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Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and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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Latest updates
Welsh students launch petition against collective worship
Posted: Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:34
Two Welsh school students have launched a petition calling on Welsh Assembly Members to end the obligation on schools to hold collective worship.
Rhiannon Shipton, one of the two petitioners, said: "As students we strongly believe it is an unnecessary ritual to be forced to say the Lord's Prayer during each assembly. If anything it is a waste of time for those that are of another religion or are atheist.
"This is not an attack on any religion. People are free to have their beliefs, but it's wrong to force students to take part in prayers when they don't believe in the God that's being worshipped."
The 15-year-olds, who attend the Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf Welsh-language school, met with the clerk to the Welsh Assembly's Petitions Committee to launch their appeal.
The petition reads: "We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to pass a law that removes the obligation on schools to hold acts of religious worship."
Assemblies with an act of worship take place at the school every day, in line with English and Welsh law. The law only permits sixth form pupils over the age of sixteen to withdrawal themselves from acts of worship in schools.
Martin Shipton, Rhiannon's father, said both she and fellow petitioner Lily McAllister-Sutton were "becoming increasingly frustrated by being forced to say prayers against their will."
Mr Shipton added that while parents can withdraw their children from assemblies, "that would set them apart from other pupils and remove them from an important communal event in the school's day."
Instead of collective worship, Lily and Rhiannon have suggested a time for reflection.
In 2016 the National Secular Society urged the Cabinet Secretary for Education in Wales, Kirsty Williams, to lead the way on child rights by repealing outdated provisions regarding collective worship.
Ms Williams suggested a review of collective worship in Wales could be undertaken once the ongoing curriculum reform has been completed.
Stephen Evans, the campaigns director of the National Secular Society, commended the pupils' work and said the current settlement was "unfair and wrong."
"Nobody should be forced to attend prayers of any religion against their will. Withdrawing pupils from collective worship is rarely a practical option, and is obviously divisive. The time really has come to abolish the hopelessly anachronistic requirement of schools to provide 'broadly Christian' worship and we urge the Welsh Government to take the lead on this issue.
"A truly progressive new curriculum for Wales should include a duty on all schools to ensure that all aspects of its curriculum, including assemblies, are respectful and inclusive of all pupils."
The National Secular Society recently launched a manifesto on rethinking the role of religion and belief in public life, which called for the abolition of the current legal requirement on English and Welsh schools to hold collective worship.
The manifesto said that "Where schools do hold acts of worship pupils should themselves be free to choose not to take part."
This chimes with recommendations of the UN children's rights committee which has called on the UK to abolish compulsory worship in schools and ensure pupils are given the independent right of withdrawal.
Scottish Government consults on religious observance, as poll shows majority favour reform
Posted: Thu, 5 Jan 2017 15:22
The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on religious observance, following a court case last year and a poll from The Times which found a majority in favour of change.
The limited consultation, which will involve religious organisations and parents' and teachers' groups, will consult the Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), who launched a legal challenge to religious observance in 2016.
The judicial review case was 'paused' late last year after the Government agreed to consult on new guidance for religious observance; hailed as a "step in the right direction" by the HSS.
Proposals to be consulted on by the Government include recognising that schools may rename religious observance as "time for reflection" which "may be more appropriate". The proposals also highlighted the need for the parental right of withdrawal from RO to be better communicated to parents.
The proposed revisions note there is no "statutory right to withdraw afforded to children and young people". It says "schools should include young people in any discussion about aspects of their school experience" and ensure "their wishes are taken into account."
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said: "This limited consultation is only on the guidance pertaining to religious observance, not the law underpinning it, and ultimately it is this that needs to be addressed. The proposed changes are a step in the right direction, but fall well short of ensuring that parental rights and young people's religious freedoms will be protected. Laws requiring worship in schools have no place in a modern education system."
Between Christmas and New Year the Times reported the results of a poll which found a majority of Scots in favour of reforming religious observance so that children can opt themselves out of religious observance. 38% of those polled said there should be no place for religious observance in Scottish schools.
17% favoured the continuation of religious observance, provided children could take themselves out of worship without parental consent. Scottish pupils currently have no right to withdraw themselves from religious observance in schools. In England and Wales only sixth-form pupils may do so.
The chief executive of the HSS, Gordon MacRae, told the Times: "This survey confirms what we have known for some time, that a majority of people in Scotland support a change in this arcane law."
Last year the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child said Scotland's failure to allow children to withdraw from religious observance was incompatible with Articles 12 and 14 of the UNCRC. The UN Committee called on UK governments 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.
