Faith schools undermine equality, choice and social cohesion.
Let's build an inclusive education system today, to ensure an inclusive society tomorrow.
Our education system should be open and welcoming to all. That's why we want publicly funded faith schools phased out and an end to religiously selective school admissions.
Around a third of publicly funded schools in England and Wales are faith schools – schools with a religious character. Scottish and Northern Irish schools are still divided along sectarian lines.
Separating children according to religion is divisive and leads to religious, ethnic and socio-economic segregation.
To make matters worse, many faith schools can discriminate against pupils and teachers who do not share the religion of the school.
Parents are entitled to raise their children within a faith tradition, but they are not entitled to enlist the help of the state to do so. The state should not allow the schools it funds to inculcate children into a particular religion.
Faith schools seriously limit choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of the local school. Our research has found that 18,000 families were assigned faith schools against their wishes in England in 2017 alone.
Despite a consistent and dramatic decline in church attendance, and a growing majority of non-religious citizens, successive governments have paved the way for ever greater religious involvement in education, often to the detriment of inclusive community schools.
A secular approach to education would ensure publicly funded schools are equally welcoming to all children, regardless of their backgrounds.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Please call on your MP to support a secular, inclusive education system for all.
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
School cancels play about evolution after Christian parents object
Posted: Fri, 8 Feb 2019 08:13
A school has cancelled a play about the discovery of evolution amid objections from Christian parents, leading the National Secular Society to call for a stronger response to "unreasonable parental demands".
Hartford Manor Primary School in Cheshire cancelled plans to put on the play Darwin Rocks after parents of eight of the 40 pupils involved said they would withdraw their children.
A parent told the NSS the objection was made on religious grounds by a small group of individuals with a Creationist agenda.
The school said the parents objected to the play's portrayal of Samuel Wilberforce, a 19th century Church of England bishop who denigrated the theory of evolution.
The school said it consulted with teachers after it received the complaints, and they said they wanted to perform something else. As a result the head cancelled and decided to run a play based on traditional tales instead.
Teachers had already started practising songs from Darwin Rocks with pupils when the production was cancelled.
The primary school curriculum requires schools to teach about evolution and the way living things have adapted to suit their environments.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "Schools should have the confidence to face down unreasonable parental demands. Objections to children learning about evolution – including the Church of England's historical hostility to it – clearly fall under this description.
"We're seeing a worrying trend of parents pressuring headteachers and threatening to withdraw children when teaching doesn't fit their, often narrow, worldview.
"Schools should broaden pupils' horizons and need to be supported to do that when faced with external pressure demanding that the education their children receive conforms with parents' religious views."
Some parents at the school said it was "unacceptable" that their children had been denied the chance to take part in Darwin Rocks.
One parent, Alan McDonald, told The Independent: "It really does feel like a huge step backwards. It doesn't seem evenhanded or in any way right.
"It seems ridiculous to whitewash history and replace it with something entirely vacuous.
"I think it is just a thinly veiled attempt to cram religious views over the top of scientific fact which I think is shameful personally."
The school's headteacher Simon Kidwell said "in hindsight" he thought changing the play was "a hasty decision".
"We could have put more effort into looking at whether we could have adapted it to make sure it was inclusive of everybody.
"I have apologised to the parents and we will consider putting it on in future years if we can make sure those bits are edited so it is inclusive for everybody."
The episode comes shortly after around 400 predominantly Muslim parents objected to a Birmingham school's programme teaching children about homosexuality. Parkfield Community School has since defended its decision to run the No Outsiders programme.
But the assistant headteacher who piloted the scheme, Andrew Moffatt, resigned from another local school in 2014 after Muslim and Christian parents objected to the fact he was openly gay.
Last year a primary school in east London that restricted hijabs and fasting was forced to back down on its policies following an aggressive campaign from opponents.
In recent months there have also been increasing reports of parents withdrawing their children from educational visits to mosques.
Schools warned as parents refuse to let pupils speak to inspectors
Posted: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 14:33
The government has told independent schools that inspectors must be able to speak to pupils after a Jewish school where some parents withdrew consent received a warning notice.
Beis Ruchel Girls School, in Salford in Greater Manchester, was among seven independent faith schools which received government warning notices for breaches of educational standards in December.
Ofsted inspectors said they "were only able to speak to a limited number of pupils" during a visit to Beis Ruchel in July. Some parents and carers had withdrawn permission for children to speak to inspectors.
The inspectors added that they were only able to ask about some of the protected characteristics outlined in the 2010 Equality Act.
In a letter to independent school heads, the Department for Education (DfE) said the schools may be in breach of standards if inspectors are unable to speak to pupils.
The DfE said inspectors needed to gather "first-hand" evidence about teaching, the curriculum and safeguarding issues.
"However, we have become aware that some schools have taken steps to try and prevent this from happening - either by a lack of co-operation during the inspection and/or actively hindering inspectors, or through encouraging parents to provide written confirmation that they do not wish their child to be allowed to speak to inspectors."
It added that schools could fail to meet standards designed to "ensure that information reasonably requested by inspectors is provided in connection with an inspection" as a result.
Ofsted reports have revealed that parents have withdrawn permission for inspectors to speak to their children at several Charedi Jewish schools in recent months.
The National Secular Society's head of education Alastair Lichten said the government should take the issue of the organised withdrawal of consent to speak to inspectors "very seriously".
"Inspections of independent schools should strike a balance between schools' autonomy and the need to protect children's independent rights. But when children are unable to speak to inspectors loud alarm bells should sound, not least because it raises concerns about safeguarding and children's welfare.
"The government is right to tell schools that this will not be tolerated."
Newly-published notices have revealed that the Department for Education (DfE) warned 15 independent schools, for a variety of reasons, in December. Three of these were Christian, two Islamic and two Jewish.
Ofsted's report on Beis Ruchel also pointed to weaknesses in the teaching of PSHE and said the school's curriculum does not enable pupils to gain GCSE qualifications in science or geography.
The warned schools also featured an Islamic school which "wholly" segregates children by gender and another where personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) was taught solely through whole-school assemblies.
Bury Park Educational Institute in Luton in Bedfordshire educates boys and girls three miles apart. In October the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) said the school was discriminating and failing to prepare pupils effectively "for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in British society".
The ISI judgement applied the principles of a landmark ruling at the Court of Appeal in October 2017, which established that it was unlawful for mixed-sex schools to discriminate by gender. The school has now applied to register the sites as two separate schools.
The inspection also highlighted concerns over safeguarding, leadership and the handling of complaints.
At Al-Furqan Community College, a girls' school in Solihull in the West Midlands, the ISI said the personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum was not "implemented effectively". Inspectors said PSHE was "solely delivered through assemblies taught to all age groups together", meaning it did not "systematically cover topics in appropriate depth at age-appropriate level".
Inspectors also raised concerns about physical education, careers guidance, safeguarding and leadership.
At Talmud Torah Yetev Lev, a Jewish school in Salford in Lancashire, Ofsted inspectors raised concerns about the safety of the school building. A report in October said there were "some holes in ceilings and walls" which could allow smoke to pass through buildings easily. Door closures were also missing from fire doors, along with ceiling tiles. Some lighting was broken or not operational.
At Excelsior College, a Christian school in Tottenham in north London, Ofsted said the school's teaching and leadership were failing to meet the expected standards.
At Reedham Park School, a Christian school in Purley in Surrey, the ISI criticised health and safety measures, safeguarding checks, premises and leadership.
At The Hall School, a Christian school in north-west London, Ofsted said previously-raised concerns about pupils' safety and welfare, the provision of information and the quality of leadership and management had not been fully addressed.
Mr Lichten said inspectors and the government "should continue to hold independent faith schools to the same standards as those without a religious designation".
The schools were required to provide action plans to the DfE by January and are expected to implement the measures outlined within them by March.
This week Ofsted's chief inspector of schools, Amanda Spielman, also rejected claims that Ofsted is pursuing an "anti-faith" agenda in its inspection of religious schools in an appearance in parliament.
She told MPs on the education select committee that Ofsted did not inspect faith schools with greater "intensity" amid questions from the committee's chair Robert Halfon and Labour MP Ian Mearns.
Halfon said faith bodies had suggested to him "that Ofsted is now delivering an anti-faith agenda". Mearns raised complaints from Orthodox Jewish groups in his constituencies about the requirement to teach about LGBT+ issues.
Spielman said: "We are absolutely not anti-faith, nor do we inspect faith schools in a different way or with a different intensity to any others.
"We are in a country and a time where there are significant tensions between people who have a strong interest in different protected characteristics.
"It is very easy for someone with a particularly strong interest in one of them to come to feel that it is of overwhelming importance and that everything else that is set out in law must be set aside because their particular area of interest is so strong."
Two weeks ago Spielman defended Ofsted's commitment to children's rights over religious concerns during another parliamentary appearance before the Commons public accounts committee.
Meanwhile this week the charity regulator in England and Wales launched an investigation into the proprietor of a private Muslim school which has been repeatedly warned about its operations by Ofsted.
The Charity Commission will study the governance, management and administration of the Albayan Education Foundation, an educational and humanitarian charity which runs the independent Birmingham Muslim School.
More information
Protect relationships and sex education
Age-appropriate relationships and sex education should be every child’s right.
Remove religious appointees from Scottish councils
Religion shouldn’t grant people privileged places in local democracy.
Research and reports
The faith schools research bank
The choice delusion: how faith schools restrict school choice
Three in ten families across England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools and thousands are being assigned faith schools against their wishes.
Power grab: Academisation and the threat to secular education
Academisation has enabled faith groups to increase their influence over all schools, including those with no religious character. With little public debate, religious governance has increased, while secular oversight has diminished.
Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools
Faith based inspections of state schools are an unnecessary drain on public finds, frame widely held values as exclusive, and promote biased religious education.
Faith-shaped holes: How religious privilege is undermining equality law (PDF, 1.3 Mb)
