A private girls’ school has been reprimanded after inspectors found teachers were “tracking pupils’ menstrual cycles” against their will.
On September 26, Ofsted made an emergency visit to Lady Aisha Academy, a £3,600-a-year Islamic school in Barking, after the Department for Education received a complaint pupils were being questioned about their periods if they did not attend daily prayer services.
In the report, inspector Carolyn Dickinson said: “Pupils who do not attend prayers remain in school. A register is taken. Pupils reported that, after a certain number of days, staff question if the reason for non-attendance is their menstrual cycle.”
Barking & Dagenham council visited the school in April 2019 and a policy was put in place to stop the “questioning of pupils’ periods”, according to the report, but “the practice continues”.
In some interpretations of Islam it is seen as wrong for women to pray in a mosque while menstruating.
Ofsted found the academy “does not meet all of the independent school standards”.
It now faces further scrutiny from the regulator.
The school has denied the allegations.
