‘No offence to God but I don’t believe in Him’: religion, schooling and children’s rights Peter J. Hemming (corresponding author) School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom 1.22 Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT 02920 870911,
[email protected] Twitter handle: @DrPeterJHemming Word count: 7990 1 ‘No offence to God but I don’t believe in Him’: religion, schooling and children’s rights Since the Children Act (2004) in both England and Wales, schools are expected to give due attention to the issue of children’s rights, particularly respect for the views of pupils in matters that affect them, as outlined in Article 12 of the UNCRC. However, one theme that has been relatively unexplored in the literature on children’s rights and education is religion and the role it plays in everyday school life, an issue that has relevance for Article 12, but also Article 14, which refers to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This article approaches the topic of religion, schooling and children’s rights empirically, through a focus on rural church schools. It draws on in-depth qualitative research with pupils and other stakeholders from two case study schools in order to explore the significance of ethos values and experiences of religious practices for debates in this area. Keywords: children’s rights; faith schools; non-religion; prayer; religion; values 2 Introduction The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to which the United Kingdom is a signatory, was an important influence on both the English and Welsh versions of the Children Act (2004), enshrining some its key principles into law.