Parents have turned up outside a Derby Muslim school looking for answers after it announced its sudden closure during a Government inspection.
The Al-Madinah School has been dogged by controversy recently over its practice of allegedly making female teachers wear a hijab - an Islamic headdress.
And it has now announced it has shut down just hours into the inspection - citing “health and safety” reasons.
But inspectors said it comes as the result of initial findings by a team from the Office for Standards in Education - which were shared with the interim principal.
And it left up to 200 children aged four to 13 from its two sites out of school today.
Ali Mohammed, who has a six-year-old daughter at the school, said he wanted “some answers”.
Video of Ali Mohammed talking here:
He said: “My daughter has been here a month and I am very happy with her progress.
“But, yesterday, I received a one-line letter telling me the school would be closed but not giving any reasons.
“So I’ve come down here to ask some questions. I want to know what is going on and, if there are health and safety issues, then I’m very concerned.”
But, like several other parents, Mr Mohammed was unable to gain entry to the school because staff “were too busy”. He said he intended to call back later.
Parents also said they had been given different impressions about when the school would re-open - some saying they thought it would be “open again by Monday at the latest” and others said it would be “shut for a week”.
Al-Madinah was already under investigation by the Education Funding Agency, which funds free schools, when the Derby Telegraph exclusively revealed teacher and union concerns about contracts at the school, which forced female teachers to wear Muslim dress.
The Government promised an Ofsted team would be sent in to inspect the school “in the near future” – ahead of a scheduled visit timed for some time this academic year, following the school’s opening in September 2012.
And the school announced a “short-term closure”, on the first day of the two-day inspection.
In an original statement on the school’s website, the interim principal Dr Stuart Wilson said: “Owing to a health and safety issue, I have taken the decision to close the school to primary and secondary pupils until I am confident that all children are safe on site.”
A spokeswoman for Ofsted said: “We can confirm that Ofsted is currently undertaking a two-day inspection of the Al-Madinah School, in Derby.”
“As a result of findings that our inspectors have shared with the principal during the first day of the inspection, we understand that he has written to parents informing them that the school will be closed to children today.
“The inspection of the school will continue as planned.
“We have also informed the Department for Education and the local authority of our initial findings.
“As the inspection is in progress, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “We were already investigating this school before allegations became public.
“We discussed the problems with Ofsted and it launched an immediate inspection. We are waiting for Ofsted’s final report and considering all legal options.”
The Derby Telegraph previously reported how unhappy teachers had complained to their unions about girls being asked to sit at the back of classes, at the free school, behind boys.
Schools are given less than 24 hours’ notice of an impending Ofsted inspection and the inspectors, who arrived yesterday, were expected to complete their visit later today.
A full public report is unlikely to be available for another couple of weeks but the Department for Education said some findings could be revealed sooner.
The lead Ofsted inspector is David Anstead, a former head teacher at Mill Hill School in Ripley.
Parents have been written to so that they have a chance to comment on the school and to have a greater understanding of the inspection process.
An online questionnaire from Ofsted asks them to comment on 12 aspects of the school, including the progress made by any child they have there, the quality of teaching, dealing with bullying and poor behaviour.
Written comments can also be provided by parents and there is an option for parents to speak directly to the inspectors if they wish.
As Al-Madinah is a free school, only Ofsted and the Government can intervene in the day-to-day running of it.
The local authority has no control or power to be able to carry out any changes or inspections, unlike in mainstream schools.
Councillor Martin Rawson, city council cabinet member for children and young people, said he had been expecting the inspection to be carried out fairly soon.
The free school, which has bases in both Nelson Street and Friar Gate, is allocated money by the Education Funding Agency, which is responsible for directing cash to free schools and academies.
The school received £1.4 million as set-up costs in September 2012 and had been likely to be given more money to carry out building work on a separate site.
Originally, the school was due to start life in an office block in London Road but this plan fell through and the primary section went to Norman House in Friar Gate, while the secondary section was housed in Nelson Street. Planning permission is currently being sought to renovate Hartley House in London Road.