Is the faith in our schools misplaced?

EVEN a casual visitor couldn't fail to notice it was different from most other schools.

Even if their arrival didn't coincide with the regular visits of the parish priest, the crucifixes on the walls of the classrooms and the statues on display mark St Edward's out as a school where religion plays a strong part.

But it is not just these outward signs which give the school its character, according to Peter Ormerod, head teacher at the Middlesbrough Roman Catholic primary school for the past 20 years.

"I don't know how you put your finger on it, but visitors do tend to recognise that there is a difference between a Catholic school and other schools," he says. "Some say they notice the behaviour of the children, but I couldn't quantify that and there are other excellent schools in the area. I would not subscribe to the idea that a faith school is a better school for behaviour or academic attainment."

Whatever it is, it is making St Edward's popular with parents. It gives priority to Roman Catholic children, who take up almost all its 420 places. Just seven of its pupils are non-Catholics. "We're here to complement the parents in developing the growth of faith in their children," says Mr Ormerod.

"We are part of the education authority, we're not separate in any way, and we follow the full National Curriculum. But our reason for being is to help complement the parents in bringing up children in the Catholic faith. We do admit other than Catholic children, if we have got places, but our admissions policy is to take children who are of our faith, first and foremost."

But faith schools are having to defend themselves against accusations that they are divisive, and encourage tensions between different ethnic groups. The Cantle report into the riots in Bradford over the summer, published yesterday, says an increase in mono-cultural schools has helped foster a sense of distrust between different communities, providing a breeding ground for racial intolerance.

This is in direct opposition to the Government's declared aim of promoting the creation of more faith schools, and it is not a view Mr Ormerod shares, although he recognises the dangers of failing to teach children about other cultures.

"I don't see single faith schools as divisive in the climate we have in Britain," he says. "There is a problem if you are not a multi-cultural school, and we have to work extra hard because we don't have an Asian culture within the school. We have to try and make the children understand that there are other cultures around, and it is a multi-cultural society. If we taught just one culture, then we would be creating divisions.

"I do think there is a place for faith schools, provided they are open to a multi-cultural society. I don't think faith schools should be a closed culture."

Middlesbrough's Roman Catholic diocese supports the school by coming up with 15 per cent of the money for maintaining the buildings, which in recent years has seen it stump up a share of a £30,000 roof repair and a £100,000 extension. And there is no doubt over the role religion plays in the school.

"There is a prayer life in the school - we start our morning with prayers, we have prayers at lunch-times and at the end of the day," says Mr Ormerod. "There are occasionally celebrations where we go to church and the parish priest comes into school frequently to visit the children.

"Other schools teach the children about all faiths and leave it up to them, whereas our parents have chosen to send their children here because we're trying to develop a particular faith."

But he is keen to stress that, although the Catholic faith plays a key role in the school, the children are still given the opportunity to learn about other cultures and religions. It may be a Catholic community but it is not an exclusive one.

"If people come here who are not Catholics, of whatever faith, they come on the understanding that the ethos provided by the school is a Catholic one. But I have done assemblies on other, Muslim and Hindu, celebrations, to make the children aware of other cultures and other beliefs."

He says St Edward's has had Catholics of Asian origin in the past, although not as yet a Muslim pupil. "We did offer a place to a Muslim family a couple of years ago, but at the last minute they chose to go to another school. We would be quite happy to take children of other faiths, if they chose to come to our school."

Margaret Finn pinpoints the school's religious ethos as a prime factor in her decision to send her three children to St Edward's. "We wanted them to be brought up in the Catholic faith, and we make no apologies for that," she says.

"We wanted a school which gave the children the values we wanted them to have as they were growing up, although those values aren't particularly just for Catholics or Christians, they are in any religion. We felt that St Edward's was a very caring and sharing environment."

And she says the decision has not meant her children, aged ten, nine and five, have been sheltered from other cultures. "They know children from different faiths and have friends who go to different schools, and they have Muslim friends. They are taught tolerance and St Edward's looks outwards, towards the whole world.

"It is a school that we felt gave them the best start in life, just like we wanted the best for them academically."

While the vast majority of faith schools in Britain are Christian, there is a growing move towards Muslim schools, although there are just a handful of Government-funded Muslim schools and only around 55 in tne countryaltogether. Some Muslim leaders have been pushing for more, but this could lead to greater segregation, according to Tahir Khan, chairman of the Unity Organisation Multi-Cultural Centre in Sunderland.

Faith schools, he says, run the risk of creating separate communities, where ignorance of other cultures helps breed prejudice, and, as a result, racial discord.

"I would rather see a mixed school, where pupils learn about other cultures and mingle together," he says. "Either schools should teach all faiths or they should not teach any, and leave it up to parents and churches, otherwise we could see Britain split into different cultures, leading to segregation and discrimination and hate.

"Faith schools breed prejudice - you are brainwashed and know nothing else - and Muslim schools would be equally a problem. We can't do anything about the schools that have already been established, but we should not encourage other faiths to do the same.

"If faith schools teach one religion then the pupils are not going to understand other people, and that is not a sign of a healthy, multi-cultural society."

l In tomorrow's Northern Echo, Labour backbench MP Ashok Kumar argues that faith schools could undermine the success of our multi-cultural society