The Metropolitan Police says it is taking bomb threats against a primary school accused of Islamophobia ‘incredibly seriously’ – a month after it was at the centre of a row over accusations of bullying concerning a Palestinian child.
Barclay Primary School in Leyton, East London told parents last week that it may have to revert to online learning after it received bomb threats following a decision to ban students from wearing pro-Palestine badges.
The Met’s area commander Simon Crick says the force is treating those threats as credible – and has stepped up foot patrols in the area in a bid to reassure residents.
Barclay Primary was picketed by protesters in December after a viral TikTok video claimed an eight-year-old pupil at the school was bullied by a teacher ‘for being Palestinian’ – a claim furiously rebuffed by education bosses.
The video claimed that the youngster, whose mother is from Gaza, was reprimanded for wearing a Palestine badge on his coat and that he was ‘denied playtime and lunchtime privileges’.
The Metropolitan Police’s Simon Crick (left) says the force is taking the threats to Barclay Primary School (right, after a gang hung Palestine flags outside) ‘incredibly seriously’
Barclay Primary School in east London was picketed by pro-Palestine protesters in December over claims that a Palestinian pupil had been bullied by teachers
In a letter to parents, school management firm the Lion Academy Trust said a ‘serious threat’ had been received, followed by an anonymous phone call threatening to commit arson
The school has warned that if the situation does not improve then the school will close and revert to online learning ‘for as long as we believe it is necessary’
The Metropolitan Police says it is taking the threats seriously as it launched an investigation
It sparked protests outside the school and, over Christmas, prompted a group to scale the fence outside the school to hang a Palestine flag outside.
The row first erupted when some pupils used a Children in Need mufti day to show their support for Palestine with flags, badges and stickers.
A letter was then sent to eight families – out of a school of 1,325 students – warning that ‘inappropriate comments made at school including extremist or divisive comments’ would result in formal meetings with senior figures at the school.
The note also said it could potentially lead to referrals to the Government’s counter terrorism programme, Prevent, or Waltham Forest’s Hate Crime Team.
TikToker Zaki then posted a video, in which he told followers: ‘Barclay Primary School is basically saying that if you support Palestine, you’re going to become a terrorist – or you already are one.’
The boy’s father later claimed to BBC News that the boy had been ‘traumatised’ after the school asked pupils not to wear political symbols.
Earlier this month, Barclay Primary heads said they had received arson threats over accusations that the school was being Islamophobic, while other teachers speaking on condition of anonymity told the Telegraph bomb threats had been made against the institution.
In a letter to parents dated January 10, the Lion Academy Trust, which runs the school, said: ‘Over the Christmas period, a serious threat was received in writing.
‘This was immediately shared with police and was a key initial reason for the escalation in response.
‘Yesterday, an anonymous caller made a series of racial slurs and a further threat to commit criminal damage (arson) against the school and to individual staff.
‘The presumably unintended consequence of spreading factually incorrect material online and in-person is that the school is now facing threats which surely no reasonable person would condone.’
A TikTok post by influencer Zaki, which has since been deleted, made a series of claims about how the pupil was allegedly treated by staff at Barclay Primary School after showing support for Palestine on a mufti day
One parent at the protest criticised the school for not allowing a student ‘to wear the badge of his homeland’
A letter sent to parents on January 8 by headteacher Justin James said ‘no evidence’ had been found to support claims that a teacher bullied a Palestinian pupil
The trust said staff had reported being videoed by passing drivers, and faced ‘aggressive and confrontational’ interactions with members of the public.
As a result, the school has recruited private security, closed its reception area to the public and to parents, and says it will no longer respond to queries from parents about the allegations concerning the Palestinian child.
If the situation does not improve, the trust says it will be forced to close the school, adding: ‘This the option of last resort – but please be aware that should staff continue to be threatened – then we will have no option.
‘Additionally, if any parent or individual is proven to be involved in instigating this campaign against the school, via their actions online in-person, we will act to ban those individuals from attending the site(s).’
The Met now says it is investigating the warnings and taking them seriously.
Chief superintendent Simon Crick, policing commander for north-east London, said:’We are taking these threats incredibly seriously and would like to reassure pupils, teachers and parents that we are doing everything in our power to keep you safe while our investigation continues.
‘Hate crime will not be tolerated in London and we will take action against those who commit offences and pose a threat to communities.’
Executive headteacher Justin James rubbished the claims of Islamophobia and teacher-pupil bullying in a letter to parents dated January 8.
‘No child has been suspended or excluded by the school through issues arising with the uniform policy and to suggest otherwise is simply untrue,’ he wrote.
‘No evidence to support any of the allegations of bullying or misconduct has been found through either an external or internal investigation.
‘As a school we do make mistakes; we have apologised where missteps have been made.
‘Being confronted by abusive and threatening behaviours by those claiming to speak on behalf of “the community” however, is simply unacceptable.’
The alleged threats come as Michaela Community School, run by ‘Britain’s strictest headmistress’ Katharine Birbalsingh (above) fights a discrimination lawsuit after she imposed a ban on prayers
In a lengthy diatribe on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Birbalsingh said of her school’s prayer ban: ‘We all make sacrifices so that we can live in harmony’
The extraordinary police intervention comes after another school, run by ‘Britain’s strictest headmistress’, faces a High Court challenge from a Muslim pupil after banning prayers in school.
Katharine Birbalsingh, a former government social mobility tsar, introduced the ban at Michaela Community School in March last year, but the girl behind the suit claims that it is discriminatory and infringes upon her right to freedom of religion.
Lawyers acting for the school, which sought to have the case heard in private, claimed it had been targeted with ‘threats of violence’, abuse, ‘false’ allegations of Islamophobia, and a ‘bomb hoax’, but that the situation has since ‘calmed’.
Mr Justice Linden, hearing the case, rejected the arguments and ruled that the headmistress and the school could be identified.
But in a thinly veiled swipe at the case, Ms Birbalsingh wrote in a lengthy statement on X, formerly Twitter: ‘At Michaela, those from all religions make sacrifices so that we can maintain a safe secular community.’
Barclay Primary has also courted controversy for its other policies in the past, including a ban on pupils fasting during Ramadan unless parents met with the headteacher to discuss it beforehand.