THE governors at a Bradford school that "failed to give attention to potential risks posed by extremism" have been sacked by Bradford Council.

The Department of Education gave the go ahead for the authority to remove the governors of Carlton Bolling College yesterday - just as a critical report by education watchdog Ofsted was published.

Ofsted Inspectors visited the school last month after concerns were raised about the Undercliffe school's governance and safeguarding regime.

As a result of the inspection, the school has been downgraded from "good" to "inadequate".

The school, which has a majority of Muslim pupils, will now be run by an Interim Executive Board until a new governing body is appointed.

The report said that the school's governing body, led by chairman of governors and Bradford Councillor Faisal Khan, was "an obstacle to improvement" and that there was "deep rooted distrust between governors".

Inspectors were told that Cllr Khan had "shouted aggressively is response to the expression of views contrary to his own", the report states.

A third of staff who spoke to inspectors said the school was not well managed, and some said they were afraid of speaking out publicly.

Other criticisms included in the report were that:

* A proposed mixed residential trip to London was axed by governors

* Governors had pushed for the narrowing of the geography curriculum and for Religious Education to only study Islam

* Eastern European pupils claimed they had been subject to racist name calling

The report states: "The college does not protect students from the possible risks exposed by extremism well enough" and that they don't have opportunities to understand how to recognise extremist views

It adds, although the needs of Muslim students are met, decisions "do not take account of other faiths".

Councillor Ralph Berry, executive for children's services on the Council, said: "The quality of children's education is our main concern and we will act in cases where governing bodies are preventing schools from moving forward.

"It is a school that has some real strengths and I'm sure the school will get back to good or outstanding in the not too distant future.

"Not all governors are responsible for this, but we have no option other than remove the entire governing body.

"In my 30 years of education I have never known a school where every single teaching appointment is made by the governors."

Cllr Berry said he was not totally convinced with some of the comments by inspectors on the lack of teaching about other faiths and cultures, pointing out that the school had taken part in the Anne Frank Ambassadors programme and recently held a Gypsy/Roma history week.

Cllr Khan (Ind, Bradford Moor) was not available for comment yesterday, but after the report was leaked earlier this week he claimed the Ofsted inspectors had made their minds up before they had conducted their inspection, saying: “It wasn’t an inspection, it was an inquisition.”

He said inspectors had asked one hijab-wearing pupil whether anyone was making her wear the headscarf. When she said no, Cllr Khan claimed they proceeded to ask her the same question in different ways three more times.

A Department for Education spokesman said last night: “All schools are subject to a tough inspection regime and as we have repeatedly demonstrated, we will not hesitate to take firm and swift action where failings are found.

“We have approved an application from the local authority to remove the governing body at Carlton Bolling and put an Interim Executive Board in place. The immediate task for the board will be to take swift action to address the issues raised in Ofsted’s report.”

The Council is still waiting to hear if it will be granted an IEB for St Luke's Church of England school, which was also criticised by Ofsted for its governance - leading to its governing body standing down.