A head teacher at a school which came under scrutiny during the Trojan horse scandal was returning to work today after being escorted from the premises by police following a confrontation by angry parents.
Six police cars swooped on Welford Primary School in Handsworthafter a meeting between parents and head teacher Jamie Barry became so heated that worried staff had to raise the alarm.
The incident happened during a parents’ forum being held at the school on Friday. The parents were unhappy about elements of the school’s curriculum, a Birmingham City Council spokesman said.
He added: “We can confirm there was an incident at Welford School which we are looking into.
“We are concerned that parents are objecting to elements of the equalities and diversity agenda which forms part of the personal, social and health education curriculum.
“It is not acceptable for parents to pick and choose between aspects of this agenda.”
The council is now providing direct support to the head and the chair of governors, he added.
Welford Primary was one of 21 schools inspected by Ofsted earlier this year during a probe over claims of a conspiracy by extreme Muslims to take over governing bodies.
In July former counter-terror chief Peter Clark found evidence of an “aggressive Islamist agenda” at some schools, however Welford Primary was not one of those criticised by inspectors and was concluded as “meeting requirements” in terms of safeguarding children from extremism.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the teaching union NAHT, confirmed the association had received reports of the incident.
“Schools should be places of respect and calm, where people can work and learn without fear,” he said. The government has a duty of care to ensure that those tasked with implementing their policies are fully supported and protected.
“The incident shows that tensions between schools and communities can run high in the wake of Trojan horse.”
He said Sir Mike Tomlinson, Birmingham’s new education commissioner hired in the wake of the scandal, has “a big task ahead of him to stabilise the situation”.
Meanwhile, West Midlands police confirmed they were investigating the incident.
Chief Inspector Dean Hatton said: “Police were called to a report of a disorder at Welford primary School at around 10.15am on Friday during a meeting of a large group of parents. “Officers arrived and found no disorder. We are working with the school and parents to establish if any offences were committed.”