Part II GRANT-MAINTAINED SCHOOLS
Chapter X GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
Religious education, worship etc.: classes of grant-maintained school
138 Former county schools and certain schools established as grant-maintained schools.
1
Subject to section 141 of this Act, this section applies in relation to a grant-maintained school if—
a
it was a county school immediately before it became grant-maintained,
b
it was established in pursuance of proposals published under section 48 of this Act, or
c
it was established in pursuance of proposals published under section 49 of this Act and neither any trust deed relating to the school nor the statement required by paragraph 8 of Schedule 3 to this Act makes provision as to the religious education for pupils at the school.
2
Subject to the following provisions of this section, in the case of a school to which this section applies the collective worship required in the school by section 6 of the M1Education Reform Act 1988 (collective worship) shall be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.
3
For the purposes of subsection (2) above, collective worship is of a broadly Christian character if it reflects the broad traditions of Christian belief without being distinctive of any particular Christian denomination.
4
Every act of collective worship required by section 6 of that Act in the case of a school to which this section applies need not comply with subsection (2) above provided that, taking any school term as a whole, most such acts which take place in the school do comply with that subsection.
5
Subject to subsections (2) and (4) above—
a
the extent to which (if at all) any acts of collective worship required by section 6 of that Act which do not comply with subsection (2) above take place in such a school,
b
the extent to which any act of collective worship in such a school which complies with subsection (2) above reflects the broad traditions of Christian belief, and
c
the ways in which those traditions are reflected in any such act of collective worship,
shall be such as may be appropriate having regard to any relevant considerations relating to the pupils concerned which fall to be taken into account in accordance with subsection (6) below.
6
Those considerations are—
a
any circumstances relating to the family backgrounds of the pupils concerned which are relevant for determining the character of the collective worship which is appropriate in their case, and
b
their ages and aptitudes.
7
Where under section 12 of the M2Education Reform Act 1988 (determination by standing advisory councils of the cases in which the requirement for Christian worship is not to apply) a standing advisory council on religious education determine that it is not appropriate for subsection (2) above to apply in the case of a school to which this section applies, or in the case of any class or description of pupils at such a school (or where they had so determined in the case of a school or pupils at a school before it became grant-maintained) then, so long as that determination has effect—
a
that subsection shall not apply in relation to that school or (as the case may be) in relation to those pupils, and
b
the collective worship required by section 6 of that Act (collective worship) in the case of that school or those pupils shall not be distinctive of any particular Christian or other religious denomination (but this shall not be taken as preventing that worship from being distinctive of any particular faith).
8
The arrangements for collective worship in a school to which this section applies required by section 6 of that Act shall be made by the head teacher after consultation with the governing body.
9
The provision for religious education for pupils at the school which is required by section 2(1)(a) of that Act (basic curriculum for schools) shall be provision for religious education in accordance with the appropriate agreed syllabus.
10
That syllabus shall not provide for religious education to be given to pupils at the school by means of any catechism or formulary which is distinctive of a particular religious denomination (but this is not to be taken as prohibiting provision in the syllabus for the study of such catechisms or formularies).
11
If, in the case of a secondary school so situated that arrangements cannot conveniently be made for the withdrawal of pupils from it in accordance with section 9 of that Act (religious education - exceptions etc.) to receive religious education elsewhere, the governing body are satisfied—
a
that the parents of any pupils at the school desire them to receive religious education in the school in accordance with the tenets of a particular religion or religious denomination, and
b
that satisfactory arrangements have been made for the provision of such education to those pupils in the school, and for securing that the cost of providing such education to those pupils in the school will not fall upon the governing body,
the governing body shall (unless they are satisfied that because of any special circumstances it would be unreasonable to do so) provide facilities for the carrying out of those arrangements.
12
References in this section to acts of collective worship in a school to which this section applies include references to any such act which under section 6 of that Act takes place otherwise than on the school premises.