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Teachers secured jobs at schools at the heart of the so-called Trojan Horse scandal through a secret clique and a Birmingham mosque, it has been claimed.

A former teacher at Park View Academy said it was an “open secret” that people got jobs “based on who they know”.

The former sex education teacher, known as Witness A, was giving evidence at a National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL) hearing today where five senior teachers face allegations of professional misconduct.

Meanwhile, in an obscure twist, the teacher claimed the head of one of the schools convinced pupils they were made of clay.

All five teachers involved in the hearing – Moz Hussain, Lindsey Clark, Arshad Hussain, Razwan Faraz and Hardeep Saini - face the same allegation of trying to include an undue amount of religious influence in the education of pupils.

Moz, Arshad, Lindsey and Hardeep are alleged to have appointed members of staff that might have assisted with the aim of Islamising the non-faith schools that were run by Park View Educational Trust– Park View, Golden Hillock and Nansen Primary.

“In terms of recruitment within the schools it was an open secret that people got jobs on the basis of who they knew and their friends,” said the witness, who was granted anonymity by the hearing panel.

“For example Inamulhaq Anwar (former sex education teacher at Park View) and Moz Hussain were both friends of Razwan Faraz (Nansen deputy head) prior to him being appointed to his job at the school.

“There was a time when someone suggested to me that all the decisions in terms of the appointment to school posts were made at Green Lane Mosque.

“There was definitely something unusual about the procedure for the appointment of staff.

“I heard the phrase ‘the brotherhood’ used to describe those male staff and governors who are Conservative Muslims with strong beliefs like Monzoor, Razwan, Arshad and others.”

All three schools were plunged into special measures in April last year during investigations into an alleged plot by hardline Muslims to take control of governing bodies.

Meanwhile, it emerged Monzoor ‘Moz’ Hussain, former acting principal at Park View Academy in Alum Rock, convinced pupils they were made of clay.

He left pupils so certain they were not made of flesh and blood that they had to be given special lessons from a science teacher to persuade them otherwise, a witness claimed.

The former sex education teacher at Park View said she had to “sensitively” teach pupils about evolution as many were Muslims and therefore only believed in ‘creationism’.

She said she was “shocked” to discover Year 9 pupils “genuinely believed” they were made of clay as they had been taught it so convincingly by Moz.

She added: “I even said to them, ‘if you cut yourself you bleed, so you can not be made from clay can you?’

“I ended up taking one pupil to the head of science so that they could help me make them understand that a human being is not made of clay.

“I was astonished that I had to go to such lengths.”

She also said she was concerned to discover how much of the school day and curriculum was dominated by Islamic prayer or study.

In 2013, some Year 7 pupils were made ‘Collective Worship Monitors’, given special blue badges and allowed to leave class early to put out prayer mats at lunchtime and then were late for afternoon lessons due to the time spent praying and then putting the mats away.

She said the monitors were “fully supported” by Moz, and while assemblies and prayer sessions were dubbed ‘collective worship’ they were entirely dedicated to the Islamic faith.

The witness, granted anonymity by the hearing panel, added: “It is my view that the way Arshad and others changed the character of Park View School meant that our pupils’ development was being stifled.

“They were being fed a diet of Islam and that was it.

“The pupils were not being taught to think for themselves, question ideas and formulate their own views, they were not being prepared to be rounded citizens able to integrate and function in society.

“The way the school was run by those in charge was not about broadening a pupil’s horizons, it was about insulating them so as to keep them within the local community not allowing them to develop as you expect a normal British teenager to do.”

The hearing continues.