South London primary school, Heavers Farm, has once again hit the headlines after expelling two Year Five pupils for opposing LGBT lessons in schools.
First complaint
Last November, parent Izzy Montague made headlines after being silenced by staff members for raising concerns about a Gay Pride event at her five-year-old son’s school, Heavers Farm.
Izzy had complained, along with several other parents, that Heavers Farm was not allowing parents to opt their children out of a Pride march that the school was organising. However, rather than her concerns being met with respect, she was confronted by several staff members (one of whom wore a t-shirt bearing the slogan, “Why be racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic when you could just be quiet?”). Her son was also given two detentions, totalling four hours, with no reason given. In fact, Izzy was barred from the school building when she went to discuss her son’s treatment.
School now discriminates against Christian children
Now, the Croydon primary school has made headlines once more after two pupils were excluded for five days for resisting LGBT lessons.
10-year-old Christian pupil Kaysey Francis-Austin has described the lessons as “weird”, “forced” and “boring”, and explained how requests not to take part in the lessons had been denied. The teacher had refused permission saying that the LGBT lesson was part of the curriculum.
Kaysey was sitting next to her friend Farrell when he was alleged to have said, “LGBT sucks and LGBT’s dumb.” He denies this. A conversation ensued which resulted in the teacher asking the children if they wanted LGBT people to die. They said that they didn’t, but added that in their countries of family origin, people would be punished for being gay.
After being quickly informed, headteacher Susan Papas came into the classroom and shouted at the children calling them “a disappointment to the school.” Papas interrogated Kaysey and Farrell in separate rooms, accusing Kaysey of saying that she wanted to kill LGBT people. The headteacher then forced both children to write ‘confessions’ of what had just taken place.
Confused and shocked, both children then had to sit in isolation for five hours before being allowed to go home in tears to their parents.
Both children were then excluded from the school for five days – a punishment usually reserved for a pupil who has assaulted a teacher.
Church reported for hate crime
The parents of the two pupils have since requested to see their children’s written ‘confessions.’ However, the school instead sent a vague and incomplete timeline of events produced by the headteacher, Susan Papas. This timeline included details of the headteacher contacting the police and social services, alongside the government’s counter-terrorism body, and reporting one of the families’ churches for hate crime (the implication being that the church’s Biblical teaching was the source of the alleged anti-LGBT behaviour).
Legally, the police are required to investigate all allegations of hate crime, with police forces in England and Wales promising to “[prioritise] the needs of victims of hate crime, and [support] them through the criminal justice process.”
Other children told to avoid Kaysey
After Kaysey returned to school after the exclusion, she was heartbroken to discover that the headteacher had told her peers not to speak to her, and the star pupil – described in a recent school report as being “a delight to have in class” – was to be treated as a ‘danger to other children.’
Kaysey has categorically denied the headteacher’s accusations and her version of events has been backed up by classmates.
The Christian Legal Centre was contacted and a complaint has now been lodged with the local authority against the headteacher for unlawfully excluding the children.
Age-inappropriate lessons
Kaysey has explained how teaching on LGBT has permeated every area of school life. She says that the lessons are “really affecting other kids.”
During the same ‘Gay Pride month’ that Izzy brought forward her complaint, Kaysey described how her then year 4 class was made to take part in LGBT lessons, one of which included a video of an 11-year-old undergoing surgery in an attempt to ‘transition’ from a boy to a girl. Kaysey spoke of how upset and disturbed the children in her class were while watching the video, to the extent that an embarrassed teacher had to turn it off.
Yet LGBT themes are pushed into various lessons, not only lessons on Sex and Relationships Education. Kaysey and her classmates have had to do art lessons which involve colouring rainbow flags, maths lessons with LGBT problem-solving themes, and have had to read and watch a number of children’s stories which encourage and normalise same-sex relationships and transgenderism.
“Children treated like terrorists”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, commented:
“My hope is this case will get people and particularly church leaders to see the gravity of the situation we face. What kind of society are we living in when a headteacher - whose job it is to look after and teach young children - is reporting their alleged words to social services, the government's counter-terrorism body and the police? Ten-year-old children are being treated like terrorists.
“The actions of the headteacher are so serious and put Christian families under extreme pressure. Her actions do not show proportionality, they show zeal in eradicating any dissent to the LGBT agenda in the school.
“How can anyone think that Heavers Farm is a safe place to leave innocent children?
“When bullies know that right is not on their side, they resort to coercion and intimidation. That is exactly what is being played out in Heavers Farm Primary School.
“This story reflects the growing unease and anger from parents across the country and we ask for urgent prayer as we continue to support these brave children and parents.”