Schools targeted in 'simply untrue' online campaign
What is the School of Sanctuary Scheme?
The School of Sanctuary scheme - which is supported by the Northern Ireland Executive - aims to support schools to become welcoming places for all children, including newcomer children.A School of Sanctuary is one which provides significant additional support to pupils, including refugees and others.The first in Northern Ireland was named in 2017, and over 40 have been awarded the status since then.St John the Baptist College in Portadown recently became the first outside Belfast or Londonderry to achieve the accreditation.
What have Schools of Sanctuary in Northern Ireland told parents?
The principal of Integrated College, Glengormley, Ricky Massey, wrote to parents to state that the online claims were "simply not true".In his letter, Mr Massey mentioned claims on social media that Schools of Sanctuary "are encouraging pupils to write letters or Valentine's cards to refugees or asylum seekers - including suggestions that this could involve 'unvetted men.'"He said: "I want to reassure you in the strongest possible terms, this has never happened at Integrated College Glengormley." He said they school has never been asked or instructed by any organisation to carry out such activities."This would never happen," he added.Mr Massey said safeguarding and child protection was at the "heart of everything" they do."The welfare of our pupils is our first priority, and any activity in our school is subject to the highest safeguarding standards."Please be assured - there is no cause for anxiety about your child's wellbeing in relation to these claims," he said.
'Genuinely held concerns'
Taughmonagh Primary School in Belfast also sent a letter to parents of pupils, telling them that social media "information circulating in relation to our school is factually incorrect"."We would ask for our school community's support in stopping the spread of misinformation online," the letter said.The letter outlined how the school has stringent safeguarding processes and this allegation on the Facebook group is "contrary to our policies".The Belfast DUP councillor Sarah Bunting criticised what she called "the spreading of these online rumours, made up and posted by faceless, nameless strangers".
What has the EA and School of Sanctuary said?
In a statement to BBC News NI, the EA said it was aware that some schools had been targeted online. "We consider this information to be entirely inaccurate and condemn the spread of misinformation in the strongest terms," the statement said.School of Sanctuary UK said it was "not directly involved in the delivery of specific activities in schools".It said that while there had been "mention of a Valentine's Day welcome card initiative," where children wrote anonymised messages of welcome to people seeking safety, "we have full confidence that schools and teachers organise age-appropriate activities and follow rigorous safeguarding procedures to ensure every child's safety during such activities".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
20 minutes ago
- Times
Rachel Reeves to cut ‘bats and newts' in boost to developers
Rachel Reeves is preparing to strip back environmental protections in an effort to boost the economy by speeding up infrastructure projects. The chancellor is considering reforms that would make it far harder for concerns about nature to stop development, which she insists is crucial to restoring growth and improving living standards. The Treasury has begun preparing for another planning reform bill and is thinking about tearing up key parts of European environmental rules that developers say are making it harder to build key projects. Labour ministers have repeatedly insisted that their current planning overhaul will not come at the expense of nature, promising a 'win-win' system where developers will pay to offset environmental damage. But Reeves is understood to believe that the government must go significantly further, after expressing frustration that the interests of 'bats and newts' are being allowed to stymie critical infrastructure. She has tasked officials with looking at much more contentious reforms, which are likely to provoke a furious backlash from environmentalists and cause unease for some Labour MPs. A smaller, UK-only list of protected species is being planned, which would place less weight on wildlife — including types of newt — that is rare elsewhere in Europe but more common in Britain. Developers would also no longer have to prove that projects would have no impact on protected natural sites, under plans that would abolish the 'precautionary principle' enshrined in European rules. Instead, a new test would look at risks and benefits of potential projects. Further curbs to judicial review are also being considered by Reeves to stop key projects being delayed by legal challenges from environmentalists. No decisions have been made, but work is underway and Treasury sources acknowledged there was a growing belief that the government needed to go further, as Reeves says she wants to make boosting Britain's sluggish productivity the centrepiece of her autumn budget. She argued this week that building more infrastructure such as roads and railways were crucial to this aim. A Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently going through parliament attempts to encourage development through a 'nature restoration fund' through which developers will be allowed to press ahead with projects by setting up schemes elsewhere to offset their environmental impact. • The grid is struggling — and our green future hangs in the balance But the plan has been criticised by environmental groups while also attracting scepticism from some developers, who fear it will not work in practice and do little to speed up building. Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, who stood down as energy minister in May, is urging his former colleagues to go further to achieve Labour's promise of 150 major infrastructure projects. 'While I think the planning bill will work for housing, I don't think it is sufficiently focused on the major infrastructure projects, so it is encouraging that the Treasury is going to have another look at whether we've really got this right,' he said. 'The government has to face up to the tensions in the Habitat Regulations which are making it hard to build essential infrastructure and the reality is that at some point someone needs to make a hard decision and say 'on some things, you just have to press ahead'.' The rules, which incorporate the EU Habitats Directive into British law, ban killing of hundreds of species, including types of bats, news, voles, snails, spiders, insects and woodlice. Developers must prove there is no risk to protected sites and species before being allowed to go ahead with projects, under rules which critics say impose an 'impossibly high standard' on vital projects. Reeves is increasingly sympathetic to such criticism, after repeatedly hitting out at 'ridiculous' environmental protections. She said last month that she cared 'more about the young family getting on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails', after a speech in January in which she said developers should be able to 'focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about bats and newts'. Sir Keir Starmer has also expressed frustration with the ability of campaigners to delay projects through legal challenges, and is already introducing rules which limit judicial review to override the 'whims of nimbys'. Campaign groups and residents, who currently have three opportunities to apply for judicial review, which will be reduced to two, or one in cases deemed by a judge 'totally without merit'. Reeves is now considering allowing only one opportunity to bring any challenge. Some Labour MPs and peers want her to go further by using dedicated acts of parliament to prevent any legal challenge to specific named projects. The plans are at an early stage and are likely to cause tension with ministers in other departments who have pledged to protect the environment. Paul Miner, of the countryside charity CPRE, said targeting habitats regulations would 'take us backwards rather than forwards on nature recovery', adding: 'We urge the government to drop the worn-out 'builders versus blockers' narrative which wrongly frames climate and nature as being in conflict with economic growth.' Becky Pullinger, of the Wildlife Trusts, said maintaining environmental standards was 'essential if we are to achieve targets to protect and restore the natural world which is suffering huge declines, saying Reeves should abandon 'the myth that deregulation will lead to economic growth'. But Robbie Owen, head of infrastructure planning at Pinsent Masons, said: 'Ministers are finally realising that their rhetoric about reform doesn't match up up the reality of their bill. We have been saying to ministers and officials all year that the bill needs to go further and it seems that message has finally been heard.'
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Trans ruling set to be big issue for SNP at next election
John Swinney's 'fear of activists' within the SNP has prevented him from implementing the Supreme Court ruling which asserts sex is defined by biology, a feminist campaign group has said. For Women Scotland (FWS) won the backing of the UK's highest court in April for its case that the legal definition of sex in the Equality Act is based on sex at birth, not by which gender people may want to be identified by. However, the SNP government has faced criticism for not implementing the ruling to enforce single-sex spaces for biological men and women in public sector services such as schools and prisons. Susan Smith, a director of FWS, which is taking the Scottish government to court for the second time over the issue, told LBC News that 'fear of activists' in the SNP was preventing ministers from implementing the ruling. She argued that its policies, including delaying implementing the ruling and making gender self-ID easier, were likely to backfire on the party in Scottish parliament elections next year. Sections within the SNP base still strongly support the policies pursued by Nicola Sturgeon, despite these now being viewed as costing the party wider public support. Swinney was 'risking making this an election issue', Smith said. John Swinney risks a lawsuit damaging him shortly before the Holyrood election next year JANE BARLOW/PA 'If we do end up going to court that will be close to the 2026 election and I cannot understand why John Swinney would want to preside over another humiliating legal defeat,' she said. Swinney had agreed to meet FWS to discuss the issue but later pulled out, saying he 'had a lot on his plate', Smith claimed. 'I think he'll be wishing had met with us,' she added. 'I don't know if the Scottish government thinks we'll get bored and go away but we won't.' The new legal action wants a court ruling on the legality of Scottish government's policies in prisons and schools. Under official guidance, men and boys who claim to have switched gender to female can enter single-sex women's spaces. The guidance also allows for biological males to compete against girls in school sports if they say they identify as female. • Hadley Freeman: Scotland is sullied by the cult of gender ideology Police Scotland became one of the first public services to exclude trans men and women from spaces such as toilets and changing rooms in offices and police stations designated for biological men and women last month. But the Scottish government is yet to update its advice to the wider public sector, including the civil service, schools and prisons, totalling hundreds of thousands of employees, saying it is waiting for official guidance from the UK-wide Equalities and Human Rights Commission. FWS said it had been left with 'little choice' but to take the Scottish government to court again after nationalist politicians refused to abandon gender self-ID policies, which the group says are now clearly in breach of the law. Formal proceedings began on Friday with the lodging of court papers. The Scottish government has 21 days to respond. The Scottish government said it would not comment on a live legal action.
BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Donald Trump is ‘not a force for good' London Mayor says
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he would be 'more than happy' to meet Donald Trump – despite warning that the US President could be 'inadvertently radicalising people' and is 'not a force for good'. Mr Khan dismissed jibes that President Trump made against him on a recent visit to Scotland, where he claimed the London Mayor was 'a nasty person' who has 'done a terrible job'. Advertisement The Labour politician said remarks such as those were 'water off a duck's back'. However, he told an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe it sometimes felt like he was 'nine years old again' and 'in the school playground'. Mr Khan, speaking at the Political Party show with comedian Matt Forde, hit back at the US President, saying: 'Somebody who has views like he does about black people, about women, about gays, about Muslims, about Mexicans, thinks I'm nasty. 'Really. He is the leader of the free world, arguably the most powerful man in the world, and really.' Advertisement He spoke out as he said that records showed since the middle of January this year – when Mr Trump began his second term in the White House – and July 'there have never been more Americans applying to British citizenship and living in London'. The Mayor said: 'So I think Americans have got good taste by and large.' He added that he hoped the President would come to London during his state visit to the UK next month, with Sir Sadiq stressing the 'diversity' of the capital was a 'strength, not a weakness'. Despite his comments about the US President, Sir Sadiq Khan said he would be 'happy' to meet Donald Trump (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Speaking about this diversity, he insisted: 'I think it makes us stronger not weaker, richer not poorer. Advertisement 'And when President Trump says some of the things he does, it brings from the periphery to the mainstream, views that are potentially dangerous. 'He inadvertently – I'm not going to suggest he does it deliberately – he inadvertently could be radicalising people with views that could lead to them doing things that are dangerous.' He spoke out about fears that minorities 'could be treated less favourably because of the views of the President of the USA' as he accused Mr Trump of 'using London and our diversity as a political football, as a proxy for a culture war'. The London Mayor continued: 'On a personal level, it is water off a duck's back, but we can't run away from the fact that there are some really serious challenges we face as a western society and President Trump, in my view, I speak generally, isn't a force for good.' Advertisement However he insisted that he would be 'more than happy to meet President Trump' saying he would seek to show him that it is 'possible to be proud to be a westerner and a proud to be Muslim, that it is possible to be British, and proud to be British, and be of Pakistani origin and be a law abiding citizen and we aren't three headed monsters'. The Labour politician said: 'I suspect President Trump may have formed a view of Muslims because of the actions of a small minority of really bad people who are terrorists and use Islam in a perverted way. 'What I would want President Trump to know is that is a very small fraction of Muslims across the globe. 'So if there was an opportunity to meet President Trump, I would be more than happy to do so.' Advertisement
