Ofsted has announced it has inspected a school that postponed a visit by its local MP because of a planned protest by pro-Palestine activists.
Labour MP Damien Egan, who is Jewish, planned to visit Bristol Brunel Academy in his Bristol North East constituency in September.
But the visit was postponed following opposition by local campaigners and school staff who are members of the National Education Union. The school said the visit was postponed due to safety concerns about a protest planned at the school site on the same day.
The Cabot Learning Federation, which runs the school, said in a statement it had already rescheduled Egan’s visit “long before any of the most recent concerns were raised”.
The MP, first elected in 2024, is vice-chair of the Labour Friends of Israel parliamentary group.
The postponement only recently came to light after criticism from the communities secretary Steve Reed, who described the incident as an “absolute outrage”. Egan then confirmed he was the MP involved.
Section 8 inspection launched
Ofsted has now announced that it has launched a section 8 ungraded inspection of the school. Inspectors attended its site today.
It is highly unusual for Ofsted to announce it is inspecting a school while the visit is taking place.
Chief inspector Martyn Oliver said: “I was concerned to learn that a school may have been intimidated into cancelling a visit from their local MP.
“I am troubled by the message this sends to children – especially children from the Jewish community. Those of us privileged enough to be working in education have a professional and moral duty to stand against discrimination.”
Oliver said he tasked inspectors last week to “consider evidence, speak with the school and determine whether further action was needed”.
“They have concluded the threshold for an inspection was met and they are at the school today. The school was informed this morning and I am very grateful to them for their openness in engaging with the inspectors.”
Ofsted had told Cabot a section 8 inspection was “necessary due to potential concerns”.
“While the current evidence does not suggest pupils are at significant risk of harm, there is considerable public interest in the school’s arrangements and inspection will provide an independent evaluation for parents and the public,” it said.
‘Concerns about student safety’
A spokesperson for the Cabot Learning Federation said: “The promotion of inclusion and rejection of discrimination are enshrined in CLF’s core values, and all staff are expected to embody these values in their behaviour – both inside and outside of school”.
CLF has commissioned an external review into its staff training and development to “raise awareness of discrimination of any kind, including race, religion or ethnic origin”, the spokesperson said.
“We take our responsibilities to educate young people about British values extremely seriously, which is why we invited Mr Egan to speak to our students in the first place.
“Whilst we took the decision to postpone the visit due to concerns about student safety and the disruption to their education from the planned protest, a date for the rescheduled visit had already been confirmed by Mr Egan’s office. This was long before any of the most recent concerns were raised.”
The Bristol branch of the NEU celebrated the visit’s postponement on social media at the time, but the union’s general secretary insisted this week it “certainly wasn’t a position of the national union that this MP shouldn’t attend”.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking, he said: “My understanding of the situation is that there were some concerns raised to the local representative, and there were parents raising concerns over the MP’s attendance, and the school took it upon themselves to postpone that visit, and it has been reinstated.”
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