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Supporter comments
Page 2 of 2: 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.
Parents' perspectives on the Choice Delusion
Displaying 51 to 56 of 56
My children have no choice but to attend a Church in Wales faith school, as with all our local council schools. It indoctrinates and teaches biased religious education. This is religious discrimination. Other faiths and atheism are dismissed. Rather than allowing more faith schools to be setup, existing faith schools funded by the taxpayer must be converted back to be secular schools free of religious discrimination and indoctrination.
Why should people of a particular faith have more school choices than people of other faiths or none? Teaching faith is the responsibility of parents, not the state or state-subsidised facilities. In these days of intolerance, surely children benefit from being educated alongside those from all faiths and none.
"My son recently started reception at a faith school. Not because I'm religious, but because I had no choice. This is our local school; most other local schools are also faith schools. As a result, I will be forced to navigate challenging conversations with a four-year-old whether I feel he is prepared for them or not. Religious families will already be speaking to their children about religion at home, and non-religious families will not appreciate having to contradict what their children are taught at school."
Our closest secondary school is a Roman Catholic school. It's the only mixed school we are in catchment for. It's a ten minutes walk away but my son won't get to go there because we are not Catholic.
"I work in a village VC school and have seen the pressure to evangelise to children rising. It's even worse in VA schools. I wouldn't want my child to attend a faith school but might have no choice if I lived in a village. They claim to be for children of all faiths but it's clear that their main concern is with propagating the faith. It's time to end the segregation of pupils by their parent's faith and build a more cohesive society."
My eldest just started Year 3 and has already chosen her secondary school, which is a local, but unfortunately, faith school. We are Christians but not church goers and as the admission policy stands, she would have no chance of getting in. I have briefly considered 'faking' it, getting her baptised and started attending church. But what exactly would I be teaching my child? Hypocrisy? Using religion as a tool to get what you want? I can only hope that change will come soon enough for as many non-worshippers children to benefit, mine included.
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Are you locked out of your local school based on religion? Have you been assigned a faith school against your wishes? Are faith schools your only option?
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