Parents who went to watch their children perform in a Christmas carol concert were barred for being late to the primary school, which was inspected as part of Trojan horse scandal. Staff at Welford Primary School in Birmingham, West Midlands, refused to let more than 25 people in to watch their children sing, after they turned up late because of heavy traffic. Among those was a grandmother who had travelled more than 130 miles from London to see the show, which was put on by children aged between five and 11. Parents who turned up late to a Christmas carol concert at Welford Primary School in Birmingham were turned away by staff on Friday . One outraged mother who witnessed the incident last Friday said latecomers were being denied entry by head teacher Jamie Barry. She said: 'Some parents who turned up five minutes late were told they couldn't go in. They were absolutely devastated. 'They were told they would interrupt the choir. But as I was sat in the performance the bell rang twice. 'One gran had come up from London. It was very sad and some parents were understandably very angry. 'I've never known anything like it. 'Some people were coming straight from work and got caught in traffic. 'It is Christmas time and it felt very wrong to do it to the children.' But head teacher Mr Barry, who previously caused outrage at the school after he gave children books on tackling homophobia, has defended the decision. He said that the school's policy is to refuse admittance to audience members arriving more than ten minutes after the start of performances. 'It wasn't done to be vindictive,' he said. 'Ten minutes is a long time, and if people continue to come in after that time it is disruptive for the children and other parents. 'I always have to put the interests of the children first and we have had this rule for a long time. Families had been caught in traffic and were said to be 'angry' and 'devastated' at not being allowed in . 'In hindsight we could have made it clearer before the performance we will make it clearer for future performances.' The concert was put on by most of the school's 478 pupils, between Year 1 and 6, and started at 2pm last Friday. Parents had been warned in advance that places were limited and it could only allocate two tickets per family. The school was among 21 others in Birmingham to be inspected by Ofsted this year in connection with the Trojan horse scandal, which saw secular schools  being infiltrated by extremists. The report found Welford Primary School, which has a large Muslim intake, to be 'meeting requirements' in terms of safeguarding children from extremism. In October a meeting at the school between Mr Barry and parents became heated and police were called, but the head teacher denies being escorted from the premises, following earlier reports. Between 1997 and 1998 Christmas festivities in the city were given the name 'Winterval' by Birmingham council to reflect the diverse nature of the population. At the time the council said it was making the change to create a more welcoming, multi-cultural atmosphere due to the large proportion of ethnic groups. However the move was widely criticised and the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev Mark Santer, said it was political correctness gone mad.
Head teacher refused to let more than 25 parents in after they arrived late .
Families of pupils at Welford Primary School were 'devastated' and 'angry'
One relative - a grandmother - travelled 130 miles from London to show .
Head Jamie Barry says it's school policy to deny entry if 10 minutes late .
Parents who went to watch their children perform in a Christmas carol concert were barred for being late to the primary school, which was inspected as part of Trojan horse scandal. Staff at Welford Primary School in Birmingham, West Midlands, refused to let more than 25 people in to watch their children sing, after they turned up late because of heavy traffic. Among those was a grandmother who had travelled more than 130 miles from London to see the show, which was put on by children aged between five and 11. Parents who turned up late to a Christmas carol concert at Welford Primary School in Birmingham were turned away by staff on Friday . One outraged mother who witnessed the incident last Friday said latecomers were being denied entry by head teacher Jamie Barry. She said: 'Some parents who turned up five minutes late were told they couldn't go in. They were absolutely devastated. 'They were told they would interrupt the choir. But as I was sat in the performance the bell rang twice. 'One gran had come up from London. It was very sad and some parents were understandably very angry. 'I've never known anything like it. 'Some people were coming straight from work and got caught in traffic. 'It is Christmas time and it felt very wrong to do it to the children.' But head teacher Mr Barry, who previously caused outrage at the school after he gave children books on tackling homophobia, has defended the decision. He said that the school's policy is to refuse admittance to audience members arriving more than ten minutes after the start of performances. 'It wasn't done to be vindictive,' he said. 'Ten minutes is a long time, and if people continue to come in after that time it is disruptive for the children and other parents. 'I always have to put the interests of the children first and we have had this rule for a long time. Families had been caught in traffic and were said to be 'angry' and 'devastated' at not being allowed in . 'In hindsight we could have made it clearer before the performance we will make it clearer for future performances.' The concert was put on by most of the school's 478 pupils, between Year 1 and 6, and started at 2pm last Friday. Parents had been warned in advance that places were limited and it could only allocate two tickets per family. The school was among 21 others in Birmingham to be inspected by Ofsted this year in connection with the Trojan horse scandal, which saw secular schools  being infiltrated by extremists. The report found Welford Primary School, which has a large Muslim intake, to be 'meeting requirements' in terms of safeguarding children from extremism. In October a meeting at the school between Mr Barry and parents became heated and police were called, but the head teacher denies being escorted from the premises, following earlier reports. Between 1997 and 1998 Christmas festivities in the city were given the name 'Winterval' by Birmingham council to reflect the diverse nature of the population. At the time the council said it was making the change to create a more welcoming, multi-cultural atmosphere due to the large proportion of ethnic groups. However the move was widely criticised and the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev Mark Santer, said it was political correctness gone mad.
being late to the primary school, which was Midlands, refused to let more than 25 people in a grandmother who had travelled more than 130 miles from London to see the show, which was put at Welford Primary School in Birmingham were teacher Jamie Barry. She said: 'Some parents who more than ten minutes after the start of to be 'angry' and 'devastated' at not being