Case hearings in July and August 2015 took place to establish the nature of the charges to be put and evidence to be submitted (in the case of the senior teachers at PVET, the evidence file expanded from around 1,000 pages to 6,000 pages between the two meetings). [62] A former staff member said that one teacher had handed out a worksheet stating that women "must obey their husbands", and told his class that wives were forbidden from refusing their husbands sex. [2], The hearings dramatically came back into media attention in October 2016 after one of the hearings that had concluded with guilty verdicts against two teachers went to the High Court on appeal. [22] He announced proposals to send Ofsted to any school without warning, saying that the schools in question had been able to stage a "cover-up" previously. Book Sport Policy and Politics in an Era of Austerity. [4], These claims by witnesses were unsubstantiated. This was after the government had cited the Trojan Horse affair as justification for its new plans to counter extremism.[130]. 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'. Pages 21. eBook ISBN 9780429057625. Based on drawings and written records, this Trojan Horse model allows you to recreate one of the most epic tales of ancient Troyalthough on a much smaller scale. [101] Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Perry Barr, said that the City Council may have known of previous plots, but not acted due to fears of being seen as anti-Islamic. While this kit can be 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. A sixth school was labelled inadequate for its poor educational standards and twelve schools were found needing of improvements. [47], Reverend John Ray, OBE, and ex-head teacher of a school in Pakistan, resigned as a governor of Golden Hillock School after 25 years. Jaimie Martin, former special adviser at the Department for Education, wrote that "it is important to note as [the teachers] were not tried for the charges, they were therefore not cleared of them", and that "people who downplay the seriousness of Trojan Horse, claiming those involved exhibited 'mainstream' Islamic views, are guilty not only of stunning naivety, but of a dangerous error". But who wrote it? [3][4] Birmingham City Council imposed a temporary freeze on the appointment of school governors after probes into Operation Trojan Horse were announced. The art curriculum was altered to "remove full faces or immodest images, such as paintings by Gustav Klimt". "This is a reminder that this is a serious issue and something that is not going to be solved overnight. WebA Trojan Horse is a program that uses malicious code masqueraded as a trusted application. [citation needed], During the inspection at Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College in Bradford, a mainly Muslim secondary school,[85] pupils were forced to revise for their GCSE exams outside in the street as staff did not want them to have an opportunity to speak to inspectors. The school had spent 50,000 on three subsidised trips to Saudi Arabia so that pupils could visit the cities of Mecca and Medina in what the EFA described as "an extravagant use of public funds". [58] Ofsted found that "the governing body has removed some subjects, such as music, from the timetable". [112] The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has also expressed concerns about the scope of the problem in other major cities, whilst advising that there was no "cause for panic". [113], Sir Albert Bore, the leader of Birmingham City Council, called the original Trojan Horse letter "defamatory" and "hugely difficult to investigate" and offered protection to the whistleblower if they would come forward to help in the investigation. 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. Click here to navigate to parent product. It said that "manipulative" governors had been determined to introduce "unacceptable" practices and to deny students a broad and balanced education. [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. Under the academy schools programme, it could only be done with the active involvement of officials in the local authority (including over the transfer of assets to the new trust) and at the Department for Education and it would require an academically successful school to be the sponsor of 'failing' schools. [19], At Nansen School, Islamic religious assemblies were introduced and Christmas and Diwali celebrations were cancelled. The headteacher and deputy headteacher were subsequently found guilty at an NCTL hearing of falsifying SATS tests. [87], The report outlined instances of Islamism or Salafism found in the schools. WebIn Brief. [60], Golden Hillock School in Sparkhill, Birmingham, was put under special measures by Ofsted on 5 June 2014, after being rated "inadequate" in all categories. He said that the efforts to instil fundamentalist practices into Birmingham classrooms were based on a "warped and abusive view of the religion". Texts and images of the girl with a boy, a fellow Year 11 pupil at Park View, were used to justify the girl's suspension weeks before her GCSE exams. He denied all allegations against him.[27]. Skilled Account Development Executive in areas of Insurances and Financial [44] He accused Tahir Alam, chairman of the Park View Educational Trust, of "planning this for 15 years" and honing in Birmingham tactics that he had drafted in his 72-page document, published by the Muslim Council of Britain in 2007, on how to subvert schools to fundamentalist Islam. Look at how [the] Muslim population is increasing in the UK. The governors have been made to resign Has she come back because she wants to take the school forward or is she fulfilling a personal vendetta?[127]. [25] This would be so despite the fact that the previous duty on schools to promote community cohesion had included an emphasis on 'shared values' which were exactly the same values espoused in the new duty. Three cases against junior teachers were heard separately from that against the senior leadership team at PVET. Staff wishing to discuss LGBT matters were lambasted by governors. In May, Mark Rogers, Birmingham City Council's Chief Executive, had a meeting with head teachers of affected schools. WebTottenhams Trojan Horse? [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. [17], Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw accused Birmingham City Council of a "serious failure" in supporting schools in protecting children from extremism. " 'Trojan Horse' schools: the leaked inspectors' report". Telegraph Blogs. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. ^ Gilligan, Andrew (9 March 2014). "Extremists and the 'Trojan Horse' approach in state schools". The Telegraph. ^ "Trojan Horse leaked report says pupils 'not protected from extremism' ". The Trojan Horse scandal, also known as "Operation Trojan Horse" or the Trojan Horse affair, involves claims of an alleged conspiracy[1][2] that there was an organised attempt to introduce an "Islamist" or "Salafist" ethos into several schools in Birmingham, England. A member of staff at Park View also alleged that the school had handed out worksheets stating that wives can not refuse to have sex with their husbands, a claim that the school denied. [113] Pieces in The Guardian included criticism of the academy system,[121] and demands that all state schools be made secular. He asked for publication to be delayed pending "clarification". His complaints were published on 24 February 2014,[39] whereas the 'trojan horse' letter was not sent to the press until 2 March 2014. The annual sports event for boys and girls was scheduled in different days. [5], Ofsted expressed concerns about an exclusively Muslim culture in non-faith schools and children not being taught to "develop tolerant attitudes towards other faiths". [58] Governors at the school banned any discussions regarding sexual orientation and intimacy. In August 2014, the Principal Hardeep Saini was replaced by an interim principal. Ofsted found that the curriculum was being narrowed to reflect the "personal views of a few governors". The way the letter is written it is like an outsider's perspective on how Muslims would communicate or talk. [33], The letter also encouraged getting academy status for successfully infiltrated schools, so as to have a curriculum independent of the local education authority. [23], Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the Trojan Horse plot was driven by the same Islamic extremism as that of Boko Haram, the Nigerian terrorist group. [72][73][74], Ofsted found that a small group of governors were "endeavouring to promote a particular and narrow faith-based ideology in what is a maintained and non-faith academy". [70], At the tribunal held in October and November 2015, Mr Saini was accused of advising a teacher who had been arrested for having extreme pornography to throw his mobile phone into the canal to make sure there was no problem. [8] In school assemblies, former staff alleged that a senior teacher frequently praised Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda recruiter that had been involved with at least three major terror attacks, and referred to non-Muslims as "kuffar", an insulting term for "infidel". The first opportunity to put their case came when professional misconduct cases were brought against them by the National College of Teaching and Learning (an independent agency of the Department for Education, now replaced by the Teaching Regulation Agency) in October 2015 and May 2017 when the case against the senior teachers collapsed because of "serious improprieties" by the legal team acting for the NCTL. 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. Ofsted subsequently expanded their investigation into schools in the north and south-east of England. The name of the Trojan Horse is taken from a classical story of the Trojan War. [1][11] The allegations against the teachers were set out in the press and in the Kershaw and Clarke Reports. In addition, Park View had been designated a National Healthy School for its approach to Personal, Social and Health Education. It said evidence pointed to a group of "British male governors and teachers, predominantly of Pakistani heritage". Others were challenged in court before the case against the senior teachers was discontinued. 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. This affected the teaching of English, Art, Religious Education and Personal, Social and Health Education. None of those involved in the Trojan horse affair were criminals in the conventional sense of the word. This showed Birmingham to be performing badly on most indicators, but outperforming other cities and the national average for its school results and the proportion of schools graded outstanding. [80] Effective strategies were not in place to deal with extremism and "governance, safety, pupils' cultural development, equal opportunities and the teaching of religious education are all inadequate". Today the term Trojan Horse is a metaphor for a person or a thing that appears harmless on the surface, but is in fact, workign to undermine the enemy. External speakers were improperly vetted. Mr Kershaw stated that the council had been "slow to respond" to allegations in the letter and said there was "culture within of not wanting to address difficult issues and problems with school governance" for risk of incurring accusations of racism or Islamophobia. Prime Minister David Cameron, on a visit to Birmingham, praised his government's swift action in investigating the conspiracy. 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. [119], Tahir Alam, chair of governors at Park View and labelled by some newspapers as the "ringleader" of Operation Trojan Horse, resigned alongside all of his board of trustees on 15 July. He said that the overview report on the matter could trigger "some kind of bloody firestorm" and "may well lead to significant structural proposals" for the city council. Most of the allegations presented in the Ofsted and EFA reports were not part of the cases against the teachers because they were not believed to be credible by NCTL lawyers. "[127] Shabina Bano, chair of the Oldknow Academy Parents' Association, said parents would welcome Ms.Kondal back because they wanted, stability as soon as possible At the same time we want to know why she deserted parents. It described a "madrassa curriculum" and reported that "posters were written in Quranic Arabic in most of the classrooms visited. The contracts for the taxpayer-funded school trips never underwent a formal tender process, and instead a travel firm was used with close links to a current teacher and former director of the school. He said "man-made" British laws were "very confusing", unlike those "given by God", which were fair. Information and Guidance for Schools and is available as an appendix to the Kershaw Report. [26] Waseem Yaqub, former Head of Governors at Al-Hijrah school, called it "a McCarthy-style witch-hunt" and that the letter was used by councillors "to turn on [Muslims] and use Muslims as scapegoats". [106], Salma Yaqoob, a former Birmingham City Councillor and prominent Muslim spokesperson, began a group named "Hands Off Birmingham Schools" in the aftermath of the inspections, saying that they were influenced by "a climate of political and media hysteria". [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. In its separatist assertions and attempts to subvert normal processes it amounts to what is often described as Islamism. WebIts just a Trojan horse for gentrification: austerity and stadium-led regeneration book By Mark Panton, Geoff Walters. 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. Imprint Routledge. Unlike the teachers, the lawyers involved in serious impropriety were not subject to professional misconduct charges despite the cost of the hearings. 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 The Trojan Horse scandal, also known as " Operation Trojan Horse " or the Trojan Horse affair, refers to a scandal involving claims of an alleged conspiracy that there was an organised attempt by some individuals to introduce an Islamist or Salafist ethos into several schools in Birmingham, England. WebIdomeneus King of Crete, hero who defended against Hector, and killed 20 Trojan heroes. "Dossier of Trojan horse evidence finally laid bare after leaks and allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2022. ^ Oldham, Jeanette (11 June 2014). "Trojan Horse: Birmingham academy spent 50,000 on trip to Saudi Arabia using travel firm linked to school director". Birmingham Mail. [78][80] Christmas events were cancelled and raffles and tombolas were banned at a recent school fete because they were considered un-Islamic. Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector at Ofsted, had commented at a national conference that "All schools should be like this and there's no reason why they shouldn't be. The group promoted links to extremist speakers that betrayed "an Islamist approach that denied the validity of alternative belief", and some group members who believed that the murder of Lee Rigby was staged, encouraged other members to promulgate this view. The letter was leaked to the press in March 2014. The Trojan Horse was a clever idea that turned the tide of the war in favor of the Greeks. Indeed, neither the Kershaw Report, nor the Clarke Report asked the question of how a school could be taken over by governors and teachers. [34] The Guardian and The Independent both stated that the letter is "widely regarded as a fake". 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. 25/05/2022; Posted by [citation needed] A senior teacher told inspectors that the solution to all problems would be a global Caliphate under Sharia law. Mr Justice Phillips declared that evidence for the defence presented in the hearing against the senior leadership team should have been made available to the defendants in the other case. [19] Like Peter Clarke, Kershaw seemed unaware that all schools had a duty to promote community cohesion. She also said, "It is not just an academy problem, this was happening before we became an academy. [9] The introduction of the document states that the "purpose is to promote greater understanding of the faith, religious and cultural needs of Muslim pupils and how they can be accommodated within schools. Akmal criticised female politicians, saying: "She has to sacrifice her family, she has to sacrifice her children, she has to sacrifice her husband, all in the name of equality." [44], Michael White, a former teacher at Park View School which was mentioned in the letter, told the BBC that the school's governing board had been "taken over by a Muslim sect" in 1993. The Trojans believed the horse was a peace offering and dragged it inside their city. The 'trojan Horse ' schools: the leaked inspectors ' report '' to Personal, and. A Trojan Horse: Birmingham academy spent 50,000 on trip to Saudi Arabia using travel firm linked to director. An interim Principal designated a National Healthy school for its approach to Personal, Social and Health Education timetable! 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