Imagine receiving a notice that your child’s school was going to be closed to celebrate a Muslim holiday and only giving you a three days notice before doing it. This is exactly what is happening as reports indicate An 1,800-pupil academy gave parents just three days’ notice it was closing to allow staff to celebrate a religious festival. Chobham Academy in Newham, east London, is partially closed today due to a ‘high number of staff requesting leave for religious observance’ for the Muslim festival Eid-al-Adha. But families were given just days to find alternative childcare arrangements – with one saying working parents were being ‘penalised’.
Pupils aged 3-18 attend the independent mixed academy from primary through to sixth form, which has closed nursery, reception, Y1 and Y2 pupils. Primary principal Mark Elms offered parents his ‘sincere apologies’ for the closure. Mr Elms was a ‘super head’ at his old school where he was thought to be Britain’s highest paid headteacher with a staggering £276,000 salary. READ MORE
