This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Free school principal leaves post
by Fiona Dryden
The principal of Leicester's first free school has left after less than two years in the post.
Christopher Spall took up the job at Krishna Avanti Primary, in Spencefield Lane, Evington, when the school was launched in September 2011.
Occupying part of the former Leicester Grammar Junior site, the school has a Hindu ethos, but takes youngsters from all faiths.
The appointment of Mr Spall, a Christian, was seen as evidence of the school's commitment to welcoming everyone, regardless of religious background. He had been head teacher at an international primary school in Kuwait and taught in Basildon and at Loretto, a school in Scotland.
The Mercury was unable to contact Mr Spall, but chairman of governors, Pradip Gajjar, said he had left for personal reasons.
He said: "We are very grateful for the time he has been able to give to us, helping to launch the school and seeing it through to its successful second year. We were very thankful for his leadership."
Mr Spall left his post at Easter, following an official opening of the school by Education Secretary Michael Gove. Interim head, Sally Hughes, has now taken over.
Mr Gajjar said: "Sally has extensive headship experience and has delivered outstanding results. Parents were informed quickly.
"We are now looking for someone to fill this as a permanent role."
Krishna Avanti Primary was set up by The I-Foundation, which runs a school in Harrow, North London, using capital funding from the Government.
Free schools can be set up by charities, universities, businesses, teachers and parents and can set their own curriculum. However, Krishna Avanti follows the national curriculum.
An advert for the head teacher role placed by the school in the Times Education Supplement states: "The role will entail leading the school to outstanding and beyond. This is a unique opportunity to help lay the foundations of a growing and innovative school."
For more information, call Mr Gajjar on 07812 586790.
www.krishna- avanti-leicester.org.uk
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Education Secretary opens free school
Education Secretary Michael Gove unveiled a plaque at a school yesterday to mark its official opening.
The minister was at Leicester's first free school, Krishna Avanti, in Evington, where he cut a ribbon in front of guests and pupils, including Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.
Mr Gove pioneered the free school concept in which parents, charitable groups and others can bid to set up a school.
Krishna Avanti was set up by the Hindu-based Avanti School's Trust in September 2011, using £4.5 million of Government funding.
Mr Gove spoke about the "inclusive" nature of the school, which takes pupils from all faiths.
Head teacher Christopher Spall said: "It was great to have the minister here and to celebrate the opening with guests from across the city's faiths.
"It also gave us a chance to show off the facilities and to thank all those who helped bring the school together."
I'm privileged this morning to have been invited by the Governing Body of Krishna Avanti Primary School to attend the official opening of the school, in the presence of guest of honour The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education.
Krishna Avanti Primary School is housed in Evington Hall (a Grade II Listed Building) which was built in 1835 as the home of the Sheriff of Leicester. Set in five acres of of lush grounds, the spacious site provides an ideal environment for learning and play. The hall was previously home to Leicester Grammar Junior School. There has been a major refurbishment and new build programme which combines the very latest in modern design with the heritage of Evington Hall.
Keith Vaz MP (in whose constituency the school lies) acts as MC for the visit. Mr Gove's car is about half an hour late, which gives guests more time than we expected to mix and mingle in the cold outside the front entrance to the school.
Once Mr Gove arrives, it's hard to get a decent photo of him, despite my best efforts (witness exhibit A, above, where Mr Gove's face is obscured by the furry microphone on Nick Harmer's video camera). I have more luck getting a shot of Mr Gove leaving (exhibit B, below).
The Minister's visit is covered extensively in the local media (see reports in the Leicester Mercury before and after, reproduced in this blog) and on the school's website.
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Education Secretary to visit Leicester's first free school
Education Secretary Michael Gove was due to officially open Leicester's first free school today.
Mr Gove pioneered the free school concept and will visit Krishna Avanti, in Spencefield Lane, Evington, to unveil a plaque at the site.
The Hindu free school, which was set up by the Avanti School's Trust in September 2011, takes pupils from all faiths but has a Hindu ethos.
Some £4.5 million was granted by the Department for Education to the trust to buy and develop the school in the grade II-listed building, formerly occupied by Leicester Grammar Juniors.
A contribution of £200,000 was also made by the trust.
Mr Gove said: "Free schools such as Krishna Avanti are helping to raise standards across the country.
"Krishna Avanti provides an inclusive education with a special Hindu ethos that is rightly popular with parents and I'm delighted to have this opportunity to meet the staff and children."
Krishna Avanti was created under the Government's new education agenda where parents, charitable groups and others can bid to set up a school, providing they demonstrate the ability to do so.
Although free schools don't have to follow the national curriculum, Krishna Avanti does.
It is funded via the local education authority in the same way as most schools, but money goes directly to the school and no cash is retained by the city council for central services.
Three free schools in London are also run by the trust.
Leicester East MP Keith Vaz will also be at the site for its official opening.
John Simpson, chairman of the trust, said: "We're pleased Michael Gove and Keith Vaz have accepted to formally open Krishna Avanti.
The trust now has four schools in its family, each of which are committed to providing a distinctive high quality education."
Mr Vaz said: "I'm delighted that despite his busy schedule, Mr Gove is coming here. I want to pay tribute to Krishna Avanti, who worked long and hard to acquire this school, and for the land to remain as an education site. This is a symbol of what makes Leicester so special."
Finishing touches to the school were made at the end of last year. It now has two new classroom blocks added to the building and a worship hall which doubles up as a dining area.
A large plaza has also been created. The grade II-listed building has been repainted throughout and new carpets added.
This article appears on the website of the Guardian today: "Anti-gay" book puts Gove at centre of faith school teaching row
Education secretary says Equality Act does not extend to school curriculum – allowing faith schools to use homophobic material
By Jamie Doward
Michael Gove, the education secretary, is at the centre of an escalating row over how faith schools discuss homosexuality in sex education classes.
The TUC has accused Gove of failing in his legal duties by insisting that equality laws, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, do not extend to the school curriculum.
The TUC complains that the current situation sends mixed signals to the playground, because schools are legally obliged to condemn discrimination on sexual-orientation grounds but free to use religious materials that equality campaigners claim is homophobic.
Brendan Barber, the TUC's general secretary, wrote to Gove in December expressing alarm that a booklet containing "homophobic material" had been distributed by a US preacher after talks to pupils at Roman Catholic schools across the Lancashire region in 2010.
The booklet, "Pure Manhood: How to become the man God wants you to be", discusses a boy dealing with "homosexual attractions" which it suggested may "stem from an unhealthy relationship with his father, an inability to relate to other guys, or even sexual abuse".
The booklet, which claims that "scientifically speaking, safe sex is a joke", explains that "the homosexual act is disordered, much like contraceptive sex between heterosexuals. Both acts are directed against God's natural purpose for sex – babies and bonding."
Referring to the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination against individuals, Barber said: "Schools now have a legal duty to challenge all forms of prejudice. Such literature undermines this completely."
But Gove insists: "The education provisions of the Equality Act 2010which prohibit discrimination against individuals based on their protected characteristics (including their sexual orientation) do not extend to the content of the curriculum. Any materials used in sex and relationship education lessons, therefore, will not be subject to the discrimination provisions of the act."
Gove's response has triggered anger from the TUC. "Having written to the education secretary to express our worry about the distribution of homophobic literature in faith schools, his lack of concern is very alarming," Barber said.
A DfE spokesman insisted: "Any school engaging in the promotion of homophobic material would be acting unlawfully." But the row highlights a grey area over the teaching of sex education. A review intended to provide new guidelines on what was appropriate for schools to teach was kicked into the long grass when the last election was called.
"It would certainly be helpful if there was clarity as to what is appropriate for young people of all ages," said Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights group Stonewall. "The water could no longer be muddied by people pushing age-inappropriate sex material on the one hand and fundamentalist anti-gay religious materials on the other."
The row comes at the end of an extraordinary week in which the role of religion in society has come under acute scrutiny.
The chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, said religious rules should be left "at the door of the temple" and give way to the "public law" laid down by parliament. Phillips said: "Once you start to provide public services that have to be run under public rules – for example, child protection – then it has to go with public law." Phillips spoke out after Baroness Warsi, the Tory minister, warned Britain was under threat from a rising tide of "militant secularisation".
Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, warned that Christianity was being marginalised. Days earlier, the high court ruled that councils had no statutory power to hold prayers in meetings, while the Christian owners of a bed-and-breakfast lost an appeal against a ruling that their policy of restricting double rooms to married couples discriminated against a gay couple.
Concerns that faith matters are being marginalised at school has prompted the creation of a new coalition of faith groups and politicians. The Religious Education Council of England and Wales is to back the creation of an all-party parliamentary group that will focus on protecting religious education in schools and stressing its value to young people.
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Leicester's Hindu school is a beacon, says Education Secretary Michael Gove
By Joseph Watts, Parliamentary Correspondent
Education Secretary Michael Gove praised a state-funded Hindu school as "a beacon" today, commending its founders' goal of helping children become "model British citizens".
Mr Gove said the opening of Krishna Avanti School, in Evington, Leicester, demonstrated the extent to which Hindus had integrated into British society.
He said: "I see Krishna Avanti School as a beacon and everything that I've heard about it makes me think that it's a fantastic option.
"I know that there have been people who have been working with the school from north London who are Christian, Jewish and Hindu and I think that reflects the fact that British Hindus are an immensely well-integrated section of our society and are making fantastic accomplishments.
"As well as recognising what is special and distinctive and cherishable about British Indian culture, it's also the case that the people behind this school want to make sure the children grow up as model British citizens."
The school, which aims to have an eventual capacity of 420 pupils, opened on Thursday.
Children of all faiths can attend the school, which currently has one Sikh and one Muslim pupil, though its first intake is predominantly Hindu.
Head teacher Christopher Spall is a Christian.
Pradip Gajjar, chairman of governors said: "I think Mr Gove captures our ethos very well.
"Our whole objective is to use the backdrop of the national curriculum to provide educational excellence through academic achievement.
"But we also want to focus on the character of the children and their spiritual experience."
Free schools were introduced by the Government. They are state funded but outside local authority control.
Any educational, community, faith or charity group can apply for funding to set up a school. Krishna Avanti was among the first 24 to open in the UK this month.
Opponents have argued that by promoting faith schools the Government could encourage segregation or allow extremism to take root.
Mr Gove said: "We have been clear that faith schools must have admissions rules which mean they can only select 50 per cent of their students on the basis of their faith.
"Secondly, we've been very clear that any extremist or fundamentalist organisation should not be allowed to open a school.
"Thirdly, faith schools run by mainstream representatives of mainstream faiths are a force for good.
"Church of England, Roman Catholic and Jewish schools have been part of the educational fabric for 100 years and they are hugely popular.
"I don't see any reason why you can't have Sikh, Hindu and Muslim schools that are also exemplary.
"If any school is proposed by anyone with a separatist agenda or taken over by anyone that's got a separatist agenda, we'll come down on them like a ton of bricks."
