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Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and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
Compulsory Christian worship should be reframed as ‘spiritual reflection’, says Church of England education chief
Posted: Tue, 8 Jul 2014 09:18
The legal requirement for schools to provide a daily act of 'broadly Christian' collective worship should be replaced with "spiritual reflection" drawing mainly on the Christian faith, the Church of England's head of education has said.
The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, said compulsory participation in collective worship was more suited to the 1940s, but said schools should still be required to make time for "spiritual reflection" which should draw "mainly on Christian faith and values and those of the other great religious traditions."
Rev Pritchard said compulsory worship could actively put people off religion and said it was "meaningless" to people who do not believe. But he said "church schools will continue to worship God because worship is at the heart of Christian belief and discipleship."
His comments echo those of the National Governors' Association, which recently become the latest body to recommend that the religious element of daily school assemblies should be scrapped.
Worship of a "mainly of a broadly Christian character", has been a legal requirement in all state schools since the 1944 Education Act. Schools can apply for a determination from the local authority to replace the Christian element of the worship with that of another faith, but schools are not permitted to opt out of collective worship altogether.
The National Secular Society is calling on all political parties to commit to removing the requirement in the next parliament.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "Even the Church of England now realises that a law requiring pupils to take part in an act of Christian worship is completely unjustifiable.
"The law as it stands 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, including no religious belief.
"School assemblies with an ethical framework can make a valuable contribution to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, but legally imposing acts of worship or 'spiritual reflection' is not required to achieve these valid educational goals."
School governors’ body recommends abolition of collective worship law
Posted: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:30
The National Governors' Association, which represents 300,000 school governors in England, has become the latest body to recommend that the religious element of daily school assemblies should be scrapped.
The NGA says the law that requires pupils to take part in a daily act of worship of a "broadly Christian nature" has become an anomaly in a multicultural nation. It revised its policy in June, saying:
"Few schools can or do meet the current legislative requirement for a daily act of collective worship, partly because there isn't space in most schools to gather students together, and often staff are unable or unwilling to lead a collective worship session. There is also the added issue that worship implies belief in a particular faith - if the 'act of worship' is not in your faith then it is meaningless as an act of worship."
The NGA added:
"Removing the collective worship from the remit of schools that are not faith schools would not prevent them from holding assemblies that address a whole range of topics, including faith and belief.
"In addition, it does not alter our position on religious education; it is important that students should continue to be taught a broad and balanced curriculum that encourages a knowledge and understanding of all faiths."
The NGA's policy statement says schools are not "places of worship but places of education and expecting the worship of a religion or religions in all schools should not be a compulsory part" of the timetable.
A poll by the BBC in 2010 found that 64% of adults were not in favour of maintaining the law on collective worship.
The NGA's policy statement was welcomed by the National Secular Society, which has long campaigned for an end to compulsory worship in schools.
Terry Sanderson, President of the NSS, said: "There are many problems for schools in trying to fulfil this requirement – one of them is that teachers themselves are not interested in religion and are unwilling to be coerced into foisting on to their pupils"
Mr Sanderson said that the National Secular Society receives a "steady stream" of complaints from parents who are concerned, annoyed and sometimes appalled about what their children are exposed to in religious assemblies in schools. "Sometimes they are unaware of their right to withdraw their child and even when they are they are reluctant to put them in the position of feeling 'different' to their classmates."
Mr Sanderson said that the value of a morning assembly – in which the school can talk about issues related to the school or discuss other important issues – has been hijacked for religious purposes, which children themselves often resent.
Visit our campaign page on collective worship to find out about your rights and how you can get involved.
