pro-LGBT lessons, with only secondary school pupils being allowed to be withdrawn from the classes.
