He crosses religious lines

"Once they realized I was not trying to change the culture of the place, they relaxed," he says.

Since taking over, Paterson has brought stability and increased discipline to King Abdul Aziz school.

"I feel very much at home here," he says. "I thought some of the parents might oppose my methods, but they have given me every freedom."

Khan says that formerly anxious parents, many of whom are recent immigrants from countries such as Fiji, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, are pleased with Paterson.

The headmaster even goes to the school mosque at prayer times, usually standing to one side to make sure the children behave themselves. This raised the curiosity of some of the younger students.

"One day a couple of primary school boys came up to me and asked me why I don't become Islamic and why I don't say the prayers. I explained to them that we each had our own religions and must respect each other. The explanation seemed to work," Paterson says, stressing that being a Christian makes no difference to his job as an administrator.

Other than the fact that this school requires six hours of religious studies a week, compared with one hour a week in other schools, the curriculum broadly matches non-Islamic private schools in the country.

"There is a great misconception here in Australia, as well as in other countries in the West, that all Islamic schools are hotbeds of terrorism and they all breed fanatics - but I am here to tell you that that's pure myth," says Paterson.

Muslims find that others are not so open-minded.

"Two Islamic schools that recently asked for approval in Sydney were rejected," says Moussaab Legha, head of the Voice of Islamic Radio. "Why is that?"

He believes it's because the government prefers children go to mainstream schools. In the same way, he says, small community halls serving as makeshift mosques also face opposition from local governing councils.

"They tell us, 'You make too much noise on Friday, there are too many cars, it disturbs the neighbors,'" Mr. Legha says. The government suspects that all large Muslim gatherings and Islamic schools foster hate and intolerance, he says.

Paterson combats such prejudice by inviting students from other schools to come and visit with the Muslim children, mostly with positive results.

"Christian boys and girls are surprised to learn that most of the studies are the same, and that really the kids are the same, too. The only thing the [non-Muslims] seem the most uncomfortable about is that the girls and boys can't date and that the girls have arranged marriages."

He also invites rabbis and Buddhist monks to the school to teach about their religion, without any opposition from the school board.

Mr. Trad, along with Christian and other religious leaders, has been on a mission to improve community relations in the last two years with meetings, speeches, and seminars.

Muslim outreach programs have increased by 50 percent since Sept. 11, 2001, but little is being done at the school level to increase communication between Islamic and non-Islamic students.

"We have open days at various mosques and sometimes 100 Christians will come and break the Ramadan fast with us, but there are no children among these people," says Trad, who is also the director of the Lebanese Islamic Association.

"If Ian Paterson can help to change that in some way, that would be something," he adds.

So does Paterson see the future of religious harmony riding on his shoulders?

"Mostly I deal with problems of teachers, parents, and recalcitrant students," says Paterson, laughing.

The students agree. "Kids are now being suspended for behaving badly ... things have become tougher for us now," says Abdullah Hakeem.

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