Dealing with inappropriate evangelism in schools

Dealing with inappropriate evangelism in schools

Schools are forbidden by law from promoting partisan political views during teaching, but there are no such limitations on the promotion of partisan religious views.

We are concerned that state schools are being targeted by evangelical religious groups as part of their missionary work. If you have concerns about evangelising and proselytising in the classroom, we urge you to raise the school's head teacher in the first instance, and if necessary, also with the governors or local education authority.

If you have information or concerns about proselytising teachers or external visitors in a particular school, we would also be keen to hear from you and will be happy to assist you in challenging it.

Some questions you may want to think about are:

  1. What are your aims? Are they to (1) stop the group visits (2) put in place appropriate boundaries to prevent proselytisation or (3) draw attention to the wider issues of evangelism in schools? We are happy to support you with any or all of these.
  2. Who else shares your concerns?
  3. What is the nature and stated purpose of the visits/involvement in the school of the church?

We always recommend polite and positive communications with the school. External visitors can make a valuable educational contribution, and we recognise that often schools invite inappropriate groups in, or fail to set appropriate boundaries, because they have good intentions but lack experience or knowledge.

If you need advice please contact enquiries@secularism.org.uk.

Groups currently active in schools

The NSS maintains a record of groups which have been reported to us as engaging in evangelism in schools. This is by no means exhaustive and such groups may be doing legitimate work in schools, alongside any problematic activities and inappropriate evangelism.

If you would like information about or to raise concerns about a specific group, please get in touch: enquiries@secularism.org.uk.