The Head of St Wilfrid’s states its open policy will welcome students of any faith, but do the other faith schools have the same policy?

Perhaps on paper, but policy is not enough when the choice of school is along religious grounds as it is the parents, not the children, who determine the choice of school St Wilfrid’s High existed before any Muslim school.

As the Tauheedul Islamic Girls School plans to expand and an Islamic school for boys is to be opened, any blow to integration is not a new phenomenon. If there is a concern that this separation will inhibit integration and allow extreme groups to thrive, where do these views come from? Young children interact with others spontaneously to have fun and join in. As they grow, divisions are reinforced by their parents and those of their social circle, either directly or inadvertently. By the time they reach secondary school these often unconscious mess-ages are reinforced at school.

If there is to be integration, children need to meet constantly and interact with support and encouragement from their family and social circle from a young age.

The schools are not the problem but a continuation of one.

P Cooper (via email).