A parent, whose child was encouraged to practice Islamic prayer at a Church of England primary school, has sparked furore after reporting the incident to Richard Tice.
According to The Telegraph, the deputy leader of Reform UK has written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, expressing “significant concern” on behalf of parents in his Lincolnshire constituency.
The father told Mr Tice that when saying goodnight to his daughter, she told him: “We did prayers to Allah yesterday.” He said believed his child had been “coerced, manipulated and cajoled” into the prayer.
He said a teacher had shown her a video of Muslims kneeling on prayer mats, before encouraging pupils to “have a go”.
“We all need to do the performing of the prayer,” the teacher allegedly said.
A spokesperson for the Diocesan Board of Education told The Telegraph that kneeling in a manner akin to the prayer was “outside the lesson’s intended approach”.
However, they insisted that it was “not an act of worship, and no child was required to take part”.
They added that the school would “undertake appropriate reflection to ensure future lessons continue to align fully with the intended non‑confessional approach of RE”.
It comes days after another debate on Muslim prayer in public spaces, after an Iftar gathering was held in Trafalgar Square.