A Bradford school facing claims that governors forced out a former head teacher has been inspected by Ofsted this week.
Carlton Bolling College has been dragged into the row which started with the Trojan Horse takeover allegations in Birmingham.
The head of an organisation representing schools in Bradford claimed last week that there has been a co-ordinated attempt to pursue an Islamic agenda by a small number of school governors in the city.
Nick Weller, the chief executive of the Bradford Partnership said Carlton Bolling’s previous head Chris Robinson had been forced to leave her job because she would not give in to it. However the school’s chairman of governors, Faisal Khan rejects the claims. He said any attempts to link the school with events alleged to have happened in Birmingham felt like a “witchhunt.”
Now Ofsted inspectors have gone into the school. The watchdog declined to say whether this was because of the concerns raised about its governance.
At an inspection last year the school was found to be good.
Last week Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw had said inspectors were poised to visit any school where concerns were raised about an “unbalanced curriculum” or governors abusing their position in the wake of the “Trojan Horse” allegations. He also confirmed Ofsted had conducted inspections in areas outside of Birmingham.
The Trojan Horse row has led to plans for schools to be made to promote British values. However the Muslim Council for Britain (MCB) has warned that such a move could effectively stop Muslims becoming trustees or governors. The MCB has raised fears that the reforms, which will apply to new academies and free schools, could prevent people with conservative Muslim beliefs viewed as incompatible with “British values” being involved - a claim the Department for Education denies.