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Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and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.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask them to help end compulsory worship in schools
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Calls for national debate over collective worship requirement in schools
Posted: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:33
Renewed calls have been made for a national debate about the requirement on schools to hold acts of collective worship. The calls came during an Education Committee evidence session on extremism in schools in the wake of the Trojan horse schools affair in Birmingham.
One of the recommendations of the report commissioned by Birmingham City Council (BCC) following allegations made in the anonymous Trojan Horse letter was for the Council to consider leading a debate about the requirements of secular schools to provide a daily act of collective worship in schools which must be "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character".
Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh asked the report's author, Ian Kershaw, whether the requirement to conduct a daily act of collective worship is causing problems in British schools, and whether abolishing the law would enable schools to better promote community cohesion.
In response, Mr Kershaw told the education committee that the legal requirement to hold worship was "clearly a subject that needs to be looked at enormously carefully in the future".
Councillor Brigid Jones, BCC Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services, suggested a national debate was needed.
When asked by Labour MP Alex Cunningham whether Birmingham City Council would be willing to lead a debate on the collective worship requirement, and the place of religion in schools, or whether it was "too hot to handle", Cllr Jones replied:
"Personally, I think it is a debate we ought to be having nationally, because it is a national piece of legislation. It has been recommended for Birmingham to do it. Birmingham would be an incredibly appropriate place to do it, in some respects, because we are the most diverse city in the UK."
Asked whether the issue of collective worship should ideally on the education Committee's agenda, rather than Birmingham City Council's, Cllr Jones said:
"You will have the full spectrum of views represented in Birmingham. It is certainly not a debate I want to shy away from, but it is one we really ought to have nationally in 2014 in modern Britain."
The calls have been welcomed by the National Secular Society, which is campaigning for an end to the law that requires schools to hold acts of worship.
Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said: "The collective worship requirement is hopelessly outdated, deeply unpopular, and in many schools, wholly unworkable. Particularly in a religiously diverse society such as ours, any law requiring worship clearly poses a threat to cohesion and people's religious freedoms.
"Politicians on all sides need to recognise this and commit to abolishing the law. Our schools can then focus on providing meaningful and relevant assemblies for all pupils, regardless of their religion or belief background."
Photo credit: Asadour Guzelian
New petition calls for an end to compulsory worship in schools
Posted: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:13
A petition has been launched calling on political parties to commit to ending compulsory worship in schools.
With parties developing their education policies ahead of next year's general election, the petition calls on the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats to make a commitment to removing the requirement on schools to hold acts of worship in their future plans for education.
The legal obligation on schools in England and Wales to provide 'broadly Christian' acts of worship was introduced by the 1944 Education Act, but is widely flouted by schools.
In a recent BBC commissioned ComRes poll, 64% of parents reported that their children did not attend daily worship at school. Just 30% of parents said the law that prescribes a daily act of worship should be enforced.
The National Secular Society said schools that follow the law are forcing children to take part in worship regardless of what they believe, violating their religious freedom.
An opt-out allows parents to withdraw their children from worship but is not widely used as it draws unwanted attention to children and means they miss out on other aspects of assemblies. Other than sixth-form pupils, children and young people are not permitted to excuse themselves from acts of worship.
The National Governors' Association last week became the latest body to recommend that the 70-year-old law should be scrapped. In a policy statement it pointed out that an "act of worship" implies belief in a particular faith which was "meaningless" when schools are made up of pupils of different cultures and religions. At its recent meeting the NGA's Policy Committee decided that the NGA should seek the abolition of the requirement.
Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, urged people of all faiths and none to get behind the campaign. He said: "A law that requires worship is incompatible with genuine commitment to religious freedom. Even with limited withdrawal rights, requiring a daily act of worship, in which pupils by law are required to 'take part', undermines young people's freedom of religion or belief and impedes parents' abilities to raise their children in accordance with their own religious or philosophical convictions.
"Plenty of opportunities exist within the school curriculum to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. School assemblies with an ethical framework also have an important role to play, but legally imposed acts of worship are not necessary to achieve these educational goals."
Add your name to the petition to end compulsory worship in schools.
