2 min read
Trying to work out the government’s stance on faith free schools is a bit like being in a steamy bathroom; as soon as you wipe the mirror, it mists up again.
When Prime Minister Theresa May promised to relax restrictions on free school admissions last autumn, it signalled greater freedom for faith schools. The proposal was welcomed particularly by the Chief Rabbi and the Orthodox Jewish community. But information trickling out of the Department for Education suggests that faith free schools are still expected to open their doors to children of other faiths; how widely, however, remains unclear.
When free schools were introduced six years ago, those that were faith schools were allowed to admit only half their pupils on the basis of the child’s faith. In practice, pupils at “minority” faith free schools, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Sikh, have largely come from the same background. If the entry policy was meant to encourage mixed-faith faith schools, it failed.
Recognising the reality, the government announced in September it was planning to relax the 50 per cent entry rule and allow faith free schools to select more, perhaps all, of their pupils according to religion.
Yet the government wants to protect itself against accusations of increasing religious segregation, so new faith schools will be expected to promote “inclusivity” and “community cohesion”, and to “enhance understanding of other faiths”. They should enable “pupils of all faiths and none to play a full part in the life of the school and not disadvantage pupils or parents of any faith (or none).”
So what does that mean for schools?
There was a good deal of consternation within the Jewish community when at the end of last year the Department for Education rejected bids for a new Jewish secondary free school from both Barkai and Kavanah College, partly because of the amount of time they had scheduled for Jewish studies (even though it was no more than at existing Jewish state schools such as JFS). Given the oft-proclaimed academic success of Jewish schools, it seemed an extraordinary decision.
Although the DfE did not offer further explanation, it did try to allay Jewish concerns by subsequently insisting there was no cap on the time that could be allocated to religious studies, so long as this formed part of a “broad and balanced” curriculum.
Yet it seems that, in order notionally to be open to pupils of other faiths, a Jewish free school would be expected to offer an alternative programme to Hebrew and Jewish studies.
And then, would Jewish students also be free to opt for that alternative programme – preferring Spanish to Hebrew or philosophy to Torah - even if pupils of no other faith came to the school?
DfE officials have raised other issues with supporters of Jewish free schools. What arrangements would they make for non-Jewish pupils on Friday afternoons, after the school closed at lunchtime in winter because of Shabbat? Or how would they cater for different dietary requirements, for instance if non-Jewish children wanted to bring their own packed lunch? In its guidance for faith free school applicants, the New Schools Network included the following example; "A Sikh designated school decided that it would only offer vegetarian meals as school lunches but it would allow pupils to bring pack lunches from home and accepted that if parents so chose, these may include fish or meat."
You can detect what appears to be the thinking behind the questions. If the 50 per cap is removed, faith free schools will enjoy more control over entry. At the same time, they will have to show they are able to accommodate children from other faiths.
So how free will new Jewish faith schools be? That, as I say, remains unclear.
