British values being ‘undermined’ by some faith schools, Ofsted chief warns

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has warned that British values are being ‘undermined’ in some independent faith schools.

Wilshaw voiced his concerns in a letter to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. He opened the letter saying that he was writing to her not just in her capacity as Education Secretary, but also as Minister for Women and Equalities.

The letter follows recent inspections of three independent faith schools currently judged as inadequate by Ofsted, which were carried out between 12 and 21 April.

According to Wilshaw, these schools showed signs that they do not ‘conform to the spirit of the equalities legislation which underpins the spiritual moral social and cultural standard’.

He gave the example of the Rabia Girls’ and Boys’ School in Luton, where at the initial meeting with inspectors the school insisted on segregating men and women with a dividing screen. Wilshaw claims that further evidence signalled that male and female staff were segregated during whole school staff training sessions.

The Ofsted chief advised that changes introduced by the Department for Education (DfE) to strengthen independent school standards in relation to fundamental British values were not being followed and said that any form of segregation without good educational reason will likely lead to inadequate inspection judgements.

He concluded by urging Morgan to further review DfE guidance and reaffirm the government’s commitment to the promotion of British values.