English School Misses Out On Top Rankings Because They Were ‘Too White’

A middle school in the English town of Grimsby has missed out on Ofsted’s top grade after being judged “too white.” The school missed out on the “outstanding” grade due to inspectors classifying the school of not being multicultural enough despite the Grimsby population being 97 percent white.

The school had been highly praised in the report for its management and teaching, plus its well-behaved, courteous, and enthusiastic pupils. However, the school could not be graded outstanding due to “pupil’s cultural development being limited by lack of first-hand experience of the diverse make-up of modern British society.”

The report praised the work done by the school to improve the level of services offered by the faculty. The report also stated that the “large majority of pupils are white British.” Unlike many U.S. schools, few students are from other ethnic groups, and currently no pupils speak English as an additional language.

“The school needs to extend pupils’ understanding of the cultural diversity of modern British Society by creating opportunities for them to have firsthand interaction with their counterparts from different backgrounds beyond the immediate vicinity.”

The Principal of Middle Rasen Primary School, Melanie Brunton, said the school would look to partner with an inner-city school to develop its understanding of multicultural issues.

“I think the problem is that we are a rural Lincolnshire school and that is always going to be an issue. I agree that we could do more and we are trying to get a partnership with an inner city school.”

Parent Kirsty Egen, a 29-year-old mother-of-two, told the Telegraph that the school was unfairly marked down by the inspectors.

“I think it’s ridiculous. It’s a brilliant school, I have no doubt that if there were non-white children attending they would make sure they were accommodated and the children interacted. But they can’t force people to come. Why would the school spend time on trying to teach the children how to integrate with people who aren’t even there? I think the school has been victimised, it seems very vindictive to just mark them down for something they cannot change.”

Ofsted, which is short for Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, is a non-governmental entity that inspects or regulates services, including local services, child-minding, child day care, children’s centers, children’s social care, CAFCASS, state schools, independent schools and teacher training providers, colleges, and learning and skills providers in England.

Schools are required to “actively promote” British values, such as democracy, tolerance, mutual respect, individual liberty, and the rule of law.

Do you believe that the middle school should have been marked down for being “too white”?

[Image via The Daily Mail]