Funding for city free school is pulled at last minute (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

How as this been allowed to happen to these 30 children only days before the new school year?

Can we please ban the sack of shyte propaganda from the first post, it's getting boring seeing it on every story.

Muslim faith schools should be banned.In fact I am against all faith schools and support integration.

I suspect that there is a bit more to this than is in the report.

Parents need to take more resposibility for their children never mind passing the buck to the type of school they go to.
Kids are not born bad and passing the buck over to their school is wrong.
Whether you are christian, muslim, Jew or believe in Santa Clause shouldn't make a jot of differnance.

First of all have kids if you can afford to and bring them up in a balanced environment. If you are not in a position to support them and direct them to become responsible members of society then don't have them!!

The gentleman who is going on about Muslims needs to get a life every child in Bradford deserves the best not because of them being Muslims because there are our children. We already bend over backwards when it comes to Schools in Bradford for Muslims as every school has Hallam Meat served to its pupils did we as parents get a choice NO because its easay to do it then get you Muslim Parents complaning. I do not beleave in faith schools or private schools as its up to the education autoroties to educate our children. If you want Faith Schools build them yourselfs out of your own pocket.

I don't know, faith schools are ok but we also need to add Leprachaun schools, Unicorn riding lessons, Troll classes, Atlantis Geography, Man in the Moon mythology and any other number of imaginary being education.

Prisoner Cell Block A wrote:
I don't know, faith schools are ok but we also need to add Leprachaun schools, Unicorn riding lessons, Troll classes, Atlantis Geography, Man in the Moon mythology and any other number of imaginary being education.

Hahaha! Quite so, It amuses me when people comment on schools and they can't spell the simplest of words.

Since when did the One in A Million School become a Muslim Faith School? I agree wholeheartedly with Thee Voice of Reason's comment regarding the inappropriate posting of Mr Iftikhar Ahmad. Also I would like some clarification as to what the conditions are that have not been met? A little more incisive and clear reporting from the T&A would be welcome in this matter.

Fingloli wrote:
Since when did the One in A Million School become a Muslim Faith School? I agree wholeheartedly with Thee Voice of Reason's comment regarding the inappropriate posting of Mr Iftikhar Ahmad. Also I would like some clarification as to what the conditions are that have not been met? A little more incisive and clear reporting from the T&A would be welcome in this matter.

Yes agree particuary the last senrence.
Who will pay the staff wehilst they find new jobs and the parents the cost of uniforms etc. they will have to re buy for the schools the Council will now find them?
Find out please T&A.

Seems late in the day to be pulling the plug on funding for the One In a Million school, how sad that all the hard work Wayne Jacobs and the rest of his team did seems wasted. I wont hold my breath regarding next year either, i hope i'm wrong, but it may not happen at all now. To think i was thinking of voting Conservative next time after all the tosh they said regarding Bradford and how they would invest in the city lol. So much for Cameron and the tripe he spouted when he wanted our votes. I voted Labour with the idea of seeing what came of the Conservative promises made before the last election regarding Bradford and distict lol. So much lip service comes to mind.

i have reported the 1st post, i ask everyone else to do the same.
if any other religious group had made these comments it would be a racist and anti muslim comment.
i went to a catholic school and we did not make these comments there and we were not allowed to ban muslim children.
if you keep faiths apart thats when you get mistrust and ignorance of their beliefs.

bcfc1903 wrote:
Seems late in the day to be pulling the plug on funding for the One In a Million school, how sad that all the hard work Wayne Jacobs and the rest of his team did seems wasted. I wont hold my breath regarding next year either, i hope i'm wrong, but it may not happen at all now. To think i was thinking of voting Conservative next time after all the tosh they said regarding Bradford and how they would invest in the city lol. So much for Cameron and the tripe he spouted when he wanted our votes. I voted Labour with the idea of seeing what came of the Conservative promises made before the last election regarding Bradford and distict lol. So much lip service comes to mind.

its not the government's fault if they fail to meet the requirements set out in the beginning.
read the full story. contracts not exchanged.
they had targets to reach and failed them.
its the same as the bulls, meet the requirements.
basic business sense.
would be moaning if they gave them the money and it failed within a year.

bcfc1903 wrote:
Seems late in the day to be pulling the plug on funding for the One In a Million school, how sad that all the hard work Wayne Jacobs and the rest of his team did seems wasted. I wont hold my breath regarding next year either, i hope i'm wrong, but it may not happen at all now. To think i was thinking of voting Conservative next time after all the tosh they said regarding Bradford and how they would invest in the city lol. So much for Cameron and the tripe he spouted when he wanted our votes. I voted Labour with the idea of seeing what came of the Conservative promises made before the last election regarding Bradford and distict lol. So much lip service comes to mind.

Your also part of the problem, voting Labour or Conserative is simply voting for the same thing, broken promises.

Bradford decline under a labour government in the late 90's till when they were out of power is the biggest decline in the history of Bradford.

There is a parody on Futurama where you can vote for John Jackson or Jack Johnson. It's the same result in the end.

Thee Voice of Reason wrote:
Can we please ban the sack of shyte propaganda from the first post, it's getting boring seeing it on every story.

A policy of nothing more than being populate to accumulate!

Is this school a faith school?
Some here suggest it is and condem it for that.

Yes you are right, it seems whoever i vote for, the same thing happens locally regarding Bradford, all the money is shovelled into Leeds. Maybe 'Respect' is the answer, just kidding. I guess Bradford has to help its self, getting decent local politicians would be a great start, John Pennington is someone i have a lot of time for. For me, the riots in 2001 were a severe blow, hopefully not mortal one as i love the place warts and all.

yangyeight wrote:

bcfc1903 wrote:
Seems late in the day to be pulling the plug on funding for the One In a Million school, how sad that all the hard work Wayne Jacobs and the rest of his team did seems wasted. I wont hold my breath regarding next year either, i hope i'm wrong, but it may not happen at all now. To think i was thinking of voting Conservative next time after all the tosh they said regarding Bradford and how they would invest in the city lol. So much for Cameron and the tripe he spouted when he wanted our votes. I voted Labour with the idea of seeing what came of the Conservative promises made before the last election regarding Bradford and distict lol. So much lip service comes to mind.

its not the government's fault if they fail to meet the requirements set out in the beginning.
read the full story. contracts not exchanged.
they had targets to reach and failed them.
its the same as the bulls, meet the requirements.
basic business sense.
would be moaning if they gave them the money and it failed within a year.

I did read the full story, it's way too late to be pulling the plug on finance. I believe the first quota of pupils was going to be 50 and 30+ had signed up. These schools take time to build a reputation, i'm sure given that time the One in a Million school could have been a great success. Having pulled the plug, i've got my doubts whether the government will ever give the go ahead to this school. Yet another kick in the teeth for Bradford.

Iftikhar Ahmad says "Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are". How come Sikh and Hindu kids manage to integrate without many problems? It's not to do with race it caused by the poor kids being brainwashed in the mosques, madrassas and by their parents.
He continues to say "Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools".
No because it is the parents who teach the innocent young kids the 7th century form of islam that belongs in the dark ages.

A sad day especially for the children involved and their parents who are now left with days to get something else sorted and well after all the allocations have been done. Also a sad day for the teachers who had agreed to join the school

Another significant point is that the owners of the property (the Rhodes family and Lawn ) have not actually sold the unit as contracts have not been exchanged. Why would they let this go on for so long and, incidentally, i thought they had bought this property much later than 2006. No doubt that can be researched.

Would it not have been better for the school to be allowed to take up 30 kids and let it grow from that figure. Why was 50 such a magical figure.

Wondered why we hadn't heard from or seen Lawn for a while, the new head at the collapsed school had borrowed his suite.

Why did work start on the school before contracts had been exchanged ? I thought that if you purchased a property you couldn't alter the building - knocking walls down etc before contracts had been exchanged !

Mr Ahmed may be right in his ascertation that a Muslim Education may be advantageous to Muslim childrent - but education in Britishj Schoolsl cannot in any way be construed as responsible for terrorist events or riotous behaviour.
Integration is desirable and for that reason I would oppose all faith schools.
Ii is astonishing that funds are denied at such a late stage and it will be interesting to know the reason why.

A few questions for Mr Ahmad (though i doubt I will get a reply)

1) You start by complaining that schools have become "Exam factories" and are too focussed on grades, yet end your post suggesting single sex classes should be adopted as it will improve the grades of boys. If grades should not be focussed on, then why is this important?

2) You say that single sex classes would be better for the boys as they perform better. But what about the girls? You offer no explanation as to how this would effect thier education.

3) You state that Muslim children have as much right to be taught thier culture/religion etc as any others, which is true. But why should this take place in schools? Should this not take place at home and places of worship/religios significance? Schools should give a broad understanding of all major faiths to promote understanding between different religious groups, but should not focus on one in particular. They should not be used as a tool to sway young, impressionable minds one way or another.

4) The Jihadists. There were 300 of them and as it happened they were all western educated. But what %age of Jihadists was this? For example what if these 300 amount to 1% of the Jihadists of the world (which I imagine they don't) how many of the other 99% were Western educated. I could go and talk to 300 criminals and they could all be state educated. This doesn't mean that Private or other forms of education would stop them from being criminals. With such a small group, your statistics are completely meritless.

I can't imagine I'm going to get an answer. So, if you're not going to give one, don't spout your rhetoric.

Parz wrote:
A few questions for Mr Ahmad (though i doubt I will get a reply)

1) You start by complaining that schools have become "Exam factories" and are too focussed on grades, yet end your post suggesting single sex classes should be adopted as it will improve the grades of boys. If grades should not be focussed on, then why is this important?

2) You say that single sex classes would be better for the boys as they perform better. But what about the girls? You offer no explanation as to how this would effect thier education.

3) You state that Muslim children have as much right to be taught thier culture/religion etc as any others, which is true. But why should this take place in schools? Should this not take place at home and places of worship/religios significance? Schools should give a broad understanding of all major faiths to promote understanding between different religious groups, but should not focus on one in particular. They should not be used as a tool to sway young, impressionable minds one way or another.

4) The Jihadists. There were 300 of them and as it happened they were all western educated. But what %age of Jihadists was this? For example what if these 300 amount to 1% of the Jihadists of the world (which I imagine they don't) how many of the other 99% were Western educated. I could go and talk to 300 criminals and they could all be state educated. This doesn't mean that Private or other forms of education would stop them from being criminals. With such a small group, your statistics are completely meritless.

I can't imagine I'm going to get an answer. So, if you're not going to give one, don't spout your rhetoric.

"You say that single sex classes would be better for the boys as they perform better. But what about the girls? You offer no explanation as to how this would effect thier education."
Fundamentalists don't believe in the education of women.

Parz - you indicated that boys and girls have a similar status - I am unsure.
I agree with your comments about where culture shoul be taught.
Your last comment is factual
Not a reply but a gesture of support.

ALL faith "schools" should be banned, regardless of which medieval, backward theology they brainwash children with.
This is Tony "God told me to bomb Iraq" Blair's legacy.
Why should the taxpayer be fleeced to fund them?
I just hope this doesn't hurt BCFC financially.

Iftikhar_Ahmad wrote:
Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline.

Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted.

The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands.

None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes.
Iftikhar Ahmad

"The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes."

Possibly so, but where's the fun in that? And how does gender segregation at school lead to better and more harmonious relationships between males and females in our society? School is not just about academic achievement or exam results, it is more to do with preparing for life and hopefully aiding people to become good citizens, isn't it?

There should be no such thing as free or private schools. All education should be run and funded by the State, and no one ought to be able to pick and choose which school to send their kids to.

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:

Iftikhar_Ahmad wrote:
Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline.

Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted.

The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands.

None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes.
Iftikhar Ahmad

"The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes."

Possibly so, but where's the fun in that? And how does gender segregation at school lead to better and more harmonious relationships between males and females in our society? School is not just about academic achievement or exam results, it is more to do with preparing for life and hopefully aiding people to become good citizens, isn't it?

"fun"? "harmonious relationships"? In the world of Ifti such things don't exist.

if Iftikhar Ahmed is so upset and wishes to leave the country . We will all have a wip round to pay his air fare. Don't need his kind in Bradford, always expecting better things for Muslims over any other faith. We are all equal, we are not playing your game mate.

truarts rellim wrote:
if Iftikhar Ahmed is so upset and wishes to leave the country . We will all have a wip round to pay his air fare. Don't need his kind in Bradford, always expecting better things for Muslims over any other faith. We are all equal, we are not playing your game mate.

He isn't in Bradford, he appears on forums nation wide whenever he can stick his spoke in.

I don't get the first post on this thread, One in a Million isn't a faith school...strange post, it must be a copy and paste job.

Wayne Jacobs and his hard working team deserved far better than this shabby treatment from the Government. An absolute disgrace.

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:

Iftikhar_Ahmad wrote: Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline. Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted. The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim. There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands. None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes. Iftikhar Ahmad

"The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes." Possibly so, but where's the fun in that? And how does gender segregation at school lead to better and more harmonious relationships between males and females in our society? School is not just about academic achievement or exam results, it is more to do with preparing for life and hopefully aiding people to become good citizens, isn't it?

A communist talking to an islamist!

what has racism to do with this story:it is a sad day that a charitable fund has been shot off at the knees just days before it is due to open to educate 30 kids who, along with their parents, bought into this idea. They are now facing problems getting a new school!

Saltaire Bantam wrote:

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:

Iftikhar_Ahmad wrote: Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline. Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted. The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim. There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands. None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes. Iftikhar Ahmad

"The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes." Possibly so, but where's the fun in that? And how does gender segregation at school lead to better and more harmonious relationships between males and females in our society? School is not just about academic achievement or exam results, it is more to do with preparing for life and hopefully aiding people to become good citizens, isn't it?

A communist talking to an islamist!

Christian Socialist, actually.

Wasn't this an offshot of the Church On The Hill overlooking VP. Jacobs couldn't manage a fourth division football club so what chance of a school.

Why do we bring faith into everything? why not discuss the artical and do somthing to get this school up and running coz i met the team behind it and quite liked the concept on this school.

Iftikhar_Ahmad wrote:
Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline. Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted. The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim. There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands. None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes. Iftikhar Ahmad

You say bilingual Muslims and all faith groups have the right to understand their culture, which I completely agree with, but (a) shouldn't thisapply to monolingual Muslims as well and (b) why does this need to be state funded? Surely you talking about your family heritage, your experiences and your beliefs with them is the only way of introducing them to this. (c) If you had a roomful of 300 parents from a school you would get 300 definitions of what culture, or in this case Muslim culture, is. What happens then if you are one of the parents who don't like the consensus reached about what constitutes your shared culture?

Aside from this, the questions I would ask of people around Free Schools are what exactly will you do differently to the Council (you have a plan presumably) and how much control do you think a Local Authority actually has over maintained schools? Legally, I know they are the responsible body, but they have little influence over what actually goes on day to day in the school. You are just substituting one legally responsible body for another except this way your parent body get all the pleasure of working with the DFE, OFSTED, doing the safeguarding, all the paperwork, admissions policies, education policies setting a curriculum as well as all the other aspects of managing a business. If your parents group is up for all that, good luck, I hope you are a success, I am sure some Free Schools will be, but be clear about what you are getting into - you will be the people 'in the dock' if something horrific happens.

All parents (this is not about faith/culture) have a greater responsibility around education, and attitude to education than whatever educational setting your kids are in, and you can always become a governor of a maintained school (as well as setting up a free school) to influence what the school does that way, but until parents accept and deliver their responsibilities instead of relying on the state (be it in the form of a free school, academy, maintained school, trust school, college, government funded private training provider, special school, PRU, etc etc etc) anything else is tinkering around the edges and significant improvement in standards will not be forthcoming.

Oh and as for your survey the latest UKCES one (which is a far bigger sample than the CBI one, which I guess you are referring to although you didn't reveal your 'source', and the UKCES one is more recent) showed more business were satisfied than not with young people they recruited directly from education, it just doesn't fit with the various myths the media like to perpetuate about young people in this country so noone made much of a fuss about it.

rash86 wrote:
Why do we bring faith into everything? why not discuss the artical and do somthing to get this school up and running coz i met the team behind it and quite liked the concept on this school.

It was Iftikhar_Ahmad who brought up the subject of Faith. Others have merely responded to his comment.

BTW, it's 'article', not "artical", and 'something', not "somthing", oh and, 'of this school', not "on this school". Which school did you go to?

Personally, I'm more taken with the concept of State-run education, rather than free-for-alls like this one.

Iftikhar_Ahmad wrote:
Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline.

Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted.

The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands.

None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes.
Iftikhar Ahmad

Oh dear here we go... Iftikar how deluded are you? Other minorities in this Country are very successful - for instance the Chinese - the highest school achievers. Sadly we Muslims confuse culture and faith. If its is our culture not to give our children aspiration, encouragement to explore and other life skills then how will they move on. You need to take a look at educated successful Muslims and those that are not! There is a gulf in values. Those that won't educate their daughters - marry them into family from the sub-continent - this process is a self fulfilling prophecy.

We need to hold the mirror up. Muslims are killing Muslims all over the world - in the name of faith and religion. This is not being done to us, its being done by us.

Lets move on. Through tolerance we can build our respect and also reinstate the qualities of a good Muslim.