A school in rural Lincolnshire has been marked down by government inspectors for being ‘too English’.
Middle Rasen Primary School, which is in market town on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds and has a 97 per cent white population, was told it did not have enough black and Asian children.
According to the Daily Express, the school won huge praise from Ofsted for the quality of its management, teaching and pupils but missed out on an “outstanding” grade because the youngsters’ limited “cultural development.”
The remarks angered parents of children who attend the school who say it has been “victimised”.
Mother-of-two Kirsty Egen, 29, said: “I think it’s ridiculous. I have no doubt that if there were non-white children attending they would make sure they were accommodated and the children interacted.”
“They can’t force people to come” she added. “It seems very vindictive to mark them down for something they cannot change.”
Victoria Ayling, UKIP candidate for Grimsby in Lincolnshire asked: “Has it escaped anyone’s notice that Middle Rasen is in England?
“What do the government propose the school do? Are they going to force ethnic minority families to move to Lincolnshire to meet quotas?” she said.
Another outraged parent, Jodie Miller whose son attends the school said: “We are a small rural community in Lincolnshire, there just aren’t many children here from different backgrounds. The staff can’t just wander the streets forcing people to come and attend.
“There are only around 100 pupils in the school overall. You can’t expect there to be that many from minorities in that number. It’s bizarre to punish them for being too English.”
Her views were backed up by Tina Green, who pointed out that the school did have ethnic pupils attending, but pointed out “it’s just that not many ethnic people live around here, but that is an entirely different matter.”
The Headteacher Melonie Brunton blamed the comments on a “backlash” following the Birmingham Trojan Horse scandal.
“We would have liked to be ‘outstanding’ but we were very pleased to have got the very positive comments.” she said, saying that, “Everybody, the staff and the pupils have worked hard. The problem is that we are a rural Lincolnshire school and that is always going to be an issue. We try to do things but not enough.”
The recent ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal in Birmingham saw Islamic groups take over boards of governors and force out teachers unwilling to support hardline Muslim ideals.
Ofsted criticised the schools involved for giving pupils “a narrow world view.”
“The report highlights a small number of areas where the school should look to improve” a spokesman said.
“In terms of cultural development, all schools must teach pupils about fundamental British values including mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. That way they will be prepared for the future wherever they go.”
Middle Rasen school was handed a satisfactory rating during their last inspection in December 2012.
In their latest report they were praised for their vast improvements but were handed a “good” grade rather than “outstanding” after being told to boost pupils’ understanding of the “cultural diversity” in modern Britain.