Submitted by: Nancy Battle
Anglican school where 75% of the pupils are Muslim drops Christian hymns from assemblies
- Secondary school in Slough has separate prayer rooms for boys and girls
- Daily assemblies place the Bible on a par with other religious texts
- Headteacher Paul McAteer said Christian values were central to school life
- It was rated 'outstanding' after a Church of England inspection in 2011
PUBLISHED: 11:46, 21 April 2013
Hymns have been dropped from assemblies at a Church of England school which has also introduced separate prayer rooms for girls and boys to cater to its mostly Muslim students.
Daily assemblies at Slough and Eton Church of England Business and Enterprise College, where 75 per cent of pupils are Muslim, are not based specifically on the Bible, but may make reference to it alongside other religious texts.
All of the the meat served at the secondary school, which has over 1,000 pupils aged between 11 and 19, is halal.
Headmaster Paul McAteer said the approach was to be 'sensitive to the fact that we do have many different faiths in the school', but added that Christian values were 'more prevalent here than I have experienced in non-Church of England schools'.
Mr McAteer, who pointed out that the Church of England describes itself as 'a faith for all faiths', told the Sunday Times: 'The values we support are very much Christian values of honesty, integrity, justice.'
According to the school's prospectus its assemblies - which Mr McAteer said contain a 'moral message' - reflect humanitarian and spiritual issues 'that concern everyone'.
The headmaster explained that the gender-separated prayer rooms at Slough and Eton, which is a voluntary controlled Church of England school, were not specifically for Muslim pupils, but said that it tended to be Muslim children that use them.
A voluntary controlled school refers to one which is state funded but the running of which a foundation - in this case the Church of England - has some influence over.
He said 20 male students would typically attend a lunchtime Islamic prayer session at the Berkshire school.
One of the school aims outlined on its mission statement is 'to promote tolerance and respect for all cultures represented in the school'.
The college was judged 'outstanding' by Ofsted in May 2011 and it was awarded the same rating after a Church of England inspection the following month.
Collective worship at the school is broadly Christian, and assemblies are based on Christian principles but are 'designed to value and not exclude any other faith', the prospectus states.
According to the Church of England, a substantial number of primary and secondary church schools - both voluntary controlled and voluntary aided - have over 80 per cent intake from the Muslim community.
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