A primary school headteacher has said she did not see a controversial council questionnaire criticised as Islamophoic before it was handed out to pupils and has destroyed the results.

Last week, a voluntary questionnaire was given to pupils at Buxton Primary School in Cann Hall Road, Leytonstone, asking children as young as ten how much they trust members of a different race or religion.

It was handed out as part of Waltham Forest council’s Building Resilience through Integration & Trust (BRIT) programme, which is funded by the European Commission and aims to find out whether Year 5 and Year 6 pupils are developing extremist attitudes.

The questionnaire asks pupils to say how much they agree to statements including whether they think God has a purpose for them, if they would mind if a family of a different race or religion moved next door and if they thought religious books are to be understood word for word.

The Islamic Human Rights Commision said the questionnaire was Islamaphobic as it was geared towards Muslims, but the council denied the anonymous questionnaire was directed at pupils of any particular faith.

Yesterday (May 28) Buxton Primary executive headteacher, Kath Wheeler, and chair of governors, Tom Williams, issued a joint statement after completing an internal investigation int the survey, which was published on social media.

They said: “When we agreed to run the BRIT project on behalf of Waltham Forest council, we were not made aware that this questionnaire would be included.

"It was not sent to me or my senior leadership team and as such we did not have a chance to judge whether the questions were appropriate.

"If we had been given that opportunity this survey would not have been sent out to our students.

“We apologise for causing distress and worry to students, parents and carers, and others in the community who have raised very real and well-founded concerns in response to this questionnaire.

“The questionnaires that were filled in have been destroyed and no data has been collected or sent to anyone else.

"We will not be taking part in this method of evaluation now or in the future."

The school said they agreed to run the BRIT project on behalf of the council without being informed that the questionnaire would be included. 

It is believed they put out the second statement because they felt concerns being raised by parents over the survey were not being addressed. 

Waltham Forest council has been approached for comment.