There are many reasons why social exclusion becomes a factor in education, some of which include disability, behaviour, ethnicity or poverty, but this assignment will focus on the possibility of social exclusion in schools due to religion. Wales has historically been known as a Christian country, and as such school days have traditionally been structured to allow for Christian teachings and practices, with assemblies, prayers before mealtimes and home-time, and celebrations of Christian events such as Christmas and Easter. Recent data however demonstrates that multi-cultural changes and modern life has altered the religious practices within Wales, and the UK. The purpose of this assignment is to ascertain whether certain pupils within the education system are at risk of exclusion as a result. 
The Census of 2011 showed a decrease in the number of people who identified themselves as Christians in Wales – from 71.9% in 2001 to 57.6% in 2011 (WG, 2011). The percentage of Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations approximately doubled within the same time. However, 32.1% stated that they had no religion, especially in the younger age groups, some of whom are likely to be parents of pupils in the current school system. The latest data from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen, 2017) shows that more than half (53%) now describe themselves as having no religion, a figure which has been rising steadily since the surveys began in 1983 (see Appendix 1). This trend is reflected in other countries across Europe (Guardian, 2018).
Religious Education (R.E.)  in the current school structure centres on moral and spiritual development, and an understanding of cultural differences, as well as the historical elements and backgrounds of different religions. Following a report by Estyn in 2017 the Welsh Government issued a response in June 2018 highlighting that improvements need to be made in the provision of R.E. Pupils learn about different religions and their history, but schools continue to operate as Christian establishments. As stated by the Welsh Government (2011) there is a statutory requirement for an act of collective worship of a broadly Christian character in all state schools. An example of the Collective worship policy of a Welsh primary school states: 
“In line with the 1988 Education Reform Act, which states that collective worship should be ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’, we normally base our assemblies on the teachings of Christ and the traditions of the Christian Church. However, we conduct our assemblies in a manner that is sensitive to the faiths and beliefs of all members of the school……. any parent can request permission for their child to be excused from religious worship, and the school will make alternative arrangements for the supervision of the child during that part of the assembly”. (See Appendix 2).
This right to withdrawal is currently not exercised often in this particular school, as the catchment area is fairly rural and as such not as multi-cultural as schools located in larger towns or cities. However, as the data above demonstrates an increase in the non-religious population as well as other religions, then this may become an issue that will rise in the future if parents feel that the teachings are not relevant to their children. Comprehensive schools must also comply with the statutory requirement for collective worship and schools should ‘aim to provide the opportunity for pupils to worship God, to consider the spiritual and moral issues and to explore their own beliefs’. (Estyn, 2017). This is distinct from an assembly, but often take place within the same gathering.  The guidance from Estyn does however state that the act of collective worship should be ‘sensitive to the range of beliefs held by pupils in the school’. Under the Education and Inspection Act, 2006, Sixth form pupils have the right to withdraw themselves from collective worship. (Senedd, 2017). 
If, as the data suggests, less than 50% of people identify as Christian, it raises the question as to whether the collective worship should be conducted in such a way, or should a more humanistic approach be taken, and Christianity included as a subject in R.E. along with other religions. This has been identified by the Welsh Assembly who researched the act of religious worship in schools (Senedd, 2017). Quoted is the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2015) who stated
“the statutory duty to provide an act of collective worship/religious observance in schools has been controversial for decades. Issues include: disagreement about the appropriateness of such acts in an increasingly pluralistic, multicultural UK; the degree to which the current system properly affords respect for the rights of individuals and minority groups’ including those with no religious faith; and concerns that the present arrangements do not adequately develop the spiritual/moral education of pupils or promote a community spirit and shared values in schools”. 
This statement would therefore comply with guidance from The Wales Association of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (WASACRE, 2012) where collective worship is identified as:
•	Promoting spiritual development;
•	Contributing to personal development;
•	Benefitting the whole school community;
•	Linking the school community to the wider community;
•	Enhancing awareness of global citizenship
Collective worship in this context does not therefore specify the need to comply with a specific religion. It may be worth considering however that those parents that state that they are non-religious themselves do not actually have a problem with the pupils being taught in a Christian environment, even though they do not themselves identify with any faith.  The changes in lifestyle that have occurred in recent years have resulted in vast differences in our daily lives and traditions. Sunday is no longer a sacred day of rest; work patterns, shopping, sports and family activities have overtaken the routine of attending Sunday Services, and as such the link that Wales, and the rest of the UK, had with Christianity has been lost to a certain degree. However, as a country we still celebrate important Christian events such as Christmas, Easter and Whitsun. Ironically, it may be that the only non-commercial link that many have with the origins of these festivities is via the education provided to, and the way the stories are relayed by, pupils in schools. If Christian collective worship and services celebrating the Nativity, Easter or Harvest were removed from schools then potentially, with time, the true reasons behind the festivities would be lost.
The writer has experienced occasions when parents have requested that pupils do not participate in Christian festivities due to their differing religious beliefs, such as not participating in Christmas Concerts or making Easter cards. This unfortunately can result in the pupils becoming excluded from certain activities within the classroom or school, as well as the families becoming socially excluded as a result from performances such as concerts or class assemblies. Inclusive education is thereby not always available to these pupils as they may not attend school on the days that activities take place, or there may be a need for them to carry out different activities to other pupils, possibly at a different location. Alternative provisions are often made in schools to ensure that activities are suitable for all, such as altering wording on cards, or putting on a Christmas show as opposed to the nativity story. Ultimately, much will depend on the parents and how devout they are to the restrictions of their beliefs and what they will allow the children to participate in. A recent experience that highlighted the effects of religion on potential social exclusion was during a visit to a Special School. The pupil in question was severely autistic, therefore unable to attend a mainstream school. However, the family were also devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, and presented the school with numerous subjects that the pupil could not be taught, in line with their beliefs. Being unable to participate in activities that involved celebrations such as Christmas, birthdays or Mother’s Day; learning about mythical creatures; magic; collective worship and other religions; elections and celebrations of nationality, amongst many others, resulted in the school being unable to include the pupil in a vast amount of their curriculum, and they found themselves regularly needing to provide other activities for the child. This was therefore not an inclusive environment for a child that was already unable to be included in a mainstream school due to his additional learning needs. Conversely however, in a different primary school, another family of the same faith were happy for their child to be included in most activities, provided they were kept informed. This enabled them to discuss their beliefs on the subject at home in an open and honest manner with the child and explain any differences in perceptions. Communication with parents is therefore a key element in situations such as these to ensure the inclusivity of the pupil’s education as much as possible. (EGFL, 2018).  
Some parents may choose religiously guided education and therefore enrol children in schools that are specific to their religion. State-funded Faith schools must follow the National Curriculum but can choose what they teach in R.E. Faith academies in England differ as they do not have to follow the National Curriculum. (UK Government, 2018). It could be argued that these schools do not promote inclusivity due the fact that they are selective regarding who can enrol at the school. However, in England, admission cannot be made based on religion (UK Parliament, 2018) and schools are only able to use faith as an entry criterion if there is oversubscription for places; there is currently a cap of 50% on pupils who enrol at new faith schools based on their religion. 14% of maintained schools in Wales are of a religious character, but they must still conform with the National purpose for schools in Wales of promoting a culture of social inclusion and respect for diversity (WG, 2011), and cannot therefore stipulate that all pupils must come from the background of religion that supports the school. It could be argued that the admissions process is unfair to those who wish for their children to be educated in their own religion, but while this education is provided within state-maintained schools then it must comply with the guidelines and be inclusive to all. It is apparent therefore that not all parents who choose to send their children to faith schools are doing so for religious reasons but are choosing these schools due to good results and high educational standards. Within Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, free transport is provided to the nearest primary or secondary denominational school even if it is not the closest school (NPTCBC, 2017), since the school is of a religious character.
Faith schools in the UK are predominantly for the Christian faith, but increasingly are also for other religions including Muslim, Jewish and Sikh.  Cardiff Muslim School, an Independent day school, has a Muslim ethos, and as well as teaching subjects including the history and culture of Wales, it includes the teaching of Arabic, the Qur’an and Islamic studies. The school accepts pupils of all faiths, or none, but during their last Estyn inspection, all pupils were of the Islamic faith. (Estyn, 2014). Segregating pupils due to faith does not encourage inclusivity, which is why school admissions policies allow for any pupils to apply to the schools.  Some do however believe that only religious families should be able to choose to enrol their children in religious schools in accordance with their faith, hence the hope of the Catholic and Jewish Communities that the Tory Government would remove the 50% cap on new Free School admissions as stated in their manifesto in 2017 (Department for Education, 2017). 
Within different countries there are differences in how R.E. is taught in schools. (Stern, 2017). German schools have separate lessons for pupils of different religions so that they can be taught about their own religion, but this is still carried out in an open-minded and educational manner. Sweden has more of a focus on ethics during the religious studies, whereby in Germany ethics or moral education are studied as separate subjects. Turkey and Israel predominately have schools where pupils and teachers are of the same religion (Islam or Judaism) but the R.E. is more secular and historical. In Russia, R.E was only added to the curriculum in 2010 due to the communistic history of the country, which encouraged atheism. Similarly, in France, religion was a subject that was not taught in schools, but due to a government report by philosopher Régis Debray in 2002, R.E. has now become a part of the curriculum to enable French students to understand the heritage and history of religions, the reasons for religious identity politics, and an understanding of cultures and diversity. (Barb, 2017). The USA have also seen a similar change. In the 1940s the Supreme Court ruled that ‘religious instruction during school hours was unconstitutional’, but during the 1980’s a campaign to bring religion back in to the classroom, from the far-right Christian movement and supporters of multicultural education, resulted in the National Council for the Social Studies acknowledging that the study of comparative religion had a rightful place in public schools. Under the Clinton Administration in 1995, comparative religion, the Bible as literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United States were made permissible school subjects (Barb, 2017).
Being informed about religions provides knowledge of the history of mankind and civilisations and is a separate issue from belief or teaching through belief in a specific religion. (Pepin, 2009).  Teaching R.E in this way allows pupils to learn about all religions without a bias towards Christianity, and thereby decrease the chance of social exclusion for those from other religions, or no religion, who attend the schools. At the same time however, the religious identities of individual pupils should be protected and valued (Stern, 2017), or there is again potential to cause exclusion due to non-acceptance or mistrust. Embracing the differences between people and educating staff and other pupils is an effective method in ensuring that our schools remain inclusive to all. Religious education, used effectively, can be a great starting point to challenge stereotypes, remove prejudices, and allow discussions to enable pupils to understand that being different can be a positive thing.  As Terry Davies, (Secretary General of the Council of Europe First Forum of the Alliance of Civilisations) stated in 2008
“Cultural diversity is something to be enjoyed. It is not a problem. The problem is ignorance. It is ignorance that provides the fuel for fear, prejudice and hate.”
Following Professor Gordon Donaldson’s review of the National Curriculum in Wales (Donaldson, 2015) Huw Lewis, the then Minister for Education and Skills, announced that R.E. would change to the Religion, Philosophy and Ethics element within the curriculum. This would allow pupils to gather ideas about ethics, citizenship, freedom and faith. According to the Welsh Assembly this does not impact on the process of Collective Worship (Senedd, 2017). Whatever it decided on the future of collective worship and religious education within our education system, the focus should be on ensuring that pupils are not excluded from activities based on their faith, or lack of it. Unless there are people like Evan Roberts to create another religious revival in Wales as in 1904 (Moriah Chapel, 2013), the continuing decline in Christianity may result in the collective worship element in schools becoming less relevant to increasing numbers of pupils. As such, despite the Welsh Assembly offering a different educational approach to religious studies within lessons, the potential remains that the statutory guidance on collective worship and Christianity will become a means of socially excluding many pupils, and their families, from being a part of our schools.