Faith school teaches general curriculum but has a particular religious side to it, by having extra subjects included within your curricular lessons, teaching you about the religion.
A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious organisation. The term is most commonly applied to State-funded faith schools, although many independent schools also have religious characteristics.
"The term "faith school" was introduced in Britain in 1990 following calls from Muslims for institutions comparable to the existing Christian church schools. It is distinct from an institution mainly or wholly teaching religion and related subjects." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_school
Faith school is also different to a state school as faith school includes mostly all girls school or an all boys school, very rarely there is mixed faith schools. The place where i have studied at is Azhar Academy girls school they believe that by sending your daughter you will attain high morals, be disciplined and find out their true identity, also have by having a good education with an extra knowledge of Islam.
"This school project is a unique service for our daughters and future generations. We strongly believe that it is only through education that our children will learn about their Religion,attain high morals and discipline and retain their true identity."
http://www.azharacademy.org/school.htm
Faith school is different to a state school, as with a faith school most of them require to pay a monthly fee in order to be educated and stay in the school, as because faith schools are not supported by the government like state schools are every equipment or building work required needs to be brought with the schools money. Whereas with a state school, students do not need to pay any fee to be educated and also do not have to pay for requirements as the school provides it for free.
The figure below shows the school fees of Azhar academy girls school and the different options they offer in which parent could pay for. http://www.aags.org.uk/school-fees
| Option A
FULL
£2700
| Option B
BI-ANNUAL
£1,350
| Option C
TERMLY
£900
| Option D
MONTHLY*
£270
|
| Payable in July of the previous academic year or September of the current academic year | Payable in July of the previous academic year and January of the current academic year | Payable in July of the previous academic year and December and March of the current academic year | In 10 instalments beginning from the first Monday of August of the previous academic year until the first Monday of May of the current academic year |
| Payable by cash/cheque/BACS | Payable by cash/cheque/BACS | Payable by cash/cheque/BACS | Payable via standing order/BACS only. No cash or cheque payments will be accepted in school for this option. |
Faith school is different than normal state schools as with faith schools you do extra subjects such as Arabic language, and religious classes to make u feel a different atmosphere. In Azhar academy girls school they do the Arabic language and do the basic islamic knowledge. In their website it mentions " Students are educated national curriculum subjects as well as Arabic – as a language, and also in detailed Islamic theological sciences (Aalimah Course)" http://www.aags.org.uk/
Faith school lastly is different to a normal state schools, as their day to day timetable is different most state schools will have an assembly at least every 2 weeks, whereas in Azhar academy we had an assembly once in every 2 months but only if it was necessary then there would be an assembly, but they start their day with Islamic classes, and when it comes to lunch the have half an hour to eat and then they other half hour they all go upstairs to the prayer room and pray. As you see in the figure below that there are many differences between a state school timetable and a faith school time table. http://www.aags.org.uk/the-school-day
MONDAY – FRIDAY
| ||
TIME
|
EVENT
|
DURATION (MIN)
|
7:25/7:55*
|
School bell & AM Registration
|
5
|
7:30/8:00*
|
Equipment check & P1
|
50
|
8:20
|
P2
|
50
|
9:10
|
P3
|
50
|
10:00
|
Break
|
15
|
10:15
|
P4
|
60
|
11:15
|
P5
|
60
|
12:15
|
P6
|
60
|
13:15
|
Lunch**
|
30
|
13:45
|
Prayer**
|
15
|
14:00
|
PM Registration – inc. Reflection Time / writing learning journals/logs
|
15
|
14:15
|
P7
|
55
|
15:10
|
P8
|
55
|
16:05
|
Clubs
|
40
|
16:45
|
End of School
| |
An expert opinion by the atheist Richard Dawkins says that faith schools should have the freedom to practice and learn their religion without being assessed by anyone for example Ofsted.
"Faith schools should not be allowed to opt out of religious education," he told the Times. "Yet they are given this free pass to do religious education in their own way, which is not inspected by Ofsted."
Another expert opinion is from Dr Mahmoud Emira, Research Assistant in the Centre for Developmental and Applied Research in Education. She mentions that what is the difference in faith schools than state schools there is nothing wrong in children being sent to faith schools. It is maybe because they want to teach their children the basics of understanding their religion and the history behind it.
"Faith schools are outstanding or they might just like their children to know about a specific religion, even though they might/might not be practicing. If this is their choice, then it might not be fair to deprive them/their children of their right. We live in a free democratic multicultural society, where we tolerate and respect members of different backgrounds." http://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=35606
Another expert opinion is by Ofsted who thinks faith schools are doing better in education rather than state schools, this is also only the national curriculum subjects including Maths, English and Science. http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/independent-faith-schools
This research has developed my documentary idea as i have gained much more background knowledge of what are the huge differences between a state school and a faith school. After doing secondary research i know many ways as to what i will be including in my documentary and how i will develop these ideas into my documentary making sure i answer the question of my documentary topic.
What is the current situation in faith schools?
The current situation in faith schools is being against faith schools as the BBC news mentions that people think it is discriminating other religions as they will only learn about their own religion,also kids may grown up to not like people from other religions and also dislike and not socialise with other around them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1705872.stm
"Faith schools are only a problem when the faith being taught is not tolerant of other religions. I believe that if the UK is going to be a true multicultural society then there is very strong reasons to ban single faith schools and get the kids mixing."
Opposite argument mentions that they have the right to maintain their culture, beliefs and practices as in this day and age no one is into knowing their religion or practicing it either, they barely do what is required for them to do for example visiting the Mosque, or religious places etc. Faith school keeps them intact into their religion. Faith schools allows them to develop their own identity and self-esteem. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=W5KoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=current+situation+in+faith+schools&source=bl&ots=G67DxIxieE&sig=_6kygRFy1OjEgy3FDUxmAl04n24&hl=en&sa=X&ei=C8BnU63IHMXT4QT5q4HwCA&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=current%20situation%20in%20faith%20schools&f=false
The current situation in faith schools mentioned in the book called Secular or islamic mentions faith identity improves a persons way of life and the way they think, it makes them a better person as they understand more as they value and respect their religion, faith schools help children identify as to why they believe in that religion but also including the national curriculum subjects. Faith schools currently are shown to be doing better in education than state schools. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xSLLVsc48IcC&pg=PA74&dq=current+situation+in+faith+schools&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KsNnU-31G6Xj4wT73ICoDQ&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=current%20situation%20in%20faith%20schools&f=false
The recent articles below mentions that currently faith schools are doing better in education than normal state schools. "Faith schools currently make up a third of all state-funded schools in England. Some 4,657 are Anglican, 2,053 are Roman Catholic and 82 belong to other Christian denominations. Another 36 schools are Jewish, eight Muslim, two Sikh and one is Hindu. An analysis of GCSE results from 2007 onwards show that muslim schools have outnumbered other faith schools showing the pass rate of 80%. On this measure, Muslim pupils made the most progress. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/3852653/Faith-school-pupils-outperforming-others-at-every-age.html
The current situation as to why people think faith schools are good is because they perform better academically, they are able to beat the state schools exam results even after being a private school. The students are dedicated into working hard with help and support of their teachers always by their side at every step of the way. The website below mentions that faith school achieves better than average results, and outnumbering the state schools. https://humanism.org.uk/education/education-policy/faith-schools-why-not/
Expert opinions mentioned by Rabbi Jonathan Romain, chairman of the Accord Coalition, said: "Whether you are religious or secular, a key value is fairness."
He added that faith-based admission risked teaching children "a terrible lesson about us and them and at the very age when we should be promoting inclusivity and equality." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22798206
Another expert mentioned by a spokeswoman working for the government "New academies and free schools with a faith designation which are oversubscribed must allocate at least half of places to children without reference to faith." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22798206
Expert who have written a statement on the bbc news mentions "Parents should be able to choose the type of education and ethos they want for their children. The bottom line is that faith schools are successful, thriving, popular and here to stay."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7764817.stm
This research has developed my documentary idea as by knowing the current situation in faith schools, as i could go against the research i have found and make my documentary more subjective, as feel faith schools have made a huge difference to peoples lives and as to the way they think. They also seem to be more into religion after finishing there years at school.
How a mixed environment impacts students?
A mixed environment affects students as firstly in the recent news article it mentions that boys are performing worse than girls purposely with very appalling grades as they are fed up to hear that girls are more intelligent because of a new study. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9862473/Boys-worse-at-school-due-to-stereotypes.html
"boys felt they were not expected by their parents and teachers to do as well as girls and lost their motivation or confidence as a result."
A mixed environment affects students as when girls and boys are in a mixed environment dating each other it distracts them to be doing their homework or simply revising and working. They are distracted in working to achieve to the best of their ability as they are spending more time meeting each other, texting or calling rather than being productive and doing hard core revision. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/dating-affect-grades-12708.html
"The infatuation that comes with a crush or new relationship can cause your teen to be distracted from classes and homework"
A mixed environment affects students as when working together most students end of not working together and not getting the work done. The learning environment become a place as to where girls and boys find it to romance and socialise whilst they should be working. The website below shows evidence to back up my point on what students think a learning environment is for when mixing with other students for tasks during lessons.
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/learningenvironment.html
A mixed environment affects students as when in class their full concentration is not towards the teacher but rather to their girls or boys whom they like. They will concentrate more on what there peers are doing rather than concentrating in what the teacher is trying to teach them. http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v1n1/mcclellan.html
A mixed environment affects teachers teaching their students as most of the time they do not have the full classes attention rather some students are busy talking away to each other or holding hands underneath the table. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2012/11/pair_of_surveys_finds_mixed_te.html
An expert on Child development at the Kids Health website state that break-ups can be especially intense and devastating for teenagers. The heartbreak associated with an ending relationship can cause your teenager to miss school or lose interest in classes. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/dating-affect-grades-12708.html
An expert teacher, Critical-thinking Bruce Torff, Students have in the recent years have been affected in mixing together and socialising rather than giving their full attention towards their eduction. http://www.teqjournal.org/Back%20Issues/Volume%2033/VOL33%20PDFS/33_2/11torff-33_2.pdf
A teacher who witnessed the effects of her students getting into an relationship as being affected by grades and wanting to split up into a different classes. http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-teen/article-777759-when-teens-start-dating-t/
"Teen dating affects their moods, mannerisms and even their performance in school. Beth Maurin, a foreign language teacher at Barrington High School in Barrington, Ill., has seen how going out affects her students. "They change schedules to be in the same class – until they break up and want to switch classes again to avoid each other."
This research has developed my documentary idea as knowing how a mixed environment impacts students makes it easier for me to develop my documentary idea, as by doing secondary research i have found out that the lack of concentration in mixed school is higher than in an all girls or boys school, as most faith schools are of one gender this makes it easier for me to portray in my documentary as to how faith schools are better as students are not easily distracted and plus the class group is usually much smaller as they only usually enrol a specific group number than a normal state school.
When did faith schools become popular?
Faith school had been introduced in the year 1990 which first started off from muslim institutions. From then on the number of applicants have been doubled for each year having many students waiting on the waiting list. There are over "700 islamic schools over Britain" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_school
Faith school have become popular as now entirely England faith schools are state funded, so they get a little help to fund and build the school. So they contribute towards the costing and requirements needed to run the faith school. http://accordcoalition.org.uk/2013/12/27/faith-schools-in-england-now-almost-entirely-state-funded/
Faith schools have become popular during the years because of education, although they are private schools they perform better results than students studying at state schools the overall pass rate is much higher than state schools, that is why over the years faith schools have become more popular than before. http://khilafah.com/index.php/news-watch/europe/8896-uk-muslim-schools-surpass-national-gcse-averages
"Last year Muslim faith schools surpassed national averages in modern foreign languages and 5+ A* - C GCSE percentage indicators. For the last three years, one of the Muslim schools has been recognised by the Government as one of the top 100 highest achieving schools in the country."
An expert John Pritchard mentions “faith schools” are popularly as not imagined. They don’t exist primarily for the benefit of our faith’s children. They are “distinctive and inclusive” http://www.reform-magazine.co.uk/2014/03/a-good-question-do-faith-schools%E2%80%A8-have-a-future/
Another expert Jonathan Romain mentions I speak as someone who values faith – both my own and that of others. So i value faith schools, and think it is better for the younger generation as they get knowledge on their religion as well as doing the national curriculum subjects. http://www.reform-magazine.co.uk/2014/03/a-good-question-do-faith-schools%E2%80%A8-have-a-future/
Lastly another expert Marilyn Mason mentions, about going against the popularity of faith schools, as she feels it destroys kids relationship between outside people and also makes you someway or the other discriminate others a you feel like not mixing or socializing with other ethnic or religious groups. http://www.reform-magazine.co.uk/2014/03/a-good-question-do-faith-schools%E2%80%A8-have-a-future/ "I think the expansion of faith schools over recent decades is unfortunate because it leads to increased segregation of minority groups and less contact between children of all religions and none."
This research has developed my documentary idea as i have known that faith schools have become very popular so this makes it easier for me to engage my target audience according to the topic i choose, as faith schools have become very popular in the recent years. I have many ideas as to how i will portray this question within my documentary as i will actually go and film at a faith school showing how the environment is completely different to a state school.
Why would someone choose to go to a faith school rather than a state school?
Faith is better education wise as in the recent years they have come in the top 10 for performing having the highest GCSE pass rate. Faith schools usually go way above the average pass rate which shows why many students want to go to a faith than to a state school. http://khilafah.com/index.php/news-watch/europe/8896-uk-muslim-schools-surpass-national-gcse-averages
People would prefer to go to a faith school than because they learn and practice upon their religion as well as concentrating on the national curriculum subjects. The table shows the Islamic classes which are done in Azhar academy girls school.
Islamic Studies: This curriculum covers instruction about the fundamentals of Islam as well as recitation of the Qur’an with grammar. It aims to equip the student to with the basic knowledge of Islamic faith and practice. "At AAGS, all students are offered the option of either studying the Aalimah Course, the Islamic Studies Course or (Qur’an memorisation) Course. Choosing any one of the three is compulsory for all students. Tuition fees for these courses is currently included in the school fee." http://www.aags.org.uk/islamic-studies
| Subject 1 | Subject 2 | Subject 3 | Subject 4 | |
| Year 7 | Qur’an recitation with Tajweed
(4 lessons)
| Ta’leem-ul-Haq
(Taharah/Salah)
(2 lessons)
| Seerah (Iqra Series)
The Messenger of Allah SAW – Makkah Period
(1 lesson)
| Tasheel-ul-Ahadeeth Part 5/6/7
(1 lesson)
|
| Year 8 | Qur’an recitation with Tajweed
(4 lessons)
| Ta’leem-ul-Haq (Sawm/Zakah/Hajj)
with al-Hadiyatu li ‘n-Nisaa’
(3 lessons)
| Seerah (Iqra Series)
The Messenger of Allah SAW – Madinah Period
(3 lessons)
| Islamic at-Tahdeeb wa ‘l-Akhlaq (Iqra Series)
(2 lessons)
|
| Year 9 | Qur’an recitation with Tajweed
(4 lessons)
| Fiqh (Detailed Tahara & Ibadaat)
(3 lessons)
| Al-Khulafaa ar-Rashidun (Iqra Series)
(3 lessons)
| Juz Amma
(2 lessons)
|
| Year 10 | Qur’an recitation with Tajweed
(4 lessons)
| Fiqh (Introduction to Madhabs/Halal & Haram/Finance)
(3 lessons)
| Stories of the Prophets AS (History)
(3 lessons)
| Provisions for the Seekers (Memorisation of 40 Ahadeeth)
(2 lessons)
|
| Year 11 | Qur’an recitation with Tajweed
(4 lessons)
| Fiqh (Nikah/Talaq)
(3 lessons)
| Women around the Messenger SAW (History)
(3 lessons)
| Provisions for the Seekers
(Memorisation of 40 Ahadeeth)
(2 lessons)
|
People would also prefer to go to a faith school than a state school as it is usually either all girls
environment or a boys environment so there is no mixing, they are able to concentrate more in lessons and are able to achieve better than being in mixed environment being distracted by other students. "Learning is more easy in a single-sex school, they concentrate more on their eduction and are not easily distracted" http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-coed-schools-better-than-single-sex-schools
Also it is better go to a faith school than a state school as you experience a much different environment and feel as though you are gaining more knowledge as you learn and practice upon your religion but also are doing the national curricular subjects. http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/Conway_FaithSchools.pdf
An expert Professor Woodhead mentions
- Young people are more positive about faith schools and funding than older people
- Only a quarter of people who might have a school-age child say they would send him/her to a faith school
- Academic standards matter most in choosing a school rather than values or religion
- Social class, gender, and political preference make little difference to opinion http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/articles/2013/new-survey-examines-the-faith-school-issue/
Another Expert who is participating on a faith school debate in Westminster University mentions "State-supported ‘faith schools’ (schools with a particular religious character) make up around a third of schools in England and Wales (Scotland has a different system, with state-funded schools being either non-denominational or Roman Catholic)." http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/articles/2013/new-survey-examines-the-faith-school-issue/
This research has developed my documentary idea as i have done core research on this question and has made me realise the value and status of faith schools, and how faith schools would be prefered by many parents and students. This research has given me ideas as to how i can include this question within my documentary, i will try to visit my secondary faith school and show the different atmosphere it is by comparing it to state school, so where i am currently studying. This will make easier for my audience to decide and think which place is better to go to whether it is faith school or state school.
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