This poster was placed in every school in England in 1870. It bans compulsory religious education (RE). I hope you can make out the print.
This was later overturned and RE became compulsory for all, with conscience clauses for those pupils not of the Church of England. These days state school RE is broad and not intended to propagate any one faith.
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
That's really interesting. When I was at school in the 1990s the Major government made a "daily act of religious worship" compulsory. Some teachers came up with quite innovative solutions to a requirement that nobody really supported and nobody enforced rigorously. My form tutor had a large book of medieval saints lives which she would read to us.
@SunshineGirl That requirement was in the 1944 Education Act but it didn't specify which religion. It was a 1988(?) Act that said it must be "broadly christian". Parents' absolute right to excuse their child(ren) fro RE and/or religoius worship for any or no reason was unaffected. That didn't stop dishonest, evangelical, christian headteachers attempting to deny parents that right.
