19 November 2014

Top London CofE school 'failed to safeguard pupils from Islamic extremism'

Sir John Cass’s Foundation and Red Coat Church of England school in Tower Hamlets, east London, will be placed in special measures by the education standards watchdog Ofsted for failing to monitor the activities of an Islamic society set up by sixth-formers at the school.

In particular, a Facebook site set up by the society contained links to hard-line Islamist preachers – a move which could have made pupils vulnerable to radicalisation. The society also set up its own YouTube channel which was not monitored.

According to Ofsted, that constituted a failure to safeguard the pupils – a breach for which it had to be placed in special measures. It is the first school outside of Birmingham to be failed on such a safeguarding issue. [The Independent] Read more