Tags: Collective Worship
Case study: Difficulty exercising the right to withdraw from collective worship
Posted: Wed, 03 Jan 2018 by A Pupil
Thanks to campaigning by the NSS, sixth formers have the right to withdraw themselves from collective worship. But faith schools often make this nigh-on-impossible, as this pupil's story from one academy shows. Read More »
Food for thought! Imposing worship in Australian schools
Posted: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 by A Parent
Blinkers go on when people talk about religion. So one parent in a Queensland school thought she would use food to explain the impact of the school's version of 'inclusiveness'. The school tells her that her child can go somewhere else while the prayer is being said. The picture is of the prayer recited at the regular assembly. Read More »
Church and State united in denying religious freedom to young people
Posted: Tue, 05 Jul 2016 by Keith Porteous Wood
NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood writes on the union between church and state that is denying freedom of religion to young people – in defiance of the United Nations and human rights.
The UN recently recommended that the UK "repeal legal provisions... Read More »
The surprising origin of Collective Worship in schools
Posted: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 by Ed Moore
Collective worship has its history in a murky compromise between politicians and the church dating back to the Second World War – and it is long since time the arcane requirement was removed, writes Ed Moore.
There is a growing consensus among educators,... Read More »
God “is the man who saves people” – a parent discovers what Religious Observance in school has taught their child
Posted: Wed, 14 Oct 2015 by A Parent
A parent writes of their shock at discovering Religious Observance in the non-denominational Scottish school attended by their daughter, and gives their perspective on the problems caused by archaic Religious Observance rules in Scottish schools. Read More »
A parent’s perspective: collective worship and evangelism in schools
Posted: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 by A Parent
Even where parents have the option of a community school, securing a secular education can be difficult. One parent offers their perspective on negotiating appropriate boundaries which respect children's rights to form their own beliefs. Read More »
Parent's perspective: The Collective Worship dilemma
Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 by A Parent
One parent speaks out about the damaging impact of excluding her young child from mandatory collective worship in school, and how withdrawal isn't really an option at all. Read More »
Sixth formers: You have the right to withdraw!
Posted: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 by Stephen Evans
Sixth form pupils can excuse themselves from acts of worship – but it appears some schools aren't so keen on recognising their students' rights to religious freedom.
Sixth form pupils over the age of sixteen have, since 2006, enjoyed the right to withdrawal... Read More »
A parent’s perspective: a review of the ‘collective worship’ requirement is long overdue
Posted: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 by Alison Fenwick
As a parent of a 6 year old daughter, Alison Fenwick argues that the obligation on schools to 'worship' impinges on her parental right to raise her child in accordance with her own beliefs. Read More »
Why the time has come to end compulsory worship in schools
Posted: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 by Stephen Evans
With the launch of a new petition calling on political parties to make the removal of the collective worship requirement part of their education policy, NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans explains why the time has come to relieve schools of the obligation to provide worship. Read More »
Secular petitions highlight the sectarian issues in Scottish education
Posted: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 by Alistair McBay
The last few weeks have seen the topic of religious observance (RO) in schools hit the headlines in Scotland. Two petitions have been lodged, one at central government and one at local government level.
Secular Scotland, a group of Glasgow secularists, launched... Read More »
