To think that the mother/daughter duo who took Michaela to court should face some natural consequences?

[KTheGrey]

Apparently the mother involved wants to send her younger child to the school she finds so unsatisfactory in September. I don't think this is reasonable. I understand the logic of leaving a child at a school where they are established, but she should be expected to find a school she likes better for a younger sibling, surely.

She also intends to bring another suit, presumably tax payer funded again. I think that she should be expected to pay in full for any further suit she brings against the school. She could apply for costs if she wins.

No, they were bulling other students.

Bullying and intimidation is a separate matter - pupils play football and bully, other pupils play football and don't bully.

The legal question is whether praying should be allowed. The court has answered. There may be an appeal, and the question will be re-answered.

These questions matter and in a country like the UK it is normal to ask them in court. We are not a dictatorship, we are a democracy with access to the courts.

I think an employer could object to prayer breaks if they interfered with the employee's work and if they were proved to be excessive

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain

Well, that's why I mentioned timing & location.

And the rest of your post supports that point - an accommodation should be made, and this wasn't done in the school, and it could have. However the ethos of the school is to operate in black & white, no room for nuance.

Sorry what? This is an appalling post.

Religion historically has worked by coercion so I am not surprised at this.

The court has to decide on what the law says, not on whether or not we or anyone else thinks is fair. It seems from what I read of the judgment that they had done so.

That is not the question that went to court and was not the question that was answered in court.

The question was must they be allowed to pray.

No one thinks anyone should be allowed to bully.

This is not the UK position. That is the French position.

The rule was brought in after some students, including the girl in question, thought it would be a good idea to pray in the playground and try to coerce other students to also pray.

Pupils observing their own religion would not change any school from secular to faith.

The court have answered the question, but the question was about whether the pupils had a right to practice their own religion, nothing to do with the school's faith status.

We certainly should NOT be dismissing the bullying and intimidation in this context. This is one step away from vigilante action!

This is pivotal to the court case.
The children could have continued undisturbed in quiet prayer in groups less than four (as per usual school rules) had this not happened.

Its a secular school - the very point of such a thing is to give young people a broad education so they can learn independent thinking skills.

The child could catch up with their prayers or move to a school more suited to them.

It’s also a U.K. position - freedom to choose and not be coerced into any type of religion.

This. And we must be able to ask such questions in court. I don't get why so many posters are against that.

Parents knew it was a secular school when they signed up. The child can catch up on their prayer when they get home as the many Muslim students at the school do so. I really hope if there is a challenge that tax payers money is not used to fund it.
Find it shocking that she would keep her daughter and send a younger sibling there if this is such a big issue for them. There are plenty of other schools including schools with a Muslim ethos that they can send their daughters too.

No one is dismissing bullying.

The bullying was not the subject of the court case, even if it was discussed in the court case.

The question asked in court was whether they had a right to pray.

It costs millions and we need the money for hospitals and school roofs maybe?

Which is why, presumably a lot of other cultures and religions choose to move to the UK and other Western countries from other countries where they would be more oppressed, e.g. Iran.

Why should it be made? It’s a school, not a Mosque.

Many people do not understand the legal system, which prompts a lot of fear.

Personally I like to know if my rights were trampled, I could test things in court. Better than the opposite - forced to do what the ruler says!

Actually it's the position of the Enlightenment. There is also an almost complete separation of church and state in the UK bar one or two archaic technicalities which is why this judgement happened and must happened.

You can practice whatever religion you want so long as you don't impose your religious beliefs on others. It's not difficult.

We are moving slowly over the decades away from faith schooling in a lot of respects as Christianity fades in terms of devoted practice.

I think we should go forward to ensure schools are not conflated with places of worship or at risk of developing a religious ethos when a school is specifically secular.

I think the court ruling allows schools to feel safe from religious infiltration of all forms

Religion can be divisive schooling shouldn't

They don’t have the right for ‘special arrangements’ for prayer throughout the school day. They can close their eyes and contact God/Allah whenever they like!

It does seem a bit sledge hammer to crack a nut, to ban praying because it caused bullying. Should schools ban football because it can lead to bullying, or maths if children are teased about their scores? Surely you deal with the bullying rather than ban the "reason"?

I'm glad this school is able to enforce it's own rules, but again, I do wonder how all this prepares children for life.

Changing the school admission rules to exclude just one child out of some sort of grudge towards her relatives would set a really dangerous precedent.

Oh for goodness' sake.

We need justice too.

Have you really fallen for the Tories' line that we can have no freedom because it costs money?