We want to see laws requiring schools to hold acts of worship abolished.
The laws are archaic, unnecessary and breach children's freedom of religion or belief.
The United Kingdom is the only Western democracy which legally imposes worship in publicly funded schools.
The law in England and Wales provides that children at all maintained schools "shall on each school day take part in an act of collective worship". Northern Ireland and Scotland have similar laws.
Even in schools with no religious designation, the worship must be "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
School assemblies are an important feature of school life. They foster a sense of community in schools and promote the moral and social development of pupils. But acts of worship are neither necessary nor desirable to achieve these educational goals.
Polling has found 70% of senior teachers "disagree" or "strongly disagree" with the law mandating worship, and 66% of teachers say their school does not even hold collective worship.
The majority of the public (52%) say school assemblies should be about moral issues, whereas just 26% agree that they should feature religious worship.
Many schools ignore the law, but where it is enforced it causes division and discrimination, as well as opening the door to evangelism and proselytising.
Parents have the right to withdraw children from collective worship, but many this is an unreasonable imposition on both themselves and their children. Parents should never have to withdraw their children from any part of the school day to ensure their rights to raise their child according to their own religious or philosophical convictions are respected.
Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and increasingly, no religious beliefs. The abolition of collective worship is long overdue.
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1. Write to your MP
Ask them to help end compulsory worship in schools
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3. Join us
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Latest updates
Open letter to Education Secretary: Government must respect children’s rights and abolish collective worship requirement
Posted: Fri, 17 Jun 2016 10:49
Thirty campaigners, including academics, MPs, peers, faith groups and educators, have called on the Government to abolish the law requiring Christian worship in English schools, following criticism of the practice from the UN.
The signatories to the letter, organised by the National Secular Society, include Ted Cantle, who warned over a decade ago that religious and ethnic communities in Britain were living "parallel lives", Paul Rowe, the CEO of Educate Together, Caroline Lucas MP, historian Dan Snow, Professor AC Grayling and a range of educators concerned about the imposition of Christian worship on pupils.
"There is a growing consensus," the signatories say, that collective worship in schools should be abolished.
Current law fails to reflect children's Human Rights, the letter adds.
The letter follows a recommendation from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child that pupils be given an independent right to withdraw themselves from religious worship held in schools.
The UN said it was "concerned" that UK law required pupils to take part in worship and that they couldn't opt themselves out.
In a recommendation to the UK government, the Committee said that action should be taken to "repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship in publicly funded schools and ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious worship at school."
Open letter to Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Education
Dear Ms Morgan,
There is a growing consensus among educators, academics, parents and pupils that the law requiring the provision of 'broadly Christian' worship in English schools should be abolished.
Last week the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child became the latest body to recommend that the UK repeal legal provisions for compulsory collective worship in publicly funded schools and ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw.
This echoes the recommendations of a study by the former Education Secretary Charles Clarke and professor of sociology of religion at Lancaster University, Linda Woodhead, which similarly concluded that the current requirement should be abolished.
The 70-year-old statute on collective worship was drawn up before any human rights charters and fails to recognise that pupils have human rights too.
Inclusive assemblies can play an important role in fostering a sense of community in schools. Assemblies with an ethical dimension can promote shared values and aid pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Acts of religious worship are neither necessary nor desirable to achieve these valid educational goals.
The law mandating worship in schools is an anachronism; the legacy of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and increasingly, no religious beliefs. It is also deeply unpopular, widely flouted and wholly incompatible with a genuine commitment to religious freedom.
We therefore urge you to implement the recommendation of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child and repeal legal provisions for collective worship and ensure that pupils can independently exercise the right to withdraw from any acts of worship that are held in schools.
Professor Peter Atkins
Jonathan Bartley, Director, Ekklesia
Ted Cantle CBE, Director the iCoCo Foundation
Lord Cashman
Nemu Chandaria OBE, Chairman Institute of Jainology
Tim Farron MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Dr Rob Freathy, Associate professor of history of education, University of Exeter
Lord Garel-Jones
Professor A C Grayling
Lord Harrison
Virginia Ironside
Tehmina Kazi, British Muslims for Secular Democracy
Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead
Caroline Lucas MP, Green Party
Derek McAuley, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
Neil McKain, Head of religious studies
Maajid Nawaz, founding chairman of Quilliam
Pragna Patel, Director Southall Black Sisters
Paul Rowe, CEO Educate Together
Martin Rowson
Aliyah Saleem, Co-founder of 'Faith to Faithless'
Alom Shaha, Teacher and science communicator
Terry Sanderson, President, National Secular Society
Joan Smith
Dan Snow
Peter Tatchell
Lord Taverne QC
Lord Warner
Dr Jacqueline Watson, School of education and lifelong learning University of East Anglia
Baroness Young of Hornsey
Dr Rumy Hasan, University of Sussex
UN children’s rights Committee calls on UK to abolish compulsory worship in schools
Posted: Fri, 10 Jun 2016 07:29
A United Nations committee has urged the UK to repeal laws requiring the provision of 'broadly Christian' worship in UK schools. It also called for pupils to be given the independent right of withdrawal from any religious worship held in schools.
In a report published this week, the UN also calls for age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health education to become mandatory in all schools, including faith schools.
The recommendations reflect concerns raised by the National Secular Society in a briefing submitted to the body leading up to the publication of the report.
Collective worship
In a section on Freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the UN reports states:
The Committee is concerned that pupils are required by law to take part in a daily religious worship which is "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character" in publicly funded schools in England and Wales, and that children do not have the right to withdraw from such worship without parental permission before entering the sixth form. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, children do not have right to withdraw from collective worship without parental permission.
The Committee recommends that the State party repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship in publicly funded schools and ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious worship at school.
Sex and relationships education
In a section on adolescent health, the Committee expresses concern that:
Relationships and sexuality education is not mandatory in all schools, its contents and quality varies depending on the school, and LGBT children do not have access to accurate information on their sexuality.
It calls on UK governments to:
Ensure that meaningful sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum for all schools, including academies, special schools and youth detention centres, in all areas of the State party. Such education should provide age-appropriate information on: confidential sexual and reproductive health-care services; contraceptives; prevention of sexual abuse or exploitation, including sexual bullying; available support in cases of such abuse and exploitation; and sexuality, including that of LGBT children.
The report also demands the decriminalization of abortion in Northern Ireland in all circumstances and calls for NI to review its legislation "with a view to ensuring girls' access to safe abortion and post-abortion care services".
Faith schools
The UN Committee also calls on Northern Ireland to "actively promote a fully integrated education system and carefully monitor the provision of shared education, with the participation of children, in order to ensure that it facilitates social integration".
Keith Porteous Wood, National Secular Society executive director, said:
"We're pleased that the UN Committee has endorsed our assertion that the UK's laws requiring worship are a breach of young people's rights. Our 70 year old statutes on collective worship were drawn up before any human rights charters and fail to recognise that pupils have human rights too. I hope the UN's endorsement of our long-standing concerns about children's rights on compulsory collective worship and minimal pupil self-opt-out will be a wakeup call to the Government to change our outdated legislation in this area.
"Laws that mandate worship are inimical to religious freedom and go beyond the legitimate function of the state.
"We also hope that the UN's intervention will encourage the Government to ensure that young people's long overdue right to objective, comprehensive and age-appropriate sex and relationships education is put on a statutory basis."
The NSS has been campaigning against compulsory collective worship for most of its 150 year history and worked with peers to put amendments before Parliament in 2011 very similar to those now recommended by the UN. They were rejected at the direction of Michael Gove MP when he was Secretary of State for Education.
The current right of withdrawal from worship for sixth form pupils follows an amendment proposed by the NSS in 2006.
Read the Committee on the Rights of the Child concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland here:
https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/crcgbr.pdf
Read the National Secular Society's briefing to the Committee here:
https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/uncrc-pswg72-nss-submission.pdf
Our supplementary evidence to the Committee is available here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/GBR/INT_CRC_NGO_GBR_23793_E.pdf
