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Attending church just for a school place
From Canon Richard Franklin Sir, — Am I alone in finding that current discussions about admissions procedures to church secondary schools omit consideration of one of the most embarrassing and morally questionable aspects of the whole business — the part that the clergy and churches have to play in recommending children for admission? I have participated in the annual process for years, but the changes made in 2007 have brought the matter to the fore. The criterion for admission on religious grounds is now much more precise: attendance at church twice a month for a year before application for admission. I understand that the church authorities adopted this policy when the Government insisted that our criteria should be more exact. It is understandable that the Government wants fairness, clarity, and transparency; but three things have been exacerbated. First, hypocrisy on the part of parents who, seeing that church schools are good, inevitably want to send their children to them: they start coming to church not out of any religious conviction, but simply to get their school of choice. Second, complicity on the part of the clergy, who are forced to play along, not least because we care about the children, too, and want the best for them. In areas where there is very high demand for places, this can lead to monstrous practices like the taking of registers of attendance over periods of years in advance of admission. Third, a gross distortion of the Church’s mission in certain areas: churches become filled with families who are there for the sole purpose of getting their children into a desired school, and the real evangelistic task becomes obscured. This results in an overly optimistic picture of where we are. I am deeply sympathetic to all involved in the operation of this dreadful system. I suppose that in the present atmosphere, where “choice” is god, we have to live with it. But I would plead for a radical re-think of the Church’s position, and hope that in time our church schools will become providers of education with a Christian basis to all the children in their neighbourhood. RICHARD FRANKLINHoly Trinity Vicarage 7 Glebe Close Weymouth DT4 9RL |
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