What's happening?
Due to high demand on school places in Inverclyde, the council have agreed to expand St Columba's High School in Gourock. They are also consulting on proposals which will affect both denominational and non-denominational schools in the area. These proposals include options to:
- Convert one of the non-denominational primary schools into a Catholic faith school.
- Open a new campus with both a Catholic and non-denominational school in West Inverclyde.
- Introduce religious selection so that only pupils with a certificate of Baptism into the Catholic faith will be able to automatically transfer from village schools to Roman Catholic secondary schools.
- Remove non-denominational village schools as feeder schools for denominational secondary schools.
UPDATE 14/01/2020: A report to Inverclyde Council's education and communities committee does not recommend options 1, 2 and 4 above. But the report has recommended that only pupils with a certificate of baptism into the Catholic faith should be automatically allowed to transfer into Catholic secondaries from the local non-denominational primary schools. Read more...
Inverclyde Consultation letter to parents (PDF, 94 Kb)
Inverclyde Council Report to Education and Communities Committee (PDF, 5.3 Mb)
Outcome of pre-consultation in relation to the admission policy for village schools and the future need for denominational education in the west of Inverclyde.
Inverclyde Education Committee meeting November 2019.pdf (PDF, 140 Kb)
NMFS pre consultation response Inverclyde (PDF, 612 Kb)
NSS response to Inverclyde Village School consultation (PDF, 992 Kb)
We responded to oppose any changes that would increase discrimination and segregation based on religion or belief.
Who are we?
No More Faith Schools is a national campaign coordinated by the National Secular Society and with supporters from a broad social, political and religious spectrum. We're dedicated to an end to state funded faith schools. We would like all schools to be nondenominational with an inclusive community ethos, free from any religious discrimination, privilege or control.
We help people challenge new faith schools, particularly where they have discriminatory admissions rules and where there are proposals for inclusive alternatives.
What's our view?
Introducing discrimination in admissions can only entrench separationism and sectarianism. It will disadvantage those for whom a particular local school is otherwise acceptable. If additional school places are needed, a joint campus just adds unnecessary complexity. The focus should be on inclusive non-denominational schools open to the whole community. The lack of any consideration of this option is perplexing. Depriving either Wemyss Bay or Inverkip of an inclusive non-denominational primary school is a step backwards and deeply unfair on these communities.
When do you get a say?
Inverclyde Council has carried out a pre-consultation on the proposals and the results have now been published - find out more here.
The Council has ruled out options 1,2 and 4 above, but would now like to introduce religious selection so that pupils with a certificate of Baptism into the Catholic faith will be prioritised in admissions. They are now consulting on this plan; you can find the consultation here (the accompanying consultation document can be downloaded here).
Please respond to the consultation and let Inverclyde Council know that it should rethink its discriminatory admissions proposals. Whether children have a religious certificate or not should not be a relevant factor in determining where they go to school. The deadline to respond is 25th March 2020.
Related news
Related news
Children refused school places due to discriminatory policies, complaints reveal
Posted: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 13:51
A girl of Muslim background and a girl with autism were among the children refused September places at...
Scottish Catholic schools to actively marginalise children who don’t pray
Posted: Mon, 24 Sep 2018 16:45
The Catholic Church has said it will exclude school children in Scotland from nativity plays and fundraising...
Report: Parents attending church services to improve school choice
Posted: Thu, 13 Sep 2018 13:12
Research by an educational equality charity shows that 31% of parents (including around 35% of middle...
Academic ‘advantages’ of Christian faith schools almost non-existent
Posted: Thu, 13 Sep 2018 11:36
The academic advantages of attending Church of England and Catholic schools are almost non-existent,...
Lib Dem proposal to end faith schools in Scotland
Posted: Fri, 7 Sep 2018 13:32
The National Secular Society has welcomed a proposal by the Scottish Liberal Democrats to end sectarian...
‘Church schools’ less likely to admit black or poor pupils
Posted: Thu, 16 Aug 2018 09:50
Black and disadvantaged pupils are significantly less likely to gain places at 'church schools' than...