Ex-Park View head: ‘I was hate campaign target after Trojan Horse’

Monzoor Hussain says school ‘changed overnight’ after plot claims emerged last year

The ex-headteacher of a school at the centre of theTrojan Horse scandalhas claimed he was victim of a “concerted hate campaign” by some staff.

Monzoor Hussain, former principal at Park View Academy, claimed he was targeted after the plot claims were revealed last March.

Speaking at a professional conduct hearing, he said: “Park View went from being a happy school where staff were always smiling, where there would always be a hello when you passed someone in the corridor to totally changing overnight.

“Anonymous Twitter accounts were set up by staff members and I was sent hate messages. Saying that, I also received messages of support.

“We went from being an outstanding school in a recent visit to being one of inadequate when inspectors returned just weeks later. It all changed after March last year.”

Mr Hussain has been accused of unacceptable professional conduct at a National College for Teaching and Leadership panel, sitting in Coventry. He is accused of agreeing to the inclusion of an undue amount of religious influence in the education of the pupils.

But he dismissed claims he denied pupils the chance to learn about other faiths and said he actively encouraged them to mix with students from other faiths and backgrounds.

Mr Hussain said: “Pupils went away for a week as part of Enterprise Sailing. They mixed with all sorts of pupils from different backgrounds. One girl commented to me when she got back that she loved mixing with others people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

“Where I was brought up I didn’t mix with people of other faiths and I later found it harder to mix with other students when I went to university. I didn’t want that for my pupils.”

Mr Hussain told the panel he did place religion as a very important aspect of school. He said he wanted children to have the opportunity to pray at school but they were not forced to do so.

He added: “I had words with a teacher who named pupils over the loud speaker once, telling them to go to prayer. I said this must never happen again. Pupils should only pray if they want to.”

The conduct hearing continues.

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