Ofsted chief tells faith schools to teach ‘British values’

THE CHIEF regulator for education in England and Wales has said some faith schools have not done enough to promote social cohesion and provide multicultural teaching.

Head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw told the Education Select Committee of the House of Commons this week that he believed making sure that all schools were working towards making British society more cohesive was one of the most important tasks at the current time for his office.

The issue has come into sharp focus following the Trojan Horse affair, which saw infiltration of schools in Birmingham by Islamic fundamentalists. Sir Michael, a former teacher in Catholic schools and a Catholic himself, assured MPs on the committee that his inspectors are quite clear about the need for faith schools to teach what have been termed “British values”.

“That applies particularly to schools in mono-cultural areas,” he said. “All schools, whether secular schools or faith schools, have a big responsibility to ensure that they teach British values … and give them access to knowledge about different faiths, communities and cultures.” Sir Michael told MPs that he had been head of a Catholic school in inner London for 18 years, saying: “We were in a part of the world with a large Asian community, a large Muslim community. Of course we taught the central tenets of the Catholic faith, promoted the liturgy … but I made sure that a percentage of time was given over to talking about the other communities and their other faiths.”

In December the Catholic?Education Service (CES) asked Ofsted  to apologise for downgrading a Catholic secondary for allegedly failing to fulfil new British values requirements.