Protests outside a Birmingham school were banned after a High Court judge ruled in favour of an exclusion zone to remain around Anderton Park. The demonstrations, against alleged inappropriate sex education, had been conducted by Muslims.
Twenty-one staff members had been treated for stress, and the children were often unable to use the playground due to the protests, which were led by Shakeel Afsar, an uncle of a child at the school.
No outsiders?
The school used a teaching programme called ‘No Outsiders’ created by Andrew Moffat, the school’s assistant headteacher. It was based on books, some of which had a subtext of gender identity or gay relationships (And Tango Makes Three, Julian is a Mermaid). Another element of the programme looked at the concept of inclusion and being valued despite apparent differences.
The protestors were joined by an imam who told parents the children were being taught about anal sex and masturbation, and that there were paedophiles in the school.
Afsar, the lead protestor, claimed at the hearing that he had not invited the imam to the protests and had never met him. Footage of the protests showed Afsar holding the microphone as Imam Mullah Bahm spoke.
In seemingly contradictory government advice, schools have been told to engage with parents over sex education, but not to change what they are teaching despite parents’ views needing to be noted, especially where religious views of parents are involved.*
Although in this school there seems scant evidence that masturbation was being taught, the article on safeguarding on page 3 shows that this isn’t the case for every school in the UK.
