Al-Madinah secondary school to close
THE secondary department of Al-Madinah, the Muslim free school
in Derby, is to close, the Al-Madinah Education Trust announced on
Friday, after receiving notice from the Schools Minister, Lord
Nash, that closing was the only viable option to enable the school
to have a future. The primary school is to remain open. Last year,
OFSTED inspectors condemned the school as "dysfunctional" and "in
chaos" (News, 18
October).
First woman Dean for Norwich
THE next Dean of Norwich is to be Canon Jane Hedges (right), who
is currently Sub-Dean and Canon Steward of Westminster Abbey, and
Archdeacon of Westminster. Canon Hedges trained at Cranmer Hall,
Durham, before becoming one of the first women in the Church of
England to be ordained priest, in 1994. She served her ministry in
the dioceses of Portsmouthand Exeter, before being appointed to
Westminster in 2006. She will succeed the Very Revd Graham Smith,
who retired in September.
Anti-Semitic incidents fall
REPORTS of anti-Semitic incidents fell byalmost one fifth in
2013, the charity Community Security Trust (CST) recorded. The
trust reported 529 incidents in 2013 - a drop from the 649 recorded
in 2012, and the lowest annual total recorded by CST since 2005.
The highest ever annual total recorded by CST was in 2009, when 931
anti-Semitic incidents were recorded.