Parents have thrown their support behind a Derby Muslim school that closed for three days last week over health and safety issues.
Al-Madinah School reopened on Monday after issuing a statement that said the problems – which emerged during an Ofsted inspection – had been “fully addressed”.
The Department for Education ordered the inspection after complaints were made by staff who alleged they were being forced to wear Muslim dress and make girls sit at the back of classes.
Despite the issues, parents today gave their backing to the school – which is a free school and so is largely autonomous and only answers to Ofsted and the Government.
Among them was Rifat Shaheen, who has a five-year-old girl at the school’s primary site in Friar Gate and a 12-year-old daughter at the secondary site in Nelson Street.
Mrs Shaheen said: “Both my daughters are progressing really well at the school. My older daughter went into Year 7 at the secondary school having not been pushed hard enough before that.
“This school gave her a number of targets and she’s achieved all of them. The teachers have done their job and my daughter was so happy when she achieved her targets.
“It is a good school but there are a lot of people who do not want it – or other free schools – to succeed. It’s just propaganda.
“The only thing that has disappointed me is the amount of information the parents have been given about why the school closed last week.
“But apart from that, I don’t see there being an issue with the school.
“The so-called controversy about girls being made to sit at the back is codswallop. In our religion, for this age group it is considered unacceptable for girls to sit next to boys.
“You look at other schools where there are teenage pregnancies – it is about trying to avoid that.
“When I asked why girls were sitting at the back and why they could not instead have girls on one side and boys on the other, the answer was a lack of space. I don’t think it’s that big an issue.”
A dad with two pupils at the primary site also backed the school.
He said: “There was a lobby against the school even before it opened. Some people don’t want it to stay so they start saying negative things about it. It’s not a good thing.
“I’ve got two children here and they are both very happy.
“It was a surprise when the school closed but in a way I wasn’t surprised. The primary school building has not been built yet so at the moment it is in an office block.
“From the start, the school said it was likely there would be some issues to begin with.
“The school has only been open a year. It needs to be given a chance.”
Al-Madinah is funded directly with £1.4 million public money from the Government through the Education Funding Agency – which is carrying out a separate investigation – and it does not have any connection with Derby City Council.
Free schools are a flagship policy of Education Secretary Michael Gove and it is understood that the unprecedented speculation and publicity surrounding Al-Madinah School has caused great consternation in Whitehall.
Before Ofsted stepped in, the school was already at the centre of an investigation by the Education Funding Agency into its financial situation.