Podcasts
Ep 52: A new Catholic school for Peterborough
Posted: Tue, 22nd Jun 2021
A new Catholic primary school is about to be constructed in Peterborough. It will be the first state-funded Catholic school in England for a decade.
The school is to be built in the growing housing development of Hampton Water. It has been pushed through despite strong opposition from local residents – even though their money has been used to help fund the construction.
In this episode, Emma Park speaks to a member of Peterborough City Council, Terri Haynes, along with Tracy Butler, a resident who was involved in the campaign against the school. They discuss some of the problems both with the principle and the process. These include their encounters with the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, which proposed the new school, and the obscurity of the Department for Education's reasons for refusing a bid put forward by Hampton Academies Trust for a community ethos (non-faith) school. They also discuss why many parents of different faiths and none would have been happier with a non-denominational school for their children.
Emma is then joined by Alastair Lichten, the NSS's head of education and co-ordinator of the No More Faith Schools campaign, to put the Hampton Water case in the wider national context.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Notes
- Local anger over discriminatory new Catholic school in Peterborough
- No new faith school in Hampton Water
- Challenge to new selective Catholic school in Peterborough rejected
- Hampton residents angered by decision to approve new Catholic school
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Podcast produced by Emma Park for the National Secular Society (2021). All rights reserved.
Parents’ religious wishes must not trump children’s safety and education - Opinion Out Loud Ep 009
Posted: Tue, 15th Jun 2021
Every child has been withdrawn from sex education classes at an independent faith school. Megan Manson says the parental right of withdrawal is incompatible with children's right to an education that keeps them safe.
Ep 51: Laïcité and free speech in France
Posted: Tue, 8th Jun 2021
Satire is "the oxygen of a democracy," according to Caroline Fourest, a French writer, filmmaker, feminist, anti-extremist and former Charlie Hebdo journalist. Free speech, including satire, is a vital part of laïcité or secularism.
Secularist principles are deeply enshrined in French law and culture. In this episode, Emma Park speaks to Fourest about the place of these principles in France today, and the threat currently posed to them by Islamist extremism.
Fourest considers the role of Charlie Hebdo as a descendant of 19th-century satirical newspapers that were critical of Catholicism. She then discusses her personal experience of working at Charlie in the 2000s, and about the magazine's decision to republish the "blasphemous" cartoons of Mohammed originally printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
Fourest argues that, for all satirical cartoons, the context must be considered – but that subversive humour has a vital place in a free society. She reveals the difficulties of getting a fair hearing in the British media, which often shrink from anything perceived as offensive. Her message is clear: we must be able to discuss "blasphemous" issues openly without fear of reprisals, and public figures must lead the way. If we are silent, the extremists have won.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Notes
- The outcome of the Batley investigation is a surrender of liberal principles
- Brutally murdered for doing his job
- Blasphemy in the classroom – The Batley Grammar case
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Podcast produced by Emma Park for the National Secular Society (2021). All rights reserved.
Women Leaving Islam: the rights of those who leave religion must be protected - Opinion Out Loud Ep 008
Posted: Tue, 1st Jun 2021
The film Women Leaving Islam shows the risks facing those who stand up for the fundamental right to leave religion and the ongoing neglect of minorities within minorities in public life, says Helen Nicholls.
Ep 50: The Church of England's influence over education
Posted: Tue, 25th May 2021
What does it mean for a school to be 'C of E'? And how far does the Church of England's influence extend over state-funded education?
The NSS has recently published two reports dealing with the Church of England's influence over schools. The first, 'Religiosity inspections: The case against faith-based inspections of faith schools', examined the ways in which the Church of England uses such inspections to impose its own agenda on the schools within its remit. In 'Understanding Christianity and the study of religion and worldviews: How the Church of England has gained control of Religious Education', former RE teacher Chris Selway examined the structure of RE in England and Wales.
In this podcast, Emma Park speaks to Chris Selway along with Matthew Hill, a former headteacher who contributed to the 'Religiosity inspections' report. Both speakers draw from their own experience of teaching to explore the ways in which some schools are being pressured to encourage proselytising, and the effects which this can have on students as well as teachers. The speakers argue that the C of E must be held to account, and that the way RE is taught needs fundamental reform.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark
Notes
- Understanding Christianity and the study of religion and worldviews: How the C of E has gained control of religious education
- Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools
- Faith groups have no business inspecting schools – Stephen Evans
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The DfE must show leadership when religious hardliners turn on schools - Opinion Out Loud Ep 007
Posted: Tue, 18th May 2021
The start of an investigation into the Batley Grammar affair raises questions over the government's willingness to ensure assertive religious voices don't dictate what happens in classrooms, says Stephen Evans.
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