Alpha 
Post by fretslider on May 14, 2010 12:18:06 GMT -5
Amy Owen, 14, and several of her friends at Ellesmere Port Catholic High School in Cheshire refused to go on a visit to a mosque after being told that they had to conform to a Muslim dress code involving covering their heads and wearing long skirts or leggings. Her mother, Michelle Davies, received a letter from the headmaster, Peter Lee, insisting that the trip to the al-Rahma mosque in Toxteth, Liverpool, was compulsory because of rules promoting “community cohesion”.
The letter, parts of which were underlined and written in capital letters, also suggested that a failure to do so might see it marked down in an Ofsted inspection. A teacher then telephoned Miss Owen telling her that if her daughter did not go on the trip, organised by the Religious Education department, it would be marked down as an "unauthorised absence" even after she had refused to sign a parental consent form. “It's like they're putting a gun to your head, either you go to a mosque, or you're marked down as an unauthorised absence on your record, that's it no two ways about it,” said Miss Davies. “It's like they are saying she is playing truant for not wearing a headscarf.
Miss Davies said the objection was for “religious reasons”, she admitted: I'm not a devout Catholic, I've never claimed to be but my daughter is a white, British Catholic girl - not a Muslim girl, therefore she is not adhering to a Muslim dress code." In his letter, Mr Lee insisted that the visit was as compulsory as a geography field trip. “The school is REQUIRED to promote tolerance respect and understanding,” he wrote.
“This is known as community cohesion. A failure to do this could result in an unwelcome inspection judgment. None of us would relish that.”
Miss Davies claimed that up to 10 other Year Nine girls had also refused to go on the trip for the same reason. Among them was Charlie Sheen, 14. Her mother, Kirsty Ashworth, said: “I didn’t see the educational benefit of it.”
Its yet another bend-over exercise.
The letter, parts of which were underlined and written in capital letters, also suggested that a failure to do so might see it marked down in an Ofsted inspection. A teacher then telephoned Miss Owen telling her that if her daughter did not go on the trip, organised by the Religious Education department, it would be marked down as an "unauthorised absence" even after she had refused to sign a parental consent form. “It's like they're putting a gun to your head, either you go to a mosque, or you're marked down as an unauthorised absence on your record, that's it no two ways about it,” said Miss Davies. “It's like they are saying she is playing truant for not wearing a headscarf.
Miss Davies said the objection was for “religious reasons”, she admitted: I'm not a devout Catholic, I've never claimed to be but my daughter is a white, British Catholic girl - not a Muslim girl, therefore she is not adhering to a Muslim dress code." In his letter, Mr Lee insisted that the visit was as compulsory as a geography field trip. “The school is REQUIRED to promote tolerance respect and understanding,” he wrote.
“This is known as community cohesion. A failure to do this could result in an unwelcome inspection judgment. None of us would relish that.”
Miss Davies claimed that up to 10 other Year Nine girls had also refused to go on the trip for the same reason. Among them was Charlie Sheen, 14. Her mother, Kirsty Ashworth, said: “I didn’t see the educational benefit of it.”
Its yet another bend-over exercise.
