40 years ago, my school in London began the each day with Church of England prayers.
We recited the Lord’s prayer, had a short bible reading(it was considered an honor to be picked by the headmaster to read a Bible passage from the lecturn), and sang a hymn like “Onward Christian Soldiers”. This was not a government school; It was a private school that cost a lot of money, but I think it was required by law to hold the prayer service.
What is the law today, and is it enforced? Are public* schools different than the private sector?
I haven’t lived in England since 1970 , and I know the country has changed profoundly since the days when fish and chips was wrapped in newspaper, and “bangers and mash” was considered good food.
So what do schools do today about religion?
(* and do the Brits still use the wrong terminology----calling privately-operated schools "public "? )
When I was at state (but nominally CoE) secondary school in the 1980s we had prayer in assembly once a week, but you could opt out altogether and go and do something else - as a few non-Christian people did - or ignore it and punch our friends in the back of the head, as the rest of us did. The powers that be didn’t even dare try to make us sing. As you can see from the article linked, it might be on the statute books, but it’s not really enforced.
‘Enforced’ by Ofsted means that in the vast majority of inspection reports, one of the minor failings reported is to not observe the daily act of worship. And that’s it. Ofsted inspectors know it’s an outdated farce which would be impossible for most schools to implement even if they had the will to do so.
But even so they try to enforce it and if a judgment is made against it in an OFSTED report the school is expected to correct it. The current regime thinks it helps with ‘Britishness’.
It’s a bloody anachronism. In the course of goggling this I found a Muslim campaign against the evilness of the whole thing. Being able to opt out wasn’t enough apparently.
It wouldn’t surprise me if there have been major problems encountered in some communities and with some schools where the opt-out has not been properly advertised, or properly administered. And that’s the kind of thing which would easily fuel a campaign such as you describe.
I can only speak for my public school. We have regular chapel services for the pupils. Of course we were founded by an Archbishop, so that may be the reason.(Sorry, I don’t know our legal obligations.)
The phrase ‘public school’ was presumably originally because such private schools were open to anyone (provided they could pay or get a scholarship).
Also word meanings change over time (e.g. gay), so the traditional name is still used.
I would prefer the Americans didn’t call a private tournament the ‘World’ Series, but there you go.
‘Public school’ has a implication of a high-class school, sometimes suggested as being synonymous with those which are part of the HMC. Outside of Telegraph-reading circles, most people just use ‘private school’.
I don’t read the Telegraph and my kids go to a “bog-standard comprehensive” but I would use “public school” for any fee paying school ie not a state school. Somehow “private school” doesn’t sound right - more like a posh kindergarten than a big secondary school.
In Northern Ireland’s primary schools its certainly shoved down your throat, whether or not its a requirement I’m not sure.
I attend a Roman Catholic school and had prayer in the morning, before lunch, after lunch and before we left, an RE lesson every day and a visit from a priest every few weeks.
When I heard there were integrated schools where Catholics and Protestants could play together while birds would sing happily overhead etc I thought it was a fairly good idea, except they still haul the classes apart for religious education, just in case the children felt like getting along too much.
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