Parents block mosque tours

A COUNCIL has said it will offer “virtual” tours after parents blocked their children from going on school trips to mosques.

Staffordshire County Council has released new guidance for teachers on dealing with parents who protest at school visits to religious buildings.

The guidance says objections are “most frequently about visits to mosques, which raises the bigger issue of Islamophobia and how this can be addressed”.

It says children who feel “uneasy” can be offered a “virtual tour of a sacred space via the internet or film clips”.

The council’s guidance includes a sample letter to be sent to parents explaining the visit, and similar documents have previously been released by Cumbria, Surrey, and Derby councils.