@Dandelion53 Thank you for your comments and I totally understand your frustrations. Believe my watching my children sing in church at the school nativity is more than a little strange at their allegedly 'non-faith' school. But striking the balance is what matters and there is no doubt that one of the highlights of my child's last year at her Jewish nursery was the visit we made to Gatton Primary the Muslim school in Tooting, where together we shared and celebrated a strong and real mutual respect for our communities in an informative and positive way. Faith in the school environment is something we should celebrate especially as we live in such a culturally diverse city. And we should promote understanding across all communities rather than risk a shift towards the French system where the freedom of expression on the matter of faith has been marginalised to a dangerous level.
@schoolgatemum - As Anootka says the application has been developed by a group of parents, educators and members of the local community. Our executive committee is made up of Jewish and non-Jewish members (from head teachers to solicitors to a standup comic!) and we have the support of a wide range of secular and religious Jewish organisations but are not affiliated specifically to any one single organisation. As I keep saying (like a broken record
) this is a local school developed by local people for local children. Does that answer your question?