Difference between VC CofE and “secular” primary?

[CompletelyCluelessAboutThis]

I was always going to go with a “secular” primary school. I wanted a secular/non biased school with a balanced approach to all faiths or no faith. It appears these don’t exist. I’ve been finding out lately that “secular” primaries have compulsory daily Christian worship, go to church, are biased towards Christianity in RE lessons, have carol services and celebrate harvest festivals etc.
Not that this bothers me, well, maybe a little bit and we’ll cope, but I just expected this not to be the case?

So, can someone please tell me the difference between a “secular” primary and a VC CofE primary before I make the mistake of overlooking a VC CofE primary (10 minute walk/closest school) which may or may not have any difference in religious bias compared to “secular” primaries (15, 20, 25 and 30 minute walks).

Will totally depend on the school. My dn goes to a C of E Infant School - vicar regularly into assembly, lots of prayers and religious content in lessons. But some C of E schools don’t do quite as much a this.

My kids went to a non C of E primary school where the head wasn’t particularly religious and there was minimal religion - to church for Harvest Festival and Christmas carols, one prayer a day and a few hymns in assembly maybe once a week. But if there was a very religious head in a normal primary you could get lots more emphasis on religion eg bible story every assembly.

"Daily collective worship" is a legal requirement (see humanists.uk/education/parents/collective-worship-and-school-assemblies-your-rights/), although the interpretation varies widely, and I think relatively few schools could really be said to be doing this.
The majority of these should also be of "broadly Christian character" - again, interpretation varies widely.
I think if the rules were being drawn up now, they might be rather different, but changing the law is not that easy.
The RE syllabus is drawn up at a local authority level. Christianity is likely to feature significantly - given that much of our culture is built on Christianity, that's no bad thing, so that people understand references in literature, etc.

I wouldn't worry about harvest festivals - the idea of being grateful for the food we have and making some contributions to the local food bank is hardly controversial, and a favourite "harvest" song is "Cauliflowers fluffy" which has no reference to God whatsoever.

Anywhere between not a lot and worlds away.

Some CofE schools do square root of nothing other than the occasional prayer which can be the same as the non faith schools, so no difference between them.

Other CofE can be very churchy and OTT and so can some non faith schools meaning no difference between them.

Other CofE schools are very churchy, very pray’ey, very OTT religion where the non faith schools do nothing. Big difference.

It all depends on the school(s).

Best to get in the school and look. Ask questions. Observe what is going on. Some schools might look very religious but you’re just seeing the highlights on the web page.

Both my children went to a CofE school and it's very religious. They have assembly with the local vicar, homework to write Christian prayers and all RE lessons are about Christianity.

DC1 now in a secular secondary and the RE lessons are a world apart. It talks about other religions. For her RE homework, the teacher actively told the class they can base their work on any belief system, including no religion. We are athetist and DC1 does not believe either. She is much happier to complete her RE homework by using principles of morality, empathy and consideration of others, instead of 'because God told me so'. This would not have been allowed in her primary.

The only way to find out for sure is to ask staff, pupils and parents connected with the school. I am an athiest and I teach at a C of E school. It's really fine but a few odd things get my back up - nearly always sparked off by a visiting vicar delivering a 'sermon' in assembly. However, I have also worked in a non Church school where similar has happened. My daughter goes to my school and refused to do a 'breaking the bread' assembly (a bit like a kids version of communion) because - in her words - 'Jesus can't fly'. She thinks religion is BS so hasn't been indoctrinated.

@CompletelyCluelessAboutThis
Firstly, VC is voluntary controlled. They are usually a step back from VA (voluntary aided) where the church owns the buildings and employs the staff. So VC tends to be less full on CofE, but not necessarily! Where I live, there’s a new breed of CofE head who is making Dc offer up prayers before each lesson, start every day with a religious thought, and observe far more religious festivals than harvest and Christmas! Therefore you must visit. You should look at all newsletters and any communications from the school. What references are made to religion? Try and find out what happens in addition to the daily act of worship. How often does the vicar appear? Are most of the governors appointed by the church? What is it’s stated ethos?

Secular schools are community schools. They will have the daily act of worship but Dc might not recognise them as such! More about being helpful, kind, etc. RE is the agreed syllabus in all schools. Again, visit, look at newsletters and ethos. Be aware that heads change and some heads want a strong CofE ethos. Around here they have changed several schools to be very different from what they were: CofE light touch! Light touch is best in my view.

Definitely don’t discount the c of E. I wouldn’t want to work in one (atheist) but have applied to one as first choice for my daughter. In my opinion Christian values are mostly around being a good person and I can’t argue with them - charity, kindness, sharing and so on. All schools will look at other religions in RE as well as Christianity, but the vast majority whether c of E or not will focus more on Christianity than any other religion as it’s the most common religion in this country (my school is Jon religious and does half Christianity, half another religion each year so by y6 they have covered all the major religions in depth). Most schools will have a church visit or two per year too.

go and look round and see what you think.

Agree with the consensus that there's no fixed answer. It's certainly my experience that the non-church primary school DS went to was far more religious in tone than the C of E one that DD attended. It was certainly staffed by many more practising Christians. A C of E school aims to cater for 'all faiths and none', so it should be striving towards inclusivity. You should probably take a look around and ask questions about your options.

Many secular schools don’t have any of the things you list. I’m a teacher and although daily collective worship is compulsory it is often not explicitly religious in many schools. Regular prayer has not been common in the primary schools I’ve worked at and I haven’t ever worked in a school which did a harvest festival, I haven’t seen one since I was at school.

This does vary by school though, some secular primaries are very Christian in nature and others have hardly any mention of religion outside of RE lessons. Most schools follow their LA’s RE syllabus but academies and faith schools can set their own so a CofE schools RE curriculum may be less balanced than a secular school.

Your best bet in finding the right secular school for your DC is to visit your local schools to get a feel for them and it should hopefully be possible to see how much religion is a part of the school life, if it is at all.

My son is at a CoE school. I went to one too despite not being baptised or religious.

Son is baptised CoE though. We love the school. Church is a part of life there but nothing has been taught that I disagree with. They ignored Halloween as well which I greatly appreciate.

He does say prayers every day. I love the one they say before lunch. It has a line about thanking the hands that made it. I love that and that son is being taught to appreciate the effort people make for him.

Don't discount a CoE school until you've seen it

My kids secular school is very multicultural, there are many religions practiced and over 15 'first languages' that are not English, the school is a one form entry, so pretty small. It celebrates every child's religions main festivals. We are a Christian family, however I love that my kids get to celebrate: both Eids, Diwali, Christmas, Harvest, Easter, Chinese New Year and various others through the year. All this to say, it will entirely depend on your individual schools!