Pupils who took Easter eggs to class allegedly had them confiscated by 'Muslim morality squads' patrolling a school at the centre of a probe into claims Islamic hardliners are attempting to infiltrate and run secular state schools.
A mother of one of the pupils, who did not wish to be named for fear of reprisals, claimed groups of pupils were confiscating toys and chocolate from younger children and accused teachers of turning a blind eye to it.
The revelation comes as Ofsted announced Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw will personally oversee inspections into a number of Birmingham schools allegedly targeted in an attempt to bring hardline Islamic teaching into classrooms in a 'Trojan Horse' plot.
Park View school is at the centre of allegations that hardline Islamic teaching was being introduced. In a 2008 picture boys and girls are clearly segregated during an assembly. The school previously claimed any segregation was voluntary, but an Ofsted inspection said it was enforced by teachers
According to the Daily Express, the mother said: 'Older boys are going round in these morality squads telling off girls if they do not wear veils.
'My daughter tried to bring in an Easter egg for a friend and one boy grabbed it and smashed it against a wall.
'All talk of Christmas and other non-Muslim festivals is banned. The teachers turn a blind eye to it.'
A spokesman for Birmingham City Council refused to comment on the allegations, but indicated that if bullying had taken place, disciplining pupils was a matter for individual schools.
If schools are placed into special measure by Ofsted, it raises the prospect that governor Tahir Alam, the alleged ringleader of the 'Trojan Horse' plot, could be removed from his post
Today, Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, claimed the alleged plot affects 'a majority of the Muslim community' in the city.
'There is most definitely a plot by a small group of individuals, and the plot actually affects a majority of the Muslim community in Birmingham,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'You’ve got different schools of thought within Islam – you’ve got the Wahabi Salafist group, which is a very small group.
What they’re trying to do is change the school of thought for the majority of parents in the area.
'Governors have been appointed by a particular individual who has brought a number of his friends in. [They] are changing the ethos of the whole school, predominantly by stealth, and not being open and transparent.'
He added that the 'particular individual' had been telling the council that the city wanted to increase the number of Muslim governors in schools - but had, in fact, only brought his people on board, not the whole community.
It comes as Ofsted has confirmed that Sir Michael Wilshaw will be sent to head its probe into 18 schools in the city.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: 'Her Majesty's Chief Inspector will visit Birmingham next week to meet inspectors directly involved in the series of inspections of local schools.
'Sir Michael has made clear that he is taking a personal lead in agreeing the individual reports and ensuring that they fully address concerns that have been raised.
'We will be reporting our overall findings directly to the Secretary of State early next month.'
Ofsted refused to say why Sir Michael has been appointed, saying they do not comment on reports before they are completed.
The schools regulator is due to publish its findings next month, but leaked details suggest five schools will be placed in specials measures.
A sixth school was found to be failing but is already in special measures, it was claimed.
If confirmed, the verdicts would allow officials to remove school governors or potentially close schools.
This will almost certainly mean Tahir Alam, chairman of the Park View Educational Trust, which also runs Nansen and Golden Hillock schools, is removed from his post.
Mr Alam, an activist on the Muslim Council of Britain, is also alleged to be one of the leaders of the rumoured Trojan Horse plot.
Mr Alam is also a governor at another school, Highfield. He has denied any involvement in a plot, describing the claims as a ‘witch-hunt’ and ‘fabrication’.
Claims: Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, claimed the alleged plot affects 'a majority of the Muslim community' in the city
Nine schools said to require improvement including Adderley Primary, where a letter to parents confirmed the school had been the victim of a ‘malicious and targeted’ attempt to oust senior staff.
Of 17 schools inspected by Ofsted so far in connection with the alleged plot, only one is said to have been given a clean bill of health.
A probe by the Department for Education has reportedly found evidence of pupils being illegally segregated, with girls forced to sit at the back and sides of class.
It was claimed that an extremist preacher with known Al Qaeda sympathies was invited to speak to pupils and the content of some GCSE subjects made to ‘comply with conservative Islamic teaching’.
In another development, a Birmingham teachers’ leader said staff at several schools had reported concerns about governors becoming too involved ‘in the day-to-day management’ of schools.
Roger King, of the National Union of Teachers, said the claims did not necessarily involve Muslim governors.
He accused Ofsted inspectors of asking ‘leading’ questions and using heavy-handed tactics when asking staff and pupils about influences on their schools.
Nine other schools were found to be 'requiring improvement' by inspectors, and only one school was given a clean bill of health with a final report still incomplete.
More schools are expected to be visited after Easter. Ofsted was sent in after a letter surfaced that purported to detail how heads and governors could be overthrown and replaced with hardliners, in operations named ‘Trojan Horse’.
The authenticity of the letter is unclear but the Department for Education’s investigation is said to substantiate several allegations against schools implicated in the so-called plot.
It reportedly found evidence at Park View of ‘boys sitting toward the front of the class and girls at the back and around the sides’.
'There is most definitely a plot by a small group of individuals. What they're trying to do is change the school of thought for the majority of parents in the area'
Khalid Mahmood MP
Rather than seating arrangements being voluntary, pupils were ‘required to sit in the places which they were given by teachers’.
It was also claimed that Sheikh Shady Al Suleiman, an extremist preacher who has called for the stoning of homosexuals, was invited to address pupils.
At Golden Hillock, five Christian GCSE students ‘have to teach themselves’ GCSE religious studies because all of the teacher’s time was given ‘to the students who are doing the Islamic course’.
Inspectors also reportedly found that in both schools, GCSE subjects such as biology had been ‘restricted to comply with conservative Islamic teaching’.
A spokesman for the NUT said an urgent debate on the issue was being scheduled for its conference later today, but refused to comment any further.
In a statement, Park View Educational Trust said: 'We welcome the announcement that Michael Wilshaw has now taken charge of Ofsted reports into our three schools, as well as many others in Birmingham.
'Mr Wilshaw knows Park View Academy and on a visit in March 2012 stated: "All schools should be like this and there's no reason why they shouldn't be like this if they've got the right culture, the right leadership, good teaching, good systems.
There's no reason why they shouldn't be like this."'
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