ZAKARIAH GIRLS' SCHOOL•GETTY The Zakariah Girls' High School where Ofsted claim they were prohibited from speaking to pupils

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The child safety inspection fell on the same day as the Islamic festival of Eid and inspectors were allegedly told they could only speak to senior managers. The private Zakaria Muslim Girls' High School, in Batley, is run by the secretive Deobandi sect, which often shuns contact with non-Muslims. It is believed the sect controls around half of all Britain's private Islamic schools.

GETTY The Darul Uloom mosque, India, where the Deobandi Islamic movement began

Ofsted's initial report into the 149-pupil school stated: "It was not possible to talk to students during this visit as they and the staff were celebrating the festival of Eid." The report was supported by a statement from Ofsted's National Director of Education, Sean Harford, who wrote: "The inspector did not challenge the school when they stated they were celebrating Eid and prohibited him from talking to pupils. "There is no Ofsted guidance or protocol to state that inspectors will not talk to pupils during the observance of any religious festivals."

SG The Islamic Tarbiyah Academy allegedly under investigation by DfE for teaching hard-line Islam

Ofsted later admitted that not talking to children at the Batley school was "a mistake" and said it had taken "appropriate action" against the inspector. Two other schools in the area – the Islamic Institute of Education and the Islamic Tarbiyah Centre, both in Dewsbury – have raised concerns recently. The Islamic Institute was re-inspected by Ofsted after inspectors allegedly failed to challenge its teaching of the strict Sharia code - it was then downgraded from "good" to "inadequate".

Documents uncovered last year revealed that young boys at the school were told they could be expelled for mixing with outsiders and pupils were banned from watching television or reading newspapers. The Islamic Tarbiyah Centre, which teaches primary school pupils in the evenings, is now under investigation by the Department for Education over its promotion of an extreme form of Islam.

GETTY Ofsted admitted they made a "mistake" by not speaking to pupils