THE Muslim Al-Madinah Free School, Derby, the centre of press stories after complaints from non-Muslim teachers that they were required to wear Islamic dress at school, closed on Tuesday, hours after OFSTED launched an urgent inspection that was intended to last for two days.

The school's acting head, Dr Stuart Wilson, informed parents in a letter posted on the school's website that he had decided to close the school temporarily for health-and-safety reasons.

But a spokeswoman for the Department for Education said that the school had been under investigation before teachers' complaints became public: "We discussed the problems with OFSTED, and it launched an immediate inspection. We are waiting for OFSTED's final report and considering all legal options," she said.

The Education Funding Agency, which is responsible for Free School funding, is understood to be investigating financial irregularities.

Al-Madinah school (above), which has about 200 pupils aged between four and 16, opened with a £1.4-million grant in September 2012. Its first head teacher, Andrew Cutts-McKay, resigned after less than a year.

Parents were told in a letter from the DfE on Monday that a two-day inspection, led by a senior HMI, David Anstead, would begin on Tuesday morning. The official letter was posted on Al-Madinah's website, with another, signed by Dr Wilson, denying allegations that girl pupils were routinely seated at the back of the class, behind the boys.

Dr Wilson's letter also insisted that prospective teachers were made aware of the school's Islamic dress-code when they were interviewed, and none had complained to the school. In an interview with the Derby Telegraph last month, a Christian head of department, who did not wish to be named, said that she had left her job at Al-Madinah at the end of the first term because she was required to wear a hijab (a Muslim head-scarf covering the hair) and a long skirt at school.

The paper was also told that, during lessons, girls sat at the back of the class, behind the boys. Dr Wilson's letter says that there was no segregation at the school, however, but in secondary classes girls were grouped together at the side of the class, the front, or the back.

In subsequent interviews, the teacher, who has 20 years' experience, said that when she took the job she believed that the school had a multi-faith outlook, but within weeks of opening, the rules became more hard-line.

The Al-Madinah prospectus says that the school follows the National Curriculum, except for music, and states that both sexes are treated equally. It also has an extensive Islamic-studies programme, although parents are told that they can opt out of this. The school's dress-code bans staff from wearing the burqa (a garment that covers the whole body) or the niqab (face veil) during working hours, but ends with strictures on dress quoted from the Qur'an.

In 2006, a Muslim teaching assistant at Headfield C of E Primary School, Dewsbury, was dismissed by governors after refusing to remove her niqab during lessons (News, 1 December 2006). The decision was upheld by an employment tribunal.

Question of the week: Should Muslim schools be permitted to enforce an Islamic dress code for staff?