Group worship in decline across England's schools

The deputy head at Mile Oak School said fulfilling the government's worship requirement was difficult

Many state schools are not providing group worship, despite legislation which makes it a requirement, according to parents questioned in a survey.

The survey found 64% of the 500 parents questioned said their child did not attend daily acts of collective worship.
The research was carried out by ComRes and commissioned by BBC local radio.
Some schools were opting to teach pupils about community rather than religion, said educationalists.
The Department for Education states that all maintained schools in England must provide a daily act of collective worship which must reflect the traditions of this country, which it says are, in the main, broadly Christian.
'Important statement' Parents have the right to withdraw their child from the daily act of collective worship and sixth-formers can decide for themselves whether or not to attend.

Martin Cooper Deputy head teacher

ComRes spoke to 1,743 adults during the survey, including 500 parents, and found 60% believe the daily act of collective worship should not be enforced.

The Bishop of Oxford, the Right Reverend John Pritchard, said doing daily worship in schools was an "important statement".
"What we believe as a country is important in the education of our young people, so I think it is an important statement that the country makes to its schools and says will you please do this," he said.
"If schools refuse to do that, or fail to, then I think they need to be encouraged to do it, I wouldn't use the word enforced though at all."
But Alison Ryan, the chief policy advisor for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), questioned how much schools and parents wanted daily worship.
"People are concerned about inclusivity, how much is it wanted by parents, pupils or even the staff themselves?
Christian ethos "When a law is being flouted on a pretty major scale that is telling you something about its use, about how maybe it should be reformed or changed, so we believe it needs to be looked at."
Martin Cooper, deputy head teacher of Mile Oak School, near Brighton, said fulfilling the government's worship requirement was difficult.
"Having a pressure within an Ofsted expectation to be seen doing the daily act of worship, in the way they want it to be every day is challenging," he said.

Bruce Gill NASACRE

"In a school like ours, there isn't a great Christian ethos, so the message has to be a social one really.

"It has to be the message about how they are going to behave."
Elaine Smith, head teacher at St Matthews Church of England Primary school in Blackburn, where 96% of the pupils are Muslims, said talking about faith regularly was beneficial.
She said: "The majority of the pupils are children of faith and talk very openly about religion.
"The staff who are practising Christians or Muslims talk to the children and a bond is formed, which perhaps wouldn't be there if they didn't have the collective worship."
The National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (NASACRE) advises schools on daily collective worship.
Bruce Gill, from the association, said school assemblies did not have to be church-led, but could teach about community and responsibility.
"It's an important role in these times when we are worried about community values and people's sense of community," he said.
"We try to get people to look beyond the materialistic life and material gratification and I think we will regret it greatly if we continue the trend of losing it."

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