Today’s Education in the Media blog looks at Lord Agnew’s opinion piece for the Times about tackling bullying and intimidation in schools.
On Saturday 10 February, the Times published an opinion article from Lord Agnew condemning the abuse that has been received by staff of St Stephen's Primary School following their decision to ban the hijab for girls under the age of eight. The ban has subsequently been reversed by the school. Lord Agnew’s comments have also been covered by the Times, The Sun and Daily Mail.
In the piece, Lord Agnew makes clear that extremism has no place in our society and intimidation and bullying of any kind towards school staff is completely unacceptable. He goes on to underline that the government would back head teacher's right to make decisions on how to run their schools in the best interests of their pupils — in line with the law and in discussion with parents.
To help inform school decisions on uniform policy, we issue clear guidance on school uniform to help schools understand their legal duties under the Equality Act – which all schools must comply with.
Guidance on uniform policy under the Equality Act can be found here.