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An education charity set to take over a primary school in Preston has moved to quash any suggestion it will become a faith-based institution in the wake of the change.
It emerged last week that Eldon Primary School is poised to join the Star Academies chain, which has a number of Muslim faith schools – including two in Preston – amongst the almost 40 facilities it runs across England. However – it also has a large number of non-faith schools – information which is readily available on their website.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that unsubstantiated rumours – which appear to have surfaced as a result of a letter from the school’s former chair of governors – had since begun to swirl amongst parents that the Plungington school would also now shift to adopt a Muslim ethos – with some families even enquiring at other schools about the availability of places for their children.
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However, the Blackburn-based academy group has now confirmed that Eldon will join its “network of non-faith community schools”. When it comes to religious education (RE), that means it will continue to operate in the same way it does currently as a local authority-run school – having no particular religious character, but giving its pupils a broad overview of the main religions in the UK.
A letter to parents and guardians from the now former chair of governors at the school – announcing its conversion to an academy following an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating – included a section titled: “Muslim-faith based academy trust to take over Eldon”.
Abu Patel highlighted Star Academies’ two existing Preston schools – the primary-aged Olive School and the secondary Eden Boys’ School, both of which are run as Muslim faith establishments.
More than half of Eldon’s 250 pupils are from an ethnic minority or migrant heritage, the LDRS has been told by a source with knowledge of the make-up of the school.
Faith schools are allowed to select pupils on the basis of their religion, although anyone can apply for a place – and both of the Star facilities in Preston say they welcome applications from families of “all faiths and none”, in any case.
A spokesperson for Star Academies told the LDRS: “The Department for Education has identified Star Academies’ community school division as its preferred sponsor for Eldon Primary School.
“Once approved, the school will join Star’s national network of non-faith community schools – a strong family of schools which are committed to educational excellence, character development and community service.”
RE in local authority-run schools without a religious character and non-faith-based academies – as Eldon is about to become – must “reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”, according to education legislation.
There is no national curriculum for RE, with each local area having its own ‘standing advisory council on religion education’ to determine exactly what is taught in council-controlled schools.
Non-faith academies can choose to adopt the locally-set syllabus or develop one of their own – provided it meets the requirements laid down in law about the type of religious education that must be offered.
Lancashire County Council, which is currently responsible for Eldon Primary, was also approached for comment.
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