Collective worship in schools

Report

In the 1980s collective worship in schools was moving from being an activity largely taken for granted to an issue being widely discussed. As the spotlight started to be turned upon it in various Education Acts and Circulars, wide variations in practice became apparent. The churches and other faith, communities, as well as a variety of educational organisations, were considering both the underlying principles and current practice in schools, and these deliberations led to a number of reports, pamphlets and conference resolutions. In 1995, this survey report was commissioned and was tasked with tracing the development of practice and principle in collective worship since 1944. The aim was to bring together all the published information and research about collective worship in England and present it in a published document which could be made widely available. The report was to form the background briefing document for three national conferences held in 1997 aimed at examining the future of collective worship in all state-maintained schools in England. The results of those conferences were separately published in the companion report Collective Worship Reviewed: report of the 1997 consultation. The recommendations made in the report were rejected at the time by the Government and that was the last time there has been any serious national consideration of the subject.

Authors: Gay, JD

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Culham College Institute
• Publication date: 1996-01-01
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR; schools; educational organisations; churches; England; collective worship; SACREs; local education authorities; faith communities