UK school in hijab row judged 'outstanding'

A school in east London at the centre of a row over its attempt to ban the hijab for very young pupils has been judged "outstanding" in an inspection report published today.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted), the UKs independent schools inspectorate, carried out a special inspection visit of St Stephen's School in East Ham following concerns of bullying of the school's staff, including Indian-origin principal Neena Lall.
It ruled that her leadership and management of the school was "effective" and that the negative atmosphere around the school's uniform policy was created by elements from outside the school community.

"School leaders, and in particular the headteacher (Lall), have faced bullying and harassment, and there is evidence that this has been coordinated by some people outside the school community. Parents said that they just want the 'noise' from these people to stop so they can get back to being a great school community without distracting interference, the Ofsted report notes.
The report follows an inspection visit to the school on January 31, a few days after the school was forced to reverse its hijab ban for girls under eight years old amid a community backlash.
A complaint has since been registered with local police in Newham, east London, about abusive and threatening emails, Facebook posts and other social media messages received by Lall and Arif Qawi, the former chairman of governors.

The school, with a majority of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin students, has received the backing of senior UK government ministers, including UK education secretary Damian Hinds and Lord Theodore Agnew, Britain's minister for schools systems, faith and counter-extremism in education.

Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman had specifically spoken out in support of Lall's decision-making, after it emerged that the headteacher had been likened to German dictator Adolf Hitler as part of social media attacks.
"School leaders must have the right to set school uniform policies in a way that they see fit, in order to promote cohesion, said Spielman, Ofsted Chief Inspector.

The latest inspection, which was initiated by her amid growing concerns for the school and its headteacher, found that the negative comments and "abusive postings" on social media about the school's uniform policy and position on children fasting for religious observance are in complete contrast to the atmosphere within the school and appear to be largely instigated by people from outside the parental body.
"It is worth noting that the decision to remove the hijab from the key stage 1 uniform (under-eight) was communicated to parents in June 2017 and implemented with little fuss in September 2017, following careful consideration by governors," it adds.

Among its recommendations, the watchdog called upon the school to ensure future communications around uniform policies are carefully managed to avoid "misinterpretations" and also directed the local Newham Council for more proactive support for the school.
"The expected level of emotional care and public support for school staff from the local authority has been too limited and, as a result, ineffective," Ofsted said.
Newham Council refuted the allegation of lack of support for the school, which it said had received "significant" support in the face of the backlash.
"With such a diverse community, that has more than 200 languages spoken, councils must play a role in ensuring mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs," a spokesperson said.