Ofsted raises 'extremely serious' safeguarding issues at Yorkshire faith school

It follows an inspection by education watchdogs who raised concerns after pupils’ complaints indicated they did not feel safe at the Institute of Islamic Education in Savile Town in Dewsbury.

The school, which is located within the grounds of Makazi Mosque, was approached and invited to comment.

A report by Ofsted revealed “a lax attitude towards safeguarding” at the school and that leaders “do not always act in the best interests of the pupils”.

The school hit the headlines last year following another Ofsted inspection when inspectors found a book calling for gay people to be executed.

Excerpts from the book ‘Islam on Homosexuality’, which had been stamped as an official library book by the school, say the participants of the homosexual act ‘should be slained [sic] whether they are married or unmarried because in filth and mischief of this act surpasses adultery.’

There is also a paragraph in the book entitled ‘putting to death’ which goes on to say … ‘the evil doers should be put to death’.

Ofsted’s report highlighted the fact the book was in breach of the Equality Act 2010, making it essentially illegal to teach it.

During the most recent inspection on November 25 and 26 last year, inspectors found no books with inappropriate content.

Their latest report, published on January 25, said there is a range of books “including fiction and non-fiction, available to pupils. There is a system for signing these books out and returning them. These books are in a separate area to the Islamic library.”

Whilst many of the standards that led to concern previously had been met, at the latest inspection inspectors found that leaders were still not implementing safeguarding procedures.

The report said leaders “do not recognise when there is a serious safeguarding concern. This means that referrals to the local authority’s children’s services are not made when they should be.”

It went on: “Members of the inspection team identified a serious and significant safeguarding concern during this inspection. The school’s leaders had not linked readily available pieces of safeguarding intelligence together.

“The inspectors asked the school’s leaders to refer this extremely serious safeguarding concern to the local authority’s children services and to the police.

“Several pupils’ needs, both of a safeguarding and well-being nature, were unidentified and unmet prior to this inspection.

“Pupils’ complaints indicated that they did not feel safe in school. Some pupils struggled to sleep. Their mental health was compromised. Some leaders are too concerned about the views of parents, rather than prioritising the child’s needs.

“Weak systems in analysing pupils’ attendance mean that some pupils can fail to attend the setting for a period of time without leaders taking action.

“This is not effectively challenged or considered as a safeguarding concern. There are no records of when phone calls have been made to parents to check why pupils are not attending.

“This means that leaders are unaware of when pupils’ attendance becomes a concern. These pupils are not safeguarded effectively.”

The all-boy independent boarding and day school, which has 244 pupils aged 11-25 on its roll, was inspected in February 2020, and rated inadequate – the worst rating – amid concerns about teaching and leadership standards.