UK school called ‘Isis Academy’ forced to change name

COURTESY DAILY MAIL

A school called The Isis Academy has been forced to change its name after jokes about pupils being trained as terrorists.

The school in Oxford, which was only given the monicker three years ago after becoming an academy, has been rebranded The Iffley Academy to avoid confusion with Islamic State.

It had been named after part of the River Thames which flows nearby known as The Isis, but the school changed its title following a series of ‘negative comments’ from contractors.

Headmistress Kay Willett took action after being asked ‘are you training the children to be terrorists?’ and finding photographs of pupils and terrorists when she searched for the school online.

She said: ‘We had negative comments from the wider community such as contractors and people who were coming to do work for us.

‘You would give the address out on the phone and when you said “Isis” the person would pause and say “oh”.

‘Anybody who did not know the nature of the school would make comments like “are you training the children to be terrorists?”

‘The feedback from staff is that if they gave the school’s name when travelling around people would say “my goodness that is unfortunate”.

She added: ‘It became so prevalent in the media and if you Googled “Isis” you got a mixture of photos of terrorists and photos of our kids.

‘The children themselves were beginning to pick up on the fact there were negative comments and we wanted them to be able to be proud of their school.’

The 132-pupil special school, whose students have a range of disabilities and mental health needs, was known as Iffley Mead School until it became an academy three years ago.

A rebrand was first discussed in December 2014 after ISIS hit the headlines – and now the new signs are being installed.

Mrs Willett added that pupils at the school, which is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, were pleased with the name change.

She said: ‘Many of our students aged ten to 18 have autism and mental health needs and they rely on us to give out positive messages about life.

‘When we told them why the name was going to change they were happy with that.’

The Isis is the name given to the part of the Thames above Iffley Lock and is a focal point of rowing for Oxford University. But other organisations named after the river are sticking by their names.

Electrician Chris Carey, of Isis Electrical, said: ‘We are still Isis, it seems like people are calling the terrorist group “Daesh” now anyway.

‘I still get a few comments and I get funny looks in places outside Oxfordshire. It is just a storm in a teacup and we are happy to keep the name.’

Oxford University’s rowing team Isis also decided against changing its name two years ago following the rise of the terror group, to avoid giving the extremists ‘more publicity than they are worth’.

But the founder of Isis Estate Agents changed the company’s name shortly after its launch in September 2014 to Wallers of Oxford, because he saw it as an ‘easy put-down’ for rivals.

And an English language school and education group called ‘Isis’ changed its name to Oxford International Education Group after staff received ‘negative comments’ for wearing Isis T-shirts.

In December last year, biotechnology company Isis Pharmaceuticals announced it will change its name to avoid being confused with the terror group, following deliberations that lasted most of 2015.