Counter terrorism police investigate fears of a 'Trojan Horse-style' plot at a primary school where the headteacher is forced to work from home because of threats from Muslim parents
- Trish O'Donnell, of Clarksfield Primary School in Oldham, has been threatened
- She has endured 'harassment and intimidation' by conservative Muslim parents
- It is feared they are making a 'Trojan Horse' attempt to Islamicise the school
- Furious parents have complained that the way she dresses is 'unsuitable'
Counter-terrorism police are investigating claims a primary school headteacher has been forced to work from home after death threats from Muslim parents who hate her western values.
Trish O'Donnell, head of Clarksfield Primary School in Oldham, has endured 'harassment and intimidation' in the form of 'aggressive verbal abuse' and 'threats to blow up her car' from parents pushing conservative Muslim ideals.
It is feared they are making a 'Trojan Horse' attempt to Islamicise the school.
Trish O'Donnell, head of Clarksfield Primary School (pictured) in Oldham, has endured 'harassment and intimidation'
Parents have complained the way she dresses is 'unsuitable' and that pictures of her daughters in her office are 'offensive'.
The school is mostly filled with Pakistani pupils who do not speak English as a first language. A section of its website titled British values only read: 'coming soon'.
Since becoming head in 2006, Mrs O'Donnell has taken the school Ofsted rating from needing improvement to good.
But now she feels her position is untenable due to the pressure from Muslim parents trying to change the school from within and may be working from home.
Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, said the duty placed on teachers to carry out the Government's counter-terrorism Prevent strategy was 'fraught with difficulties.'
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News she said: 'I understand that investigations into harassment of the headteacher at Clarksfield Primary School have been undertaken by Oldham Council and also Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
'I also understand that allegations that this amounted to a 'Trojan horse' plot have been investigated by Oldham Council, linking in with GMP's Counter Terrorism Unit, and the Department for Education's Compliance Unit, who concluded that there was no evidence to support this claim.
'We must, of course, be vigilant to any issues that could conflate community tensions.
'This is why, along with the council, other Oldham MPs, organisations and leaders, we continually work across our diverse communities whilst tackling underlying inequalities which ultimately fuel these tensions.
'Unfortunately the new Prevent duty placed on educators to report people at risk of radicalisation is fraught with difficulties.'
A GMP spokesman said: 'GMP has received information obtained by partners regarding a school in Oldham. We have passed on information to the relevant authorities which are looking into the matter.'
The school's 2013 parent-governor Nasim Ashraf (left) hosted 'Islamic teaching sessions' at the school. There is no suggestion he is involved in the threats
According to an Oldham council report, seen by The Sunday Times, she wrote that she had a 'very strong reasons to believe that . . . a 'Trojan Horse' agenda [is] being played out'.
And the head teachers' union, the NAHT, said it was 'supporting a number of members in the Oldham area with a variety of apparent Trojan Horse issues'.
The council report says the school's 2013 parent-governor Nasim Ashraf hosted 'Islamic teaching sessions' at the school while his wife, Hafizan Zaman, 'made remarks to Asian staff members that they should be wearing a veil and covering their heads'.
They took exception to Hindi music being played in class, were angered by sex education and were accused of intimidating staff and undermining the headteacher.
The report said they tried to mobilise parents to 'secure changes at the school to reflect their interpretation of Islam' but did not suggest they were involved in the violent threats.
Ashraf's sister Shasta Khan is serving eight years in jail for plotting to attack Jews in Manchester.
A section of Clarksfield school's website titled British values only read: 'coming soon'. The website has now been updated and advocates five British values including: 'Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs'
She's friends on Facebook with Tahir Alam, the architect of a similar 'Trojan Horse' plot on several schools in Birmingham in 2014.
In the plot activists launched a campaign to oust headteachers using dirty tricks such as spreading false allegations and packing governing bodies with their supporters.
Tahir Alam and Razwan Faraz were part of the 'Park View Brotherhood' of teachers, which exchanged some 3,000 messages in a WhatsApp group, including offensive comments about British soldiers, the Boston Marathon bombings and the murder of soldier Lee Rigby.
Mr Faraz, a former deputy headteacher of the Trojan-Horse linked Nansen Primary School, is under an interim teaching ban, while Mr Alam was banned from any involvement with schools by the Department for Education (DfE).
Clarksfield Primary's Chairman of Governors Saima Kausar and Mrs O'Donnell declined to comment.
Ashraf denied any Trojan Horse plot but said he wanted to remove Mrs O'Donnell because the school was failing.
A spokesman for Oldham council, cabinet member for education Amanda Chadderton, said: 'We take any allegations about our schools very seriously. The report into an Oldham primary school found no basis to the 'Trojan Horse' allegations.'
Tahir Alam (left) and Razwan Faraz (right) were part of the 'Park View Brotherhood' of teachers
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4239352/Muslim-parents-sent-school-headteacher-death-threats.html#ixzz4ZFcQMB9L
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