Governor rejects Carlton Bolling College extremism claims

Chairman of governors Faisal Khan said findings in the Ofsted report were "completely false"

The chairman of governors at a Bradford school has hit back after an Ofsted report said pupils were not being protected from the risks of extremism.

The report recommended Carlton Bolling College be placed in special measures.

Faisal Khan said it was one of the few schools in Bradford working with the government's counter-terrorism initiative, Prevent.

He denied claims it only met the needs of Muslim students and restricted Religious Education to Islamic studies.

Mr Khan said: "As far we understand, we were working with Prevent and doing some good work."

The education watchdog report, which has not been published, rated the school's leadership as "inadequate".

Mr Khan called the findings "completely false".

Ofsted declined to respond to Mr Khan until the report is published.

The Ofsted inspection found the school was not doing enough to ensure equality for all pupils

A high proportion of the 1,500 students at Carlton Bolling are of minority ethnic heritage. The largest groups are of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage.

A small proportion of the pupils are classed as "white British" and a small but increasing minority are of eastern European heritage.

The report said governors met the needs of Muslim students, but did not take sufficient account of other faiths.

"The reality... is exactly the opposite to what it says in the report. All religions are taught," Mr Khan said.

"We don't just meet the needs of our Muslim children, we also need to meet the needs of our eastern European children, [which is] a growing student population.

"We have employed staff with specialist skills in eastern European languages.

"I think [Ofsted] need to explain themselves."

'Very personal'

The report said there was "deep-rooted disagreement and distrust" between the school's governors and inspectors were told Mr Khan shouted aggressively when he heard views contrary to his own.

Mr Khan said: "It wasn't an inspection, it was more like an inquisition.

"This has put me off governorship. I spent the last eight years trying to improve educational attainment for children in the area I come from.

"It feels very personal."

Bradford Council said it had asked the Department for Education for permission to put in place an interim executive board to replace the governing body.

The report comes a month after the BBC learnt teachers in Bradford claimed some governors were promoting a more Islamic ethos.