Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Collective Worship in schools - BHA position

What is the position of the BHA on 'Collective Worship' in UK schools?

BHA say 
'The BHA campaigns for inclusive school assemblies and against ‘collective worship’ in school, which excludes and offends many and is a matter of concern to teachers and head teachers, parents and pupils, and many religious people and organisations as well as humanists.


Parents have the right to withdraw their children from collective worship in all state schools and since 2007 sixth form pupils and those over compulsory school age at state maintained schools have also been able to withdraw themselves from worship (the BHA lobbied in favour of this change, which was introduced by Section 55 of the 2006 Education Act). However, these are not proper or satisfactory solutions.


We want to see the immediate withdrawal of current DfE guidance (Circular 1/94), and Welsh guidance (Circular 10/94) which gives a narrow interpretation of the legal requirement for ‘broadly Christian’ worship, and its replacement with new guidance encouraging inclusive assemblies and making it simpler for schools to seek ‘determinations’ in order to hold assemblies suitable for all their pupils. This would be followed by repeal of the legislation requiring acts of worship in schools, and changes in legislation to give schools much more flexibility about how they conduct assemblies, with schools offering space for optional worship for those who want it. See our policy statement A Better Way Forward (updated in 2006 and soon to be revised again to reflect further changes in education).'

Reference: http://www.humanism.org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-schools/worship-in-schools


Method
I searched the BHA website (27/9/11) for 'collective worship' which gave 224 hits. The key BHA documents for 2010 to date are:-
BHA BRIEFING: Education Bill, Lords 2nd Reading, 8th June 2011
The Education Bill fails to free schools from the central dictate that they must hold a daily act of collective worship that must be ‘broadly Christian’ in character.

Failure to repeal compulsory collective worship 
We are disappointed that, despite high profile opposition from education practitioners as well as a government commitment to freeing schools from prescriptive rules and regulations, a repeal of the duty for all schools to participate in a daily act of worship that is ‘broadly Christian’ in character is not, as yet, included in the Bill. This law impedes schools’ ability to provide good inclusive assemblies, is prescriptive and in practice is widely flouted by schools. In addition, the rule violates the human right of freedom of belief of children. This Bill is an ideal opportunity for the repeal of this outdated and restrictive law

Reference: BHA BRIEFING: Education Bill, Lords 2nd Reading, 8th June 2011

BHA BRIEFING (A): Education Bill Lords Committee Stage, June-July 2011
This amendment would straightforwardly replace the requirement to conduct ‘collective worship’ with a requirement to hold assemblies that will further pupils’ ‘spiritual, moral, social and cultural education’ and guidance issued under the reformed law should ensure that assemblies take due consideration of pupils’ religions or beliefs. Teachers, including non-religious teachers, can and do use assemblies to demonstrate that moral values and responses to ultimate questions of existence can be inclusively framed on shared values found in our different religion and beliefs, building on the common ground of our humanity. A reform in the law would encourage this good practice. If the law on worship and assemblies is changed, new guidance issued under the new law would doubtless contribute to a better sharing of good practice in the provision of inclusive and educational assemblies, and would represent a new entitlement for pupils that could command wide consensus – quite unlike the current requirement to provide ‘collective worship’.


Baroness Massey
COLLECTIVE WORSHIP – Briefing in support of the amendment of Baroness Massey of Darwen and others to the Education and Inspections Bill
Briefing from: Association of School and College Leaders, British Humanist Association, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the UK, National Union of Teachers and the Sikh Education Council. The amendment is also supported by: Hindu Council UK, which has circulated its own briefing.

COMPULSORY COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
New Clause: Amendment to repeal compulsory collective worship
BARONESS MASSEY OF DARWEN Before Clause 30 Insert the following new Clause— “Entitlement to spiritual, moral, social and cultural education in inclusive assemblies
(1) Chapter 6 of SSFA 1998 (religious education and worship) is amended as follows.
(2) For section 70(1) (requirements relating to collective worship) substitute— “(1) Each pupil in attendance at a community, foundation or voluntary school or an Academy shall on each school day take part in an assembly, which shall be directed at least in part towards furthering the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of the pupils.”
(3) For section 70(3) substitute— “(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, such assemblies should not include any religious worship.”
(4) After section 70(3) insert— “(4) Subject to section 71, in the case of a voluntary aided school with a religious character, the foundation governors or governing body may make arrangements for religious worship as a part of assemblies.
(5) The religious worship referred to in subsection (4) shall be in accordance with the trust deed relating to the school or, where provision for that purpose is not made by such a deed, in accordance with the tenets and practices of the religion or religious denomination specified in relation to the school under section 69(4).

Reference: BHA BRIEFING (A): Education Bill Lords Committee Stage, June-July 2011

BHA Evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: Education and Children Bill 2010
Collective Worship 
17. The Bill offers the opportunity to address a very significant violation of children’s rights: compulsory collective worship. Currently the law requires all maintained schools in England and Wales to provide a daily act of collective worship which is ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’. ‘Faith’ schools can provide these acts of worship in accordance with their own religion. Children under 16 can be withdrawn from these acts of worship, but only at the request of their parents.
18. We believe that the best way to ensure the right of children to freedom of conscience, religion and belief - as articulated in Article 9(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Articles 12(1) and 14 of the CRC - would be for the current law requiring collective worship to be repealed and for assemblies not to contain any religious practice. The current opt-out system is not a satisfactory solution as it provides no entitlement to alternative educational provision for those who opt out, is inherently divisive and risks stigmatising children.
19. At the very least the right to withdraw should be transferred from the parent to the child when s/he is of sufficient (i.e. ‘Gillick’) maturity. As the JCHR has noted, ‘provisions which fail to guarantee children of sufficient maturity, intelligence and understanding the right to withdraw from compulsory religious education and collective worship are incompatible with their human rights’.

Reference: BHA Evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: Education and Children Bill 2010
  • BHA BRIEFING 2011 : Protection of Freedoms Bill, Commons 2nd Reading, 1st March 2011
    • comments by humanists
  • BHA BRIEFING 2010: Academies Bill Lords Committee, June 2010
    • The BHA campaigns for inclusive school assemblies and against ‘collective worship’ in school, which excludes and offends many and is a matter of concern to teachers and head teachers, parents and pupils, and many religious people and organisations as well as humanists. It is the BHA’s firm position that there should be no collective worship in schools and certainly no legal requirements on schools to hold acts of worship, of any denomination. A school community may do many things together but, lacking a shared religion, it cannot worship collectively. In requiring schools to do so, the law is incoherent. On the other hand, good educational assemblies can accomplish much. Although the law on collective worship is clear, it is widely ignored. Ofsted's 2002-03 annual report, for example, states that ‘four fifths of schools do not hold a daily act of collective worship for all pupils’. An ignored law is a bad law and is very unhealthy in a democratic society.
  • BHA BRIEFING 2010: Worship in Schools 5th July 2010
  • BHA Letter to Michael Gove, November 2010
    • Dear Mr Gove 
    • We welcome your commitment to reducing bureaucracy in schools and scrapping unnecessary obligations on hard-pressed teachers. 
    • One such obligation, placed on all maintained schools in England, is to provide a daily act of ‘broadly Christian’ collective worship for their pupils. 
    • This law impedes schools’ ability to provide good inclusive assemblies and in practice the vast majority do not hold daily acts of collective worship, both because they lack space physically and in the timetable and because there are more effective ways of instilling shared values and a strong ethos in pupils. 
    • Assemblies have a vital educational role – they can bring a school together in celebration of common values, and can assist pupils in exploring questions of purpose, value and meaning together. Teachers can and do deliver assemblies which are accessible, inspirational, and linked to the curriculum. 
    • These aims, however, are not best served by a law that forces schools to hold acts of ‘reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power’. 
    • In addition, this law is a clear infringement of the right to freedom of belief as set out in the European Convention of Human Rights, forcing pupils to take part in worship regardless of what they personally believe. 
    • The parental right of withdrawal is not a satisfactory solution - most pupils cannot opt themselves out and children who are withdrawn may miss important aspects of the assembly or feel isolated from their classmates. 
    • Teachers too are often put in an invidious position, having to lead acts of worship which may not reflect their own beliefs. 
    • In addition the law is at odds with the new Equality Act, which includes religion and belief as a protected characteristic. 
    • The removal of the compulsory nature of collective worship would not prevent faith schools from holding assemblies which reflect their religious character. It would simply mean that schools could decide for themselves what kind of assembly is best for their pupils, an approach which is entirely in keeping with the coalition government’s stated principle of freedom for schools. 
    • Teachers, parents and pupils – both religious and non-religious - have consistently opposed compulsory collective worship. We were not surprised that the idea of repealing the law quickly became one the most popular suggestions when the ‘Your Freedom’ site launched earlier this year. If the government wishes to repeal laws which needlessly restrict personal and professional freedom, then it is difficult to see why compulsory collective worship should not be one of the first to go. 
    • The forthcoming education bill provides a perfect opportunity to abolish this impractical and discriminatory law. 
    • Yours sincerely 
      • Simon Barrow Co-director, Ekklesia 
      • Jonathan Bartley Co-director, Ekklesia 
      • Christine Blower General Secretary, National Union of Teachers 
      • Andrew Copson Chief Executive, British Humanist Association 
      • Brian Lightman General Secretary, Association of School and College Leaders
      • Tehmina Kazi Director, British Muslims for Secular Democracy 
      • Neville Kenyon President, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches 
      • Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain MBE Chair, Accord Coalition and minster of Maidenhead synagogue
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