Because just a third of the students at her religiously “diverse” infant school practise Christianity, the headteacher claims that the legislation requiring her to perform required Christian “community worship” violates their human rights.
Jo Conner, the headteacher of Poulner Infant School in Ringwood, Hampshire, has argued that the requirement is improper since “two-thirds” of the students’ families do not identify as Christian. She has attempted to use a UN Convention to get her school exempted from the obligation.
Ms Conner said that the legislative need for Christian collective worship services makes it difficult for Poulner Infant School to provide “inclusive” assemblies in her request to abolish the mandate.
The school in Hampshire’s New Forest said that the very reason some parents chose it is that it is an alternative to the local religious schools.
A religious advisory council, however, denied the proposal since a third of students’ parents identify as Christians, making Christianity the school’s biggest single religious group.
They also said that there had been no parent complaints about the worship services at the school, which has roughly 250 students and is rated “excellent” by Ofsted.
Ms Conner used the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which has urged the UK Government to abolish the mandate for communal worship, to support her claim for exemption.
Currently, the legislation mandates that “all maintained schools should encourage the spiritual, moral, and cultural development of all enrolled students” by offering religious instruction and daily communal prayer.
RE curricula must “reflect the reality that religious traditions in the nation are mostly Christian while taking consideration of the doctrine and practises of other primary faiths,” according to guidance for schools.
Mrs Conner, a self-described humanist, said today that she thinks it’s crucial to reassess 1994-era guidelines on communal Christian worship since it no longer accurately represents many school communities.
I believe it’s a violation of children’s rights, according to the headteacher, who left a prior position at a Church of England school because she didn’t feel comfortable in that position.
The Department of Education’s recommendations haven’t been updated in roughly 28 years, and both our school’s profile and its student body have changed.
“We don’t against religious instruction, and neither am I.
We conduct daily assemblies and sometimes read from the Bible, but we don’t think they should be primarily Christian in nature.
“Collective worship in county schools and similar grant-maintained schools must be completely or predominantly of a broadly Christian nature, but not characteristic of any one Christian sect,” the RE syllabus advice continues.
Children may be taken out of collective worship sessions by their parents, but until they are in sixth grade, they are unable to make this decision for themselves.
The UNCRC has contested the claim that the UK is the only western democracy with a law requiring worship in schools.
Ms Conner submitted an application for Poulner’s exemption to the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE), citing this and other data demonstrating the religious diversity of her school.
The application was denied by SACRE, which said that it was unaware of any other school in the nation receiving an exemption and claimed that only Parliament could accept such a request.
When parents were asked which religion they practised when their children initially enrolled at Poulner Infant School, 55.8% of parents said that they had no religion.
Less than one per cent (0.8%) of respondents identified as Muslim, whereas 34.2 per cent identified as Christian, and 1.3 per cent identified as belonging to another faith.
7.9% more parents chose to remain silent or refused to answer.
According to Ms Conner, who has been the school’s head since 2015 and a headteacher since 2010, an exception or decision was necessary in light of this proof of the school’s religious diversity.
Parents take kids to Poulner because, unlike the neighbouring Ringwood Church of England Infants School, it is not a designated religion school, she said.
She stated: “A decision is necessary since it is not acceptable for group worship to be completely or largely reflective of the wide traditions of “Christian belief”,” in a letter delivered to the SACRE committee.
In light of the fact that two-thirds of the parents at our school do not identify as Christians, this is especially true.
Parents are increasingly using our community school as a substitute for adjacent Christian schools, demonstrating their freedom of choice.
We support The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’s rights-respecting philosophy.
The UNCRC has requested that the UK government remove the need for group worship from the law.
“We consider a determination gives the greatest possibility for us to conduct inclusive assemblies as long as the legal necessity for communal worship remains in force,” the statement reads.
However, a report by the SACRE Hampshire division, which examined the proposal on behalf of Hampshire County Council, denied the school’s request.
The report stated: “With full consideration for the circumstances of the family backgrounds, the main issue SACRE had to decide was whether it was suitable for the need for Christian group worship to apply to Poulner Infant School.
It was observed that 34% of parents at Poulner Infant School identified as Christians, making this the biggest religious group, according to the application.
Furthermore, while the school had not yet received any withdrawal requests, any parent had the authority to take their kid out of communal worship.
The study also said that only Parliament may change any existing legislation.
We employ the No Outsiders curriculum, which is founded on the principle of everyone included and everyone welcome, said Mrs Conner. We discuss gender, sexual orientation, disability, and other points of view with the kids, emphasising that it doesn’t matter who you are—you are welcome.
“We recognise the significance of communal worship, but we want it to be representative of the children’s views here.” The biggest single category is made up of parents who said they do not practise any religion.
While discussing humanism and other faiths and opining that they are operating within the confines of the law, she added: “There shouldn’t have to be a Christian tint to the assemblies or “Christian principles.”
We requested an exception so that we could provide more extensive assemblies and so that parents could better grasp our goals.