Al-Madinah: why is Muslim free school being closed?

PART of the troubled Al-Madinah Muslim free school will be closed after an Ofsted report warned that it was in "chaos". The Derby school, which was previously accused of segregating its pupils by gender and forcing its female teachers to wear the hijab, will stop teaching secondary school students after the summer term.

How did this all start?

In September last year, a number of female teachers at Al-Madinah School claimed they were being told to wear a hijab. The school, which opened in September 2012 for pupils aged four to 16, was already under investigation by the Education Funding Agency over alleged financial irregularities. A dress code for staff, leaked to the Derby Telegraph, stated female teachers should have only their faces, hands and feet visible. It was also claimed that girls had to sit at the back of classes and that staff could not take non-halal food into school.

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What happened next?

The accusations of discrimination, along with concerns over teaching standards, prompted an Ofsted inspection to be brought forward to 1 October. The BBC reported that its findings were so damning the acting head-teacher at the school had little choice but to shut it down immediately. The school claimed the move was due to a "health and safety issue" and re-opened a week later, on 7 October.

What did the Ofsted inspection find?

The report gave the school the lowest ranking of "inadequate" in every category, from the quality of teaching and leadership to the achievement and safety of pupils. It said that boys and girls eat lunch in separate sittings, although the school put this down to the small size of the canteen. Older boys and girls were seated on opposite sides of the classrooms, while younger children sat together. The report concluded: "This school is dysfunctional. The basic systems and processes a school needs to operate well are not in place. The school is in chaos and reliant on the goodwill of an interim principal to prevent it totally collapsing."

Why is it being closed now?

Al-Madinah was placed in special measures last year, meaning that it would undergo a two-year programme in which it was regularly inspected by Ofsted at short-notice. But schools minister Lord Nash today said it would “simply not be in the interests of parents or pupils at the secondary school to continue to fund provision which has failed them in the manner now apparent”. It will close at the end of the summer term with support promised to help the 137 pupils find new schools. Nash said the move would allow the trust to focus on the primary school.

What is the impact on the free school scheme?

The fiasco is likely to cause embarrassment for Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, who introduced free schools in 2010. In England there are more than 170 free schools, which operate outside local authority control but qualify for state funding. Today, Labour's shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, tweeted: “Al-Madinah symbolises everything wrong with free school programme: unqualified teachers and a complete lack of local oversight over schools.” A Department for Education spokesperson said the “vast majority of free schools are performing well but where we have found failure we have acted swiftly and decisively”.