Following media allegations of a so called ‘Trojan Horse’ style attempt to promote ‘Conservative Islamic Values’ within Clarksfield Primary School in Oldham, the Liberal Democrat Group on the Council is calling upon Council Leaders to formally request Ofsted conduct a fully independent investigation of the school to alleviate growing concerns amongst teachers, staff, parents, pupils and the wider community.

Serious allegations have been made that teaching, leadership and management at the school has been interfered with in order to promote ‘Conservative Islamic Values’ within this mainstream primary school in Oldham.  These have been compounded by additional allegations of threats to the Headteacher and members of staff

Commenting as Chairperson of the Group, Councillor Chris Gloster, himself a governor of two Oldham schools, said: “allegations of this type are damaging to everyone, most of all to the pupils of the school who should be free to learn and develop in a safe and caring environment.”

“We all have a duty to actively promote fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.  British Values have been actively taught in schools since at least 2014. Any external interference of this important area of the school curriculum is unacceptable and must and will not be tolerated.”

‘We also have a duty to protect staff and pupils and if these allegations have any truth behind them, they are abhorrent and there is no place for them in an inclusive society, which Oldham strives to be’.

‘I have today written to the Leader of Oldham Council, Councillor Jean Stretton, and the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, asking that the school and Council formally request Ofsted carry out a full and independent inspection of the school at the earliest opportunity.  This way we can be satisfied as to how the school is being run and provide additional support if necessary to the school and its leaders’.

The email sent to Cllr Stretton and Dr Wilkins is shown below.

From: Cllr C Gloster
Sent: 27 February 2017 19:54
To: Carolyn Wilkins; Cllr J Stretton
Cc: Howard Sykes
Subject: Request for OFSTED Inspection re Clarksfield Primary School
Importance: High

Dear Cllr Stretton and Dr Wilkins,

I am writing to you as Chairman, on behalf of the Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group, with regards to the current situation at Clarksfield Primary School.

As you are no doubt aware, there has been national media coverage about the school and an alleged ‘Trojan Horse’ plot to infiltrate the school in order to promote Conservative Islamic Values upon it, an idea which is totally unacceptable.

Additional allegations have been made concerning threats to the Headteacher and other staff who have fears for their safety. This again is totally unacceptable.

I must record my disappointment at this stage that the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes only learned of this matter in a telephone call on the Friday (17/02/17) evening (at 7.45pm) prior to the national press coverage that weekend.  I suspect we would still know nothing about this very important matter if there had been no press report!

I also understand that a ‘secret’ report was prepared in December and forwarded to the National Counter Terrorist Unit. If this is true, the Council have therefore had since December 2016 to, at a minimum, brief the Leader of the Opposition about this matter, which came as a total surprise to opposition party councillors, including the leader, who were unable to comment when questioned about the alleged incident, having had no input of any sort in relation to it.

I all too well understand the need for secrecy at times, however as we are all on the same team which is Oldham Council, I do not believe that merely a party-political divide is sufficient for issues of such seriousness not to be disclosed, even in redacted form if necessary, to appropriate senior elected members of the council.

It is clear that the allegations made in the press will do nothing but damage our efforts towards community cohesion. It is also clear that a stain has been left upon Clarksfield Primary School that will be hard to remove unless some form of independent and transparent investigation is carried out.

To this end, as Chairman of the Opposition Group, I am writing to ask that Oldham Council formally request the Department for Education to instigate a full Ofsted Inspection of the school at the earliest opportunity in order to alleviate the concerns of staff pupils and parents, as well as the wider community, and if necessary, identify areas that we as a Council will be able to assist the school with in maintaining its ‘good’ rating.

Yours sincerely

Chris Gloster, Councillor for Shaw Ward, Chairman Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group