Trojan Horse action plan to use theatre to stop pupils being ‘radicalised’

Home Office agrees to fund 40 workshops at Birmingham schools in a bid to stop radicalisation in wake of the Trojan Horse scandal

Theatre workshops to stop pupils being “radicalised” are part of a raft of measures being used in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, the Birmingham Mail can exclusively reveal.

Apost-Trojan Horse“action plan” has been penned by chiefs at Birmingham City Council, including 40 Home Office-funded anti-extremism workshops.

Schools caught up in the scandal, which saw hardline Muslims attempting to take control of governing bodies, have been hand-picked by West Midlands Police’s counter terrorism unit to take part in the workshops.

The sessions, called Tapestry, are to be led educational theatre company The Play House, which is an independent group based at the Birmingham Rep theatre.

A spokeswoman said: “Tapestry is a dynamic participatory theatre-in-education tour for 13-18 year olds which explores the implications and consequences of extremist thinking and action.

“It provides a unique stimulus for young people, teachers and youth leaders to begin to explore this sensitive and complex issue in a supportive environment.”

Other workshops, called ‘Protect Yourself’ and ‘Raise Awareness to Prevent’ have also been held at city schools to boost “training and safeguarding from radicalisation,” reveals a report put to the council’s education and vulnerable children overview and scrutiny committee.

Meanwhile. the council has also hired two “safeguarding” employees, both tasked with working in schools to prevent extremism and to protect children from radicalisation.

The council has also proposed new rules to tighten-up procedures on selecting governors at city schools.

In May, all three of Park View Educational Trust’s schools – Park View in Alum Rock, Nansen Primary in Saltley, and Golden Hillock in Sparkhill – were placed in special measuresfollowing snap Ofsted inspections triggered by the scandal. Oldknow Academy and Saltley School were also placed in special measures by Ofsted earlier this year.

And inspectors returned to all five schools in September and found that there were still significant problems within them.

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