The head of Ofsted has hit back at criticism that school inspectors asked children “inappropriate” questions about homosexuality.
The schools watchdog has come under fire from some staff and parents who claimed children were asked questions including “do you know anybody in the school who is gay?” when determining if schools had problems with homophobic bullying.
But Sir Michael Wilshaw said today that his inspectors “absolutely understand the need to behave with sensitivity and integrity when talking to young people.”
The two Christian schools at the centre of the row - Durham Free School and Grindon Hall in Sunderland - were failed by inspectors for not showing respect to people of other faiths and for instances of homophobic bullying.
Writing in The Independent Sir Michael said: “Inspectors had to couch questions using age-appropriate language that the children would understand in order to get to find out what was happening - and, crucially, to determine what the schools were doing about it.
“The idea that this constitutes harassment of unsuspecting 10 year olds or a sinister attempt to force a particular metro-liberal politically correct orthodoxy on the nation’s schools couldn’t be more wrong.”
