Collective worship: time for a dignified closure?

According to the law, all pupils in attendance at a maintained school in the UK have to take part in a daily act of collective worship which is wholly, or mainly, of a broadly Christian character. What does that actually mean? And is it time, 70 years on and living in a very different society, to bring this practice to a dignified end?

The idea of corporate meeting is clearly important – but how should that time be used? For many schools, without religious character, this has become more of a group hug, a time to develop community cohesion, to celebrate achievement, or to share time with community visitors, even though the Christian nature of assemblies was reinforced in the 1988 Education Reform Act and the 1996 Education Act. When the original Act was drawn up, Britain viewed itself as a Christian country; Christianity would have been synonymous with school assemblies in most people’s minds. But that’s no longer the case, so is it time, despite government reluctance, to redefine assembly rules, or even abandon assembly altogether?

As long ago as 2004, David Bell, the then Chief Inspector of Schools, called for the concept of collective worship to be reviewed as 76% of secondary schools were breaking the law.  He called for society to debate how schools might play a part in their students’ spiritual development. He also pointed out that the law requires a level of religious observance from our country’s children that has largely been abandoned by its adults.

But the debate was never held – the status quo remained and schools liberally interpreted the statute as best suited them, except during inspections. But then, along came Trojan Horse and the role of religion in our schools shot to the top of the agenda with stellar speed as part of an urgent redefinition of British values. The National Governor’s Association called for meaningless daily collective worship to be abolished. Instead, suggested the Rt Reverend John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford and former head of education for the Church of England, assemblies should be replaced with times of spiritual reflection which would allow each school community to contextualise assemblies more appropriately.

It might seem, in the midst of the perfect storm of British values, that things would be easier for schools of a religious character, which are allowed to worship according to the details of their Trust deed. Yet not so. A Christian school has been told that under prospective spiritual moral, social and cultural (SMSC) guidelines aimed to deal with extremism and radicalism, it must invite representatives of other faiths to lead assemblies. And that highlights just one of the problems with the current situation – the failure of Inspectors to understand the concept of worship. There’s a clear difference between gaining knowledge about other faiths in RE lessons, and participating in an act of worship in assembly. Why should any child be expected to worship something or someone in whom they don’t believe? And that applies to children having to worship God in a broadly Christian assembly in a non-faith school, just as much as it applies to children worshipping within their own belief system in a faith school. The current law, and its interpretation by Ofsted inspectors, serves nobody.

And plus ca change  – just two months ago the Department for Education issued SMSC guidelines stating that schools must still meet ‘requirements for collective worship’. Religion is being politicised and that’s because the government wants to ally it with Britishness in its drive to force social cohesion. Not, of course, that sort of ‘virulent infection’ faith that some people take way too seriously. No, the interpretation of religion that gives a warm, cosy glow, the sort of Christianity that gives a nod to a past golden age: ‘a mild and attenuated form of the faith virus’ .

So, is it time to bring the concept of collective worship in our schools to a dignified end? Yes, and no. Yes, for schools with no religious character: no child should be required to worship by law. And no for faith schools – students should be allowed to worship within their own faith, but not required to worship within other faiths. That doesn’t, and shouldn’t preclude learning about other faiths and learning to respect people of all faiths and none, but it does allow for worship to be distinctive. That would be genuine diversity.