Poulner Infant School refused permission by Hampshire County Council to stop collective worship

A NEW Forest school which made a bid to stop holding daily collective worship as only a third of its families were Christian has been turned down by Hampshire County Council.

Poulner Infant School in Ringwood asked HCC’s standing advisory council for religious education (SACRE) to consider exempting it from the legal requirement.

Documents submitted by head teacher Jo Conner said the religious make-up of families meant it was not appropriate for collective worship “to be wholly or mainly reflective of the broad traditions of Christian belief”.

They added: “This is particularly so bearing in mind the family backgrounds of the pupils at our school – two-thirds of parents do not identify as Christian.

“We find that parents increasingly exercise their choice by seeking out our community school as an alternative to nearby faith schools.”

A report to SACRE from HCC’s director of children’s services, Steve Crocker, confirmed information provided on family backgrounds of the pupils was recorded on admission as being 34% Christian.

But this still formed the largest religious group in the school, it said, and there had been no recorded withdrawals of pupils by parents from collective worship.

Government guidance states that all maintained schools must provide religious education and daily collective worship for all registered pupils and promote their spiritual, moral and cultural development.

It also states agreed religious education (RE) syllabuses for county schools and equivalent grant-maintained schools must reflect that national religious traditions are mainly Christian, while taking account of the teaching and practices of other principal religions.

An HCC spokesperson told the A&T: “Pupils at relevant schools are required to take part in a daily act of collective worship. Schools can apply for an exemption from the requirement for this worship to be ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’.

“Following consideration of the report, the application made by Poulner Infant School and relevant legislation, SACRE took the decision to refuse the request for an exemption.

“The committee considered the information provided by the school on family backgrounds of the pupils recorded on admission.

“It was noted that 34% of families identified as Christian, representing the school’s largest religious group.

“The committee also noted that the school has recorded no parental requests for withdrawal of children from collective worship.”