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Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and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
Scottish Government to consult on religious observance guidance
Posted: Mon, 7 Nov 2016 15:26
Campaigners in Scotland have agreed to "pause" their legal action on religious observance in Scottish schools, pending a consultation by the Scottish Government.
The Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) said the promised consultation was a "step in the right direction" and that the judicial review had been halted for three months by mutual agreement of both the HSS and the Scottish Government.
Gordon MacRae, chief executive of the HSS, said the Scottish Government's consultation will "revisit its guidance for schools on the basis of a wider recognition of children's rights."
"By agreeing to launch a new consultation Scottish Ministers for the first time are making it possible for young people to have a voice in the process.
"I am pleased that we were able to secure an agreement to suspend the court action for three months to allow this to happen. This will allow the consultation to take place and we will engage positively in that process to maximise the rights of young people in Scotland."
He sounded a note of caution however, warning that while the consultation was "welcome" it would not deliver the "independent right for young people" to opt themselves out of religious observance.
He said that the HSS had "been overwhelmed by the level of public support for our legal challenge."
Scottish Government guidance on religious observance says that the "Education (Scotland) Act 1980 continues to impose a statutory duty on local authorities to provide religious observance in Scottish schools."
The Act provides for "religious observance to be practised and for instruction in religion to be given to pupils whose parents did not object to such observance or instruction". Religious observance must take place at least six times every school year.
Scottish pupils currently have no right to withdraw themselves from religious observance.
In England and Wales, where worship is a daily requirement, only sixth-form pupils are able withdraw themselves without the need for a parent's permission.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recently urged all UK governments to repeal legislation mandating worship in schools and to "ensure that children can independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious worship at school."
Stephen Evans, campaigns director of the National Secular Society, said: "There are fundamental problems that need to be addressed, not just with the Scottish Government guidance, but the law itself.
"Clearly, where schools do hold religious observance, young people's religious freedom should be respected by them having the right to opt themselves out.
"However, neither a parental opt out nor a pupil opt out is ideal. Reforms should concentrate on making all aspects of the school day inclusive. Organised religious worship in schools is inimical to this aim."
Campaigns against school worship gain momentum in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Posted: Wed, 14 Sep 2016 08:11
The Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) has launched a judicial review against the Scottish Government following its refusal to allow sixth form pupils to opt themselves out of Religious Observance.
Parental permission is currently required before pupils in Scotland can opt out of religious observance in schools.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child made a strong criticism of this arrangement, recently recommending that Scotland repeal legislation on "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."
Chief Executive of the HSS Gordon MacRae said: "Today in Scotland young people are trusted to get married, join the army and vote in elections and for the constitutional future of Scotland . However, Scottish Ministers still do not trust them to make their own decisions about attending Religious Observance or to give young people the same rights as those living in England and Wales.
"For sometime now Humanist Society Scotland has been calling on the Scottish Government to update its policy on Religious Observance. I had hoped that if they would not listen to us then at least they would listen to the United Nations Children's Rights Committee.
"We have worked with a number of organisations and individuals over the years to seek to reform Religious Observance, most notably the Church of Scotland in 2014, with whom we issued a joint call for reform.
"Sadly our efforts to seek progressive reform of this outdated requirement of Scottish education has failed. The Scottish Government's policy on religious observance is a mess, a classic political fudge. Our young people deserve better."
The HSS have now launched legal action following the refusal of the Scottish Government to allow young people to withdraw themselves from religious observance in line with the recommendations of the UN.
Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland a campaign to allow teens the right to opt-out of collective worship recently won the backing of the Alliance Party.
Scott Moore of the 'Let Schools Choose' campaign said he was optimistic about securing more political support.
"We believe that pupils of all ages should be able to determine their own religious views at a suitable age. The state has no business recommending, implicitly or explicitly, what someone's religious views should be. Nor do they have any business delivering biased education to make people more likely to believe a certain religious view.
"Just because a religious view is agreed with by a majority doesn't mean it should get privileges above other religious views.
"We're now in a great place to win the support of other parties for this policy - if we can do that, we can bring this policy to the Assembly," he said.
"Please do your bit and email your local MLA, asking if they will back a self opt-out from collective worship for post-16/sixth form students".
Currently students in Northern Ireland can only withdraw from prayers with parental permission.
The right for sixth form pupils to withdraw themselves from collective worship in England and Wales was won after campaigning by the National Secular Society.
Responding to representations made by the NSS just last month, Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for Education in England, said the Government had "no plans to change the current requirements for the daily act of collective worship".
The NSS is seeking a change in the law in England and Wales to replace the legal requirement on schools to provide worship with a new duty to ensure that all aspects of the school day, including assemblies, are inclusive of all pupils.
