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Humanists launch petition against new Kingston school being church-run

7:00am Wednesday 28th July 2010


Kingston humanists have launched a campaign against the proposed north Kingston secondary school becoming a church school.

Almost 50 people have signed an online petition calling for the school to be “run by an organisation that will provide an inclusive neighbourhood school which does not discriminate on grounds of religion in its employment and admissions policies, ethos or curriculum”.

Groups interested in running the school have until August 23 to submit bids, with Kingston church school appeal proposing to allocate 40 per cent of places to Christian pupils.

Lead petitioner Peter Mason said: “Kingston Council say they want to this to be an inclusive neighbourhood school, so they must make sure it does not end up selecting pupils by religion.”

Funding of the proposed eight form of entry school on the North Kingston Centre site is uncertain following the scrapping of the Building Schools for the Future programme, but the council hopes to open it in September 2015 as scheduled.

Humanists will hold a public meeting at the Hawker Centre, Richmond Road on the evening of Monday, September 27. The petition is at tinyurl.com/33dgbw4.


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Your Say YourKingston

Tony from Surbiton, Surbiton says...
4:33pm Wed 28 Jul 10

What the hell is a humanist? All I know is that church schools tend to be very well run, have good discipline standards, produce well-rounded children, have high pass rates and tend to be hugely oversubscribed. What's not to like?

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reesmf, Ham says...
5:28pm Wed 28 Jul 10

Delighted to sign the petition!

The fanciful teachings of church schools have no place in 21st century schools when we no longer need to believe in mythical gods to explain the universe or how we got here.

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JeremyRodell, TW1 2HF says...
11:46am Thu 29 Jul 10

To answer Tony's question, a Humanist is someone who thinks you can lead a good life without believing in the supernatural. Everyone wants good schools, and faith schools have no monopoly on good results. But it can't be right to have state schools that can discriminate against people who don't subscribe to their beliefs. If you were a non-religious or Muslim or Jewish or Hindu parent (and taxpayer) anxious about getting your child into a CofE faith school next door that reserved 40% of its places for Christians, you'd soon realise "what's not to like".

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Marilyn Mason, Kingston says...
1:01pm Thu 29 Jul 10

To add to the last response to Tony from Surbiton, it isn't hard for oversubscribed schools that can pick and choose their pupils to achieve good behaviour and good results - whether they are faith-based or community schools. The less popular, less selective church schools in deprived areas struggle just as much as other school with similar intakes. And the very existence of church schools is encouraging other faith groups to want their own state-funded schools, at a time when we should be educating children together, not fostering segregation and social fragmentation.

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Angela M, London says...
9:31am Fri 30 Jul 10

My mother worked at a nursery school attached to the local church. Gradually more 'churchy' people took over, until they eventually bullied my mum out of her job. Religious segregation is a backwards step.

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MPs call for change in law to protect Sutton school places Humanists launch petition against school being church-run


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