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Britain’s most expensive day school in row over ‘Jewish privilege’ chart
American School London headteacher is set to step down in January
December 2, 2021 14:32
American School London headteacher is set to step down in January
December 2, 2021 14:32Britain’s most expensive day school is accused of giving pupils a chart showing Jews as being more privileged than members of other religions, according to the Daily Mail.
Parents of pupils at the American School London (ASL) are said to have complained that children had been presented with a circular diagram which displayed privilege based on ethnicity, sexuality and religion.
Jews were placed as closer to the “privilege” and power” at the centre of the chart than Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, though further away than Protestants or Roman Catholics.
It is also alleged that a teacher at the £32,650-a-year school suggested parents of pupils are more interested in combating antisemitism than racism, suggesting the two are separate issues.
The claims come after head teacher Robin Appleby brought in changes to the school’s teaching of “diversity, equality and inclusivity”.
This is said to have included the adoption of Critical Race Theory (CRT), a school of thought from the US which critics say is counterproductive in its rigid categorisation of different groups as either victims or recipients of privilege, depending on skin colour.
Ms Appleby recently announced that she will step down in January, having been head since 2017. The Daily Mail also reported that at a staff meeting last month concerning the reaction of parents to the school’s lesson on matters related to race, the words “Nazi,” “swastika” and “Hitler” were used.
The school has denied these words were used to describe parents.
According to the Daily Mail, during the meeting one teacher suggested that parents who send their children to ASL tend to be more interested in opposing antisemitism than they are in opposing racism.
In a statement, the school’s spokesman said that the comments made in the meeting “could cause offence to the community”.
The school acknowledged in the statement: “There were questions asked about whether the response to racism is always as strong and immediate as the response to antisemitism.”
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it was aware of “concerns that the school is teaching that Jews are part of a privileged elite. It is outrageous that the school seems not to have tackled its problem suitably forcefully and seriously.”
The school declined to comment when approached by the JC.