POLL: Should pupils in West Sussex have the right to inclusive assemblies in school and not be forced to participate in collective worship?

Chichester Humanists invitation to an online Zoom talk from 7pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday 24th January.

Andrew Edmondson will be discussing collective worship and alternative inclusive assemblies, following his recent bizarre experiences with West Sussex County Council.

In 2019, parents in Oxfordshire successfully sued their school in the High Court, forcing them to provide inclusive non-religious assemblies for their children.

Last December, West Sussex County Council banned their local Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) from even discussing collective worship and inclusive assemblies.

The time for action has come. If you would prefer quality inclusive assemblies for your children, or know parents who would, help is at hand. Humanists UK has produced guidance for parents.

Freedom of religion and freedom from religion is a human right that the UK has signed up to in the European Convention on Human Rights, which it also co-authored. Religious people enjoy this right; children and non-religious parents do not.

The current government wants to double the number of ‘opportunities’ for schools to force children to worship. Their laws, guidance, and advice from complicit local councils encourage schools to break international law.

If schools claim to support human rights, they must support them all. Parents can help them do this by requesting inclusive assemblies.

POLL: Should pupils in West Sussex have the right to inclusive assemblies in school and not be forced to participate in collective worship?