Yes, some people might want to engage in communal acts of worship - firstly, they could organise a lunch-time or after-school club for the purpose; secondly, they could attend a place of worship in their own time (or indeed, take time out of school to do so if the worship schedule is important and overlaps with school).
Assemblies are *mandatory* and in my experience mix the faith-based aspect with the "well done Anne, on getting into the county under 16s netball squad" aspect. Which is really annoying. Perhaps one could hold separate religious assemblies that students could opt to attend if they liked, thus providing an option for that kind of group worship.
My parents put a large amount of pressure on me to obey the outward forms of Catholicism, my parents also attempted to limit my exposure to non-Christian beliefs and ideals. It was largely through attending a secular school that I was exposed to many of the ideas that I now think are important and many other ideas that I have personally rejected but came to understand that other people think are important; of course I would have been exposed to those ideas eventually anyway, but I think that it's important that young people are exposed to as wide a variety of ideas as possible.
I did attend a Catholic primary school for 4 1/2 years - I don't remember much of it really, I was very young, but I do remember that the few CofE kids (and the sole non-Catholic teacher) at that school had to put up with a great deal in terms of the constant "Catholicism is the ONE TRUE WAY" rhetoric. Now, maybe, most faith schools are not that pushy... but still, it's not the sort of environment I would want to encourage for children.
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Assemblies are *mandatory* and in my experience mix the faith-based aspect with the "well done Anne, on getting into the county under 16s netball squad" aspect. Which is really annoying. Perhaps one could hold separate religious assemblies that students could opt to attend if they liked, thus providing an option for that kind of group worship.
My parents put a large amount of pressure on me to obey the outward forms of Catholicism, my parents also attempted to limit my exposure to non-Christian beliefs and ideals. It was largely through attending a secular school that I was exposed to many of the ideas that I now think are important and many other ideas that I have personally rejected but came to understand that other people think are important; of course I would have been exposed to those ideas eventually anyway, but I think that it's important that young people are exposed to as wide a variety of ideas as possible.
I did attend a Catholic primary school for 4 1/2 years - I don't remember much of it really, I was very young, but I do remember that the few CofE kids (and the sole non-Catholic teacher) at that school had to put up with a great deal in terms of the constant "Catholicism is the ONE TRUE WAY" rhetoric. Now, maybe, most faith schools are not that pushy... but still, it's not the sort of environment I would want to encourage for children.