Creationist groups are continuing to push for Free Schools
Sheffield Christian Free School are hoping to set up a creationist Free School in 2013, as are the previously rejected Everyday Champions Church. And yet, the Government was clear in its rejection of the latter. Richy Thompson asks, why do these groups keep applying?
Fairy DNA by kyz
Richy Thompson is the BHA’s Education Campaigner. The BHA’s e-petition, Teach evolution, not creationism!, is now approaching 15,000 signatures. If you’re a UK resident, please sign, and urge all your friends, family and colleagues to do likewise.
Last week we broke the news that a group applying to open a Free School, Sheffield Christian Free School, intends to teach creationism throughout the curriculum. The group behind the bid, Sheffield Christian Family Schools Ltd, already runs two private schools in Sheffield, including the Bethany School. The group has said that it is ‘unashamedly creationist’.
We have been leading the way in countering creationism in the UK. For example, in September we coordinated the new campaign, Teach evolution, not creationism! This garnered support from big names such as Sir David Attenborough, BHA Vice President Richard Dawkins and Revd Prof Michael Reiss. It was also supported by a number of other organisations, such as the British Science Association, Association for Science Education, Campaign for Science & Engineering and Ekklesia.
The story about the Sheffield school has been picked up by a number of places. It was in Friday’s TES, will be in the Guardian next week, and also led to me debating Ken Walze, head of Bethany School, on BBC Radio Sheffield. You can listen to the full debate, or read a transcript, on the BHA’s website.
Although the government has told us that it does not support creationist schools and even recently rejected Everyday Champions Church’s bid solely for that reason, it has failed to take action on any of the recommendations of the Teach evolution, not creationism! campaign which would prevent many future problems. In fact, Everyday Champions Church has said it intends to bid again. Representatives are meeting with civil servants at the Department for Education today in an attempt to get the decision overturned, and their local MP, Patrick Mercer, is meeting with Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove next Monday to attempt the same thing.
Sheffield Christian Free School are also undeterred. In the interview, referring to the government’s opposition to creationist Free Schools, I asked, ‘I wonder if Ken can explain how he hopes to get past this barrier?’ Ken explained that,
‘We’re just offering the model that we’ve got. As I said, we do tick a lot of the boxes about how Free Schools can be set up. We do, obviously, very clearly have creation as part of our curriculum… We’re hoping that Michael Gove, as he begins to investigate this a little bit further, will start to see that we’re providing very good schools… There’s nothing to fear from creationism, it’s a valid part of our society. Millions have a faith, and believe the Christian story and way of life. It’s something I’m hoping Michael Gove – as he gets more and more applications from schools like ours – will begin to investigate a bit further.’
In other words, they’re hoping that Gove will change his mind.
The only way Gove can send the right message to these groups, and stop these and others, like Creation Ministries International, from teaching creationism as science in schools, is to make statutory and enforceable the government guidance that its portrayal as science is unacceptable.
Definitrly do not agree that it should go ahead!
Creationist demands could nicely be buried by the innumerable other creation stories that might be taught.
Relatively few and fragmented, though well funded from God’s own USA, Creationists gain immense publicity simply by claiming to represent Christianity in education against science and technology that (sometimes rightly) many are uncomfortable with. But even those devout Victorians did not hesitate to ridicule a theory (Gosse’s Omphalos 1857) of recent creation with God writing in the rocks the monstrous lie of a nonexistent past.
There is a cultural aspect of science (from ancient medicine and astronomy to the Anthroposophy of Steiner schools) that has a place in the history of thought. Unsurprisingly, the imagination of faith and pursuit of ignorance prefer to dwell on creation myths and apocalyptic visions rather than on available evidence of what actually happens, the hard (and falsifiable) work of science.
I took part in the phone-in on Radio Sheffield’s programme a couple of weeks ago as a strong opponent of this company’s application to operate a 1,000 place free “christian” school in Sheffield, possibly in early 2013.
The company already operates the Bethany school in Sheffield.
As a committed humanist, atheist and secularist I consider it scandalous that an application could even be taken seriously, since the school is blatantly teaching creationism.
I visited the SCFS’s website and made my opposition known to the company, and much to my surprise received a reply!
My apparently lone opposition clearly will not prevent the application going ahead. So, if there are more BHA members out there who also feel strongly about this matter I suggest they go to the Sheffield Christian Free School website to say their piece!
I fail to see why the application is any concern to a humanist. Unless utopian ideals are still being chased of brighter and better world to come which will not tolerate what it wrongly suspects is oppositional thinking.
Why can’t they be left to it? And besides only the ignorant thinks that creationism can be be an alternative theory to science. They can both sit side by side and be taught together without any conflict at all.