{"id":178157,"date":"2023-03-09T12:21:42","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T12:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=178157"},"modified":"2023-03-11T13:41:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T13:41:47","slug":"dfe-snubs-braverman-pledge-for-new-blasphemy-guidance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/dfe-snubs-braverman-pledge-for-new-blasphemy-guidance\/","title":{"rendered":"DfE snubs Braverman pledge for new blasphemy guidance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department for Education will not publish new guidance on blasphemy in schools, despite the home secretary pledging to do so earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suella Braverman had said she would work<\/a> with the DfE \u201cto issue new guidance\u201d after four children at a Wakefield school were suspended when a copy of the Quran was damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police recorded a hate incident, but said no crimes were committed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy who reportedly brought the Islamic text in has \u201chigh functioning\u201d autism and received \u201cdeath threats\u201d over the incident, according to the BBC<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick Gibb, schools minister, intervened last week saying the threats were \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update: The Home Office has since U-turned on guidance, read story here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a column for The Times<\/a><\/em>, Braverman said the education sector and police have \u201ca duty\u201d to prioritise the physical safety of children \u201cover the hurt feelings of adults\u201d, adding schools \u201cdo not have to answer to self-appointed community activists\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braverman, who co-founded Michaela Community School in west London, said she would \u201cwork with\u201d the DfE \u201cto issue new guidance spelling this out\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the DfE told Schools Week<\/em> they \u201cdo not plan to issue additional guidance on managing blasphemy related incidents\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said there is a range of existing guidance \u2013 such as on behaviour, exclusions and the political impartiality \u2013 to help schools make decisions on how to meet \u201cthe needs of their pupils and to manage and resolve concerns and complaints\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Braverman's
Braverman’s comments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When asked for clarity, the Home Office pointed us back to the DfE\u2019s comment and did not provide further information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tudor Griffiths, head of Kettlethorpe High School, said about the incident on February 23 that the book remained \u201cfully intact and that our initial enquiries indicate there was no malicious intent by those involved\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, we have made it very clear that their actions did not treat the Quran with the respect it should have, so those involved have been suspended and we will be working with them to ensure they understand why their actions were unacceptable.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school met with local Muslim community leaders, local councillors and police to show the \u201cimmediate steps we have taken to reinforce the values and behaviour we expect from every member of this school community to ensure that all religions are respected\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Yorkshire Police said they also received a malicious communications offence over threats being made to a child. The suspect, also a child, was given \u201cwords of advice\u201d by an officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gibb wrote to the headteacher and council to \u201coffer\u201d his support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said there is no blasphemy law and \u201cschools should be promoting fundamental British values of the respect for rule of law, individual liberty and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanists UK has urged DfE to issue guidance to schools \u201cmaking clear that \u2018blasphemy\u2019 shouldn\u2019t be censored when explored in a lesson in a sensitive way or in normal interactions between pupils\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The under-fire home secretary had promised new advice amid row over damaged Quran school pupil suspensions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311127,"featured_media":178163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[28,695,890,3025],"post-theme":[2398],"class_list":["post-178157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-dfe","tag-home-office","tag-schools","tag-suella-braverman","post-theme-schools"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t