Bradford councillors to discuss report into illegal schools

The work will include asking police to watch out for warnings signs like parking issues in residential areas and the “gathering of pupils in particular uniform” in non-school settings.

Earlier this year, then Ofsted Chief Sir Michael Wilshaw raised the problem of children taught in unregistered and illegal schools, and claimed Bradford Council had been “naive” over its handling of the issue.

His criticisms led to a backlash from councillors from all parties, who questioned if it was actually a genuine problem in Bradford, and pointing to the fact that Sir Michael had not given any examples of such illegal schools.

At a meeting of the council’s Children’s Services Scrutiny on Wednesday, councillors will be presented with a report looking at the issue.

Written by Judith Kirk, deputy director of children’s services, it suggests the council work closer with other organisations, such as the police, to “respond to any education organisation that may be operating illegally, either knowingly or unknowingly.”

It reveals that in the district there are 164 supplementary schools that are properly registered with the council and adopt “effective” safeguarding practices.

Such schools tend to cater to religious, cultural, linguist education, with most teaching outside regular school hours.

The report discusses how the council has organised police briefings to discuss how they can help identify any illegal schools.

It says: “The briefings will highlight to police staff what the signs of CME (children missing from education) are and how to report concerns. This will include asking very brief questions on any home visits i.e. if a child is present during school hours, asking what school the child attends or why they are not in the school.

"This data will be fed through to the Education Safeguarding Team for the relevant safeguarding checks to be made.

“These briefings will also include what the signs an unregistered school may be operating, for example, parking issues in a residential areas, early morning or late afternoon, gathering of pupils in particular uniform this may include religious dress, this may indicate no formal educational establishment operating. These briefings will also be rolled out to council ward officers.”

It also reveals that officers are working with other councils “who have a similar demographic to Bradford” to learn from their experiences in discovering possible unregistered schools.

The committee will also receive a report on the scale of home schooling in the district at the same meeting, which starts at 4.30pm in City Hall.

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