Time for non-religious schools in England

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debbie
Posts: 2596
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:28 pm
Location: UK

Time for non-religious schools in England

Post by debbie »

I agree entirely with this piece:

http://www.secularism.org.uk/blog/2016/ ... -privilege

Despite Church attendance being in steady decline for the best part of a century, the CofE is still handed millions of pounds of public money to educate, inculcate and impose prayers on the one million children attending its church schools. With the decline of local education authorities, academisation may well see an increasing number of non-religious schools being swallowed up by Church-run academy trusts. Already the Church is the biggest sponsor of academies in England and a third of all schools are 'faith schools'.

One has to question how sustainable this all is when all the evidence suggests that the reduction in Christian affiliation and increase in non-religious affiliation is set to continue.
Our failure to call time on church schools has led to vast swathes of public money being handed to minority religious groups to open 'their' schools, creating silos of segregation and further impeding social cohesion.
Debbie Hepplewhite
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debbie
Posts: 2596
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:28 pm
Location: UK

Post by debbie »

The piece above links to this article:
Four Newcastle schools facing Church of England takeover
http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2016/ ... d-takeover
One local councillor said the change was undemocratic and against the wishes of parents who have their children at the non-religious schools.

"The Church are saying this is not a takeover by them but then if it isn't that, what is it?"

Councillor Dave Wood also raised concerns about the consultation process and said that "Councillors opposed to the move were not consulted at all directly and parents have said they do not want the schools to be taken over."

Under the plans Central Walker Church of England School would join West Walker Primary School, Walkergate Primary School, Tyneview Primary and Benfield School in one trust dominated by representatives of the Church of England.

The Newcastle Diocesan Education Board has claimed that the community schools involved will have their individual ethos protected under the multi-academy trust – a guarantee sought by the National Secular Society from the Department for Education when the NSS first raised the alarm about religious groups using academisation to takeover non-religious schools.

Stephen Evans, campaigns manager of the National Secular Society, said, "This is exactly what we warned would happen. The Department for Education reassured us that individual schools would be protected if taken over by a religious multi-academy trust, but this board will have three of five seats filled by representatives of the Church of England. How can non-religious schools realistically be protected from an encroaching religious ethos if the most senior people in the trust are all advancing the interests of the Church?

"It is hard enough for parents to secure a neutral, non-religious education for their children without the Church taking over whole academy trusts. It's intolerable that the Church should be allowed to further its own interests by gaining greater influence over children's education and at the public's expense."
Debbie Hepplewhite
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