Photo: Alansplodge, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Teachers at an east London primary school are facing abuse and threats of violence after a pupil was told he could not wear a Palestine badge to school.
Barclay Primary in Leyton was forced to close early for Christmas after protests at the school gates sparked by a TikTok video claiming that the eight year-old had been bullied by teachers.
In response, the school sent several letters to parents insisting its rules would not allow items of clothing demonstrating any political allegiance. But the boy’s mother, who is from Gaza, said this was wrong because her son should be permitted “to show empathy for his dead relatives and friends” in the Middle East.
The school has since received a bomb threat, which London’s Metropolitan Police said it was taking “incredibly seriously.” The escalating situation has led school leaders to consider closing the building and returning to (inferior) online learning.
In a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, school leaders say that “this is the option of last resort—but please be aware that, should staff continue to be threatened, then we will have no option but to close the school.” A staff member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also told the paper:
Staff are being intimidated, bullied, abused, threatened and confronted as a result of misinformation and manipulation of the trust for this agenda.
The bomb threat that was made during the Christmas holiday led to the police being at the school in January for the first week of school, with more anxiety for staff. This has been further escalated by a recent arson threat and severe threats of violence and abuse of staff over the past weeks.
I personally am scared for my safety and all staff within the school.
Officially, the school has accused media outlets of “escalating” the row by publishing “malicious fabrications,” and is unwilling to offer further comment. Parents in the London Borough of Waltham Forest are divided over the issue, while the school protests have included many non-parent activists.
While pushing the sensitives of particular groups to the fore, the ongoing controversies undermine adult control over pupil behaviour and destroy trust between schools and parents.
Others have linked this episode to a string of recent threats to a number of schools accused of mistreating Muslim pupils.
Another London school featured in the headlines this month following allegations of Islamophobia and another ‘bomb hoax’ that came after its headteacher was “forced” to ban Muslim prayers due to teachers being racially harassed.
A teacher who received death threats from Islamic extremists after showing his West Yorkshire pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed during a religious education class is also still in hiding two years after his 2021 suspension. A study later found that up to one in five teachers are self-censoring for fear of offending Muslim pupils following this incident.
In light of the Yorkshire and more recent London rows, GB News presenter Martin Daubney asked: “How much more religious bullying can Britain take?” Steven Edginton, a journalist at the Telegraph, added that “diversity and multiculturalism are a weakness that result in nasty episodes like this.”
Despite claims to the contrary, Barclay Primary continues to stress that “no child has been suspended or excluded by the school through issues arising with the uniform policy.”