It was a photocopy of a letter, which seemed to be part of a correspondence between Muslims conspiring to take over local schools and run them according to strict Islamic principles. I saw a Michael Gove article and one or 2 others about Britain's response to the letter. It was called the Park View Brotherhood. It should also be no surprise that some teachers, in common with the rest of the population, hold bigoted or ill-informed views. We have done a lot of work to engage with communities and stakeholders and to nurture a sense of belonging and togetherness for all who live and work in the city.. That year, he set up a Whatsapp group for male Muslim employees of the three schools run by the Trust to keep in touch. Lauren Jackson is a journalist based in London. My response is always: show me the evidence. The religious activities of Park View have been the focus for the media, lawyers and government investigators, but it was no seminary. (When she became prime minister, May rehired Cunningham now Fiona Hill as her chief of staff. Under Tony Blair, it was a policy Labour championed. He would have wanted to protect her. The Council later retracted the report and provided legal defense for Mrs. Darrs school. . "Revealed: Islamist plot dubbed 'Trojan Horse' to replace. Alam believes schools should not try to save Muslim children from Islam, and that incorporating their home culture into their school lives not only helps behaviour, but improves educational attainment. He lost friends. If I apply for a job, Im always worried theyll see where I went to school and think: is she an extremist? said Muneeza, the former Park View student. Since Prevent became law in 2015, Muslim children across Britain have been erroneously singled out as potential extremists. In 2014, the then education secretary Michael Gove commissioned a report from a. Among those who believe that a conspiracy existed, as set out in the original dossier, there is a tendency to fall back on vague, dark statements. He was very deliberately and strategically looking for people to be embedded in the education system. While Boyes felt that part of Alams mission was hostility to the establishment, Alam characterises himself as an educational insider. All podcast related news articles have been, for lack of a better term, "big picture" related. But in sharply segregated areas, it can raise difficult questions over who has the final say when what the community wants from their school deviates from prevailing national norms. Questions Raised About NYT 'Journalistic Standards' of - Insider The critics grew quieter. I know it is still the same day it as been released but let me know if anyone sees anything online! ), Although Park View was co-educational, boys and girls were segregated for certain subjects, including PE and sex education, which is not uncommon. A white governor told him that although parents might want their kids to become lawyers or doctors, the reality was they were going to work in the service or retail sectors, and should be prepared. Exactly what was said in this class is one of the few points in the affair where the facts are contested. Gove himself is the author of an inflammatory book, Celsius 7/7, about the Islamic threat to Europe, which contains a chapter called Trojan Horse. Overhauling this culture of low expectations became Alams focus. This report contradicted key claims later made in the Trojan Horse letter, specifically that there was a plot to oust the head teacher at Adderley. A recent podcast series on the 2013-14 Trojan Horse affair - an alleged but unproven plot to implement a strict Islamic ethos in some schools in Birmingham - has drawn attention to the place . No one disputes that there was a concerted effort to recruit Muslim staff and governors across schools in east Birmingham, nor that prayer rooms and, in some cases, calls to prayer were introduced, and that there was a focus on core subjects such as English and maths, at the expense of drama and music. Children as young as 4 have been referred to the authorities for drawing a parent slicing a cucumber (which the child pronounced cooker bomb) and talking about the video game Fortnite. The exchange students are always girls, Faraz told me, since with three sons, his wife doesnt want more boys in the house. We're excited to bring you their first episode . All rights reserved. Mike, the former Park View teacher, recalls that a pupil once said in class that Hitler was right to kill gay people. Alam caused me concern over many years, says Boyes. In retaliation, a letter was leaked to the press in which May connected the scandal to Goves academies policy: The allegations relating to schools in Birmingham raise serious questions about the quality of school governance and oversight arrangements. In May 2010, when the coalition took power, there were 203 academies in England; by November 2013, there were 3,444. Just six months after being established, Park View Educational Trust was running two schools: Park View and Nansen. and our They went to the local secondary, Golden Hillock, where the proportion of children achieving A*-C grades in their GCSE exams was routinely below 10%. He is an imposing presence: a large, well-spoken man with unwavering confidence who, over his years as a governor, schools inspector and adviser to the council has occasionally rubbed people up the wrong way. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Amid the wilder accusations were many reasonable, if smaller-scale, complaints: female staff members reported that they had been marginalised by male Muslim teachers. With the exception of a few incidents which come down to one persons word against another, what is in question is not what happened, but how what happened should be interpreted. For example, Mr. Clarkes report claimed to have found a terrorist video in one Birmingham school. In the report, investigators concluded that the Adderley assistants resignation letters had been falsified, adding that in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable to conclude that Mrs. Darr may have been involved in the fabrication of the resignation letters.. Looking at the full image, it seems that is also a picture of Mark (see the name tag). Concerns over the tribunal and the councils investigation led to a rift between Adderley school and the council. Sun 30 Jan 2022 03.30 EST Eight years on from the Trojan horse affair, Birmingham is braced to revisit memories of the difficult period as a new podcast examines the incident for an. The relentless coverage helped stoke Islamophobic sentiment to new heights, according to critics. Almost all the students were from Pakistani families, but almost all the staff were white. At around 10.30am, Faraz received a text from his lawyer. The document was leaked to the press in 2014, and although the letter was quickly debunked as a fake, the accusations took on a life of their own. I'm not saying Rizwana wasn't involved in some way but it makes more sense to me that Mark authored and posted the letter. But even observers who are sympathetic to these claims seem to agree that something did go wrong in the administration of the schools involved in the scandal. (This was erroneous the ban was specifically on teaching in schools, while Faraz was teaching workshops to adults.). The briefing note said auditors had come to a clear view that there was no basis to a number of allegations in the letter. People who were involved have a sense of being hard done by and wanting the case to be heard, she said. 'The Trojan Horse Affair' is Serial's best podcast since 'S-Town' And after successive investigators found no evidence for the claim that students were being radicalised, public perception that there was a sinister Islamist plot still persists. Andrew Billen. This letter was a piece of creative writing that brought to life some of what Id been explaining, he told me. The author of the anonymous note threatened to take the story to the press if action was not taken against the alleged conspirators within a week. What really happened in The Trojan Horse Affair? - The New Arab The Sunday Times was the first newspaper to pick up the story. David Cameron and Michael Gove on a school trip in 2013. The verdict doesnt appear to have changed anyones mind about the right and wrongs of the case. What is the community supposed to think when their childrens education is viewed as a matter of national security? But the letter was not all it seemed. Among thousands of mundane messages about school events and news articles were some worrying comments, which were later leaked to the press. The "Trojan Horse" Plot and the Fear of Muslim Power in British State Schools Authors: Tahir Abbas Leiden University Abstract In 2014, an alleged "Trojan Horse" plot to Islamise education. I didnt feel it was an adequate education I received, Faraz said. News In 2014 an anonymous letter was sent to journalists detailing a 5 step plan to Islamise schools in Birmingham. Meeting him made me realise, Hang on, Ive got something to contribute to society. He was like, Come on, what are you doing with your life? Over the next few years, Faraz discovered his passion for education, progressing from his administrative role to meeting headteachers around the country to promote teacher training. The so-called Trojan Horse Affair sparked hundreds of articles and several investigations. The infighting between Gove and May continued for weeks. Later, when the scandal broke, Faraz was often identified in the media as the brother of a convicted terrorist. My constituents shouldnt feel they have to justify their religion or culture.. Because lots of people in the wider community just kind of want it to go away the media scrutiny was so intense. Father accused of Trojan horse plot says Ofsted report vindicates him, People give up: the crisis in school support for children with special needs, SENassessment: one of the Cameron eras most howling disasters, Trojan Horse affair: remaining disciplinary proceedings dropped, Forstudents with additional needs, universities are there to help, Michael Goves brain flip poisoned schools extremism debate, School exclusion linked to long-term mental health problems study, Oneout, all out! Imo Rizvana Darr deserves more scrutiny. The Trojan Horse Affair Serial Society & Culture 4.6 5.7K Ratings; A strange letter appears on a city councillor's . Brian Reed and Hamza Syed are producers with Serial, a New York Times company. The media helicopters above made such a noise zooming down on the school, says John, the Nansen teacher. On 16 March, excerpts from the Park View Brotherhood and Educational Activists WhatsApp groups appeared in the Telegraph after being leaked to the journalist Andrew Gilligan. Although he felt the allegations were pretty much true, he worried that if it was amplified, it would generate more racism and conflict. The new podcast series The Trojan Horse Affair, from Serial Productions and The New York Times, seeks to answer those questions and correct the record on a scandal that transformed Britain.
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