In a letter to parents, the headteacher of St John’s Church of England Primary School in Tunbridge Wells, Dan Turvey, stated that ‘After careful consideration I have decided that we will end our regular commitment to CrossTeach and that they will no longer lead assemblies or take lessons.’ However, he said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the move.
One parent, quoted in the Guardian, said that her son had been told in an assembly that ‘men can’t marry men’, while another, quoted in the Telegraph, said that children had been taught that if they did not believe in God ‘they would not go to a good place when they died’.
In a statement released today through the evangelical pressure group Christian Concern, Crossteach said ‘we teach mainstream Christianity’, and no complaints of ‘extremist’ beliefs had been made against them in the past. The group also revealed that it has been allowed by the school to continue running an after-school club.
Humanists UK Education Campaigner Jay Harman commented, ‘This is a very clear illustration of just how problematic the privileged place of religion in our state education system can be. Given that our laws allow religious organisations, and indeed faith schools themselves, to proselytise to children, cases like this are not at all surprising. In fact, we get contacted by parents every week with concerns about the way in which religion is being foisted on their children, entirely within the law, both at schools with no religious character and at faith schools that they had no choice but to attend.
For further comment or information please contact Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Jay Harman on 02073243078 or jay@humanism.org.uk.