Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the appropriateness of the Waltham Forest Council pilot scheme asking children under the age of nine questions about whether they would hurt another student who was mocking their religion.

The Building Resilience Through Integration and Trust Project has been developed and implemented locally by the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Her Majesty’s Government has not been involved in the design or the delivery of the project. Local authorities and schools are free to develop and implement their own education-related projects. The department has no overview of local projects involving schools, though we do expect all schools to actively promote fundamental British values, which include mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We would expect that any discussion with pupils involving complex issues should be age appropriate and handled with sensitivity.

Waltham Forest council’s website provides general information on the project: https://thehub.walthamforest.gov.uk/services-and-support/pupil-support/brit-project