A new 'cut-price' private school with a Christian ethos that has been reported in the Sun and the Telegraph is being established by a former head of a school which was placed in special measures by an Ofsted team that branded it 'inadequate'.
This September will see the launch of The Independent Grammar School: Durham, which will charge parents £52 per week, or £2,700 per year, for a 'traditional private education without the frills'.
The school is being set up by Professor James Tooley, a professor of education policy at Newcastle University, and Chris Gray, the former principal of Grindon Hall Christian School in Sunderland, who will be the headmaster.
That school was accused of failing to tackle prejudice among pupils or to prepare them for life in modern Britain. In January 2015, inspectors downgraded the school to 'inadequate' from 2014's ranking of 'requires improvement'.
The Ofsted report said that there were weaknesses in the school's safeguarding and recruitment policies and that 'The curriculum does not adequately prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.'
It added that 'Pupils show a lack of respect and tolerance towards those who belong to different faiths, cultures or communities.' It also said that prejudice-based bullying is not tackled effectively and that 'Discrimination through racist or homophobic language persists.' It added that teachers do not have high enough expectations of students and that behaviour requires improvement.
The report followed an inspection in November 2014 about which Gray wrote a formal letter of complaint, saying that 'the tenor of the inspection was negative and hostile at every stage, as if the data collected had to fit a pre-determined outcome'. He complained about inappropriate, upsetting and intrusive questions asked of the children including questions about homosexuality, and included evidence from sixth formers who said that they felt the inspectors had set out to target the school's Christian ethos.
In a statement after the Ofsted report was released Gray said: 'Anyone who places our May 2014 Ofsted report alongside the January 2015 report would think they were talking about two different schools. There have been no major changes of staffing, pupils or policy to account for the difference. The difference was the introduction of the widely discredited "British Values" rules and the aggressive attitude of the inspection team.'
He criticised the inspectors for implying that non-Christian festivals should be celebrated, saying: 'The questioning by inspectors makes clear that their idea of a balanced curriculum is for us to force pupils to celebrate non-Christian religious festivals. This would breach our Christian foundation which stipulates that we are a Christian school. It would certainly offend against the consciences of many of our staff, pupils and parents. No one should be told by a government official to celebrate any religion. Learn about it, yes. Celebrate its festivals, no.'
Asked about whether he was concerned by the Ofsted report, Professor Tooley told Christian Today: 'I was very much aware of that experience and it is all water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. We [Tooley and Gray] are doing this really interesting project together which is a different project.'
Asked about claims that the school failed to tackle prejudice among pupils at the school, Professor Tooley said: 'You have to read in the round the things that were going on – but as far as I'm concerned there is no comment about that at all.'
