Pupils at an Islamic faith school told inspectors they did not want single-sex lessons because it wouldn’t prepare them for life in modern Britain, the High Court has heard.
The school – which cannot be identified and is known only as School X – is appealing against an Ofsted report that warns its ethos leaves pupils vulnerable to extremism.
Boys and girls are separated from the age of ten. The inspector said: ‘One young woman referred to it as “dumb”.’
He added that boys had also mentioned segregation as ‘having a negative impact in terms of preparing them for life’.
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But not all pupils had agreed with that view, he said.
The inspector was giving evidence at the beginning of a challenge brought by School X’s interim executive after the Ofsted report branded it an ‘inadequate’ school which required special measures. The board is disputing the report’s findings and applying for a judicial review to have it quashed.
The judge was told the Islamic voluntary-aided school admits pupils of both sexes aged four to 16. From Year 5, girls and boys are completely segregated for all lessons, breaks and lunchtimes, as well as school clubs and trips.
Supporters of strict Islamic schools say families are in favour of segregating the sexes and practising religious traditions.
But Ofsted requires schools to demonstrate they are teaching ‘fundamental British values’ including gender equality and tolerance of different cultures and lifestyles.
The rules were brought in following the Trojan Horse scandal in Birmingham, which saw hardliners infiltrate state schools and impose an Islamic agenda. It prompted fears that children who were not properly integrated could be vulnerable to radicalisation.
In the latest case, judges have banned publication of the report and the school’s name over fears it could ‘generate a media storm and tensions and fears for parents and the local community’.
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw is urging the court to reject School X’s legal challenge.
Helen Mountfield QC, for the watchdog, said: ‘Both girls and boys suffer the loss of opportunity to learn how to socialise and in due course work with those of the opposite sex,’ she said, adding that the policy made an ‘implication that girls are inferior’.
The QC said Ofsted’s approach had not been applied to the school in past inspections and the watchdog had apologised.
But Peter Oldham QC, for the school governors, argued the appeal should succeed because Ofsted had wrongly ‘singled out’ School X and taken a legally flawed approach.
The hearing continues.
Daily Mail