[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by martyh

i would like to offer another explanation as to why the parents in question objected to the gym club.

The school in question ,old palace school ,croydon,(former home of the arch bishop of canterbury)is a private/independant school of mixed ethnicity for girls age 5-18yrs,it's religious leaning is church of england, it also has a chapel and is a registered charity.
given these facts i find it hard to believe that the parents who have objected to the after school gym club because it has boys in it(some as young as 5yrs that's why the organiser won't move the club to a later time)are "hard line Muslims" at all .If they were then they would not send there daughters to a church of England school.

I think they are plain and simple unrelenting snobs and cannot stand the thought of boys even being on the premises when they have paid "good money" to keep their little darlings away from boys

if on the other hand they are quoting religious reasons for creating such a fuss about nothing then they are the biggest hypocrites in gods creation and i would like to know how they can justify "picking and choosing"which part of their religion they enforce

Having looked on the schools website at the numerous promotional photos they show pictures of many girls ,possibly muslim possibly not,i cannot tell because they all have the same uniform on,not a single veil in sight I assume they have male teachers as-well which would mean that the muslim girls are coming into contact with males which is what this discussion is all about
so i hope the people in question are snobs because that's easily dealt with
if on the other hand the gym club has to be closed or moved on religious grounds then the school has a really big problem considering how it claims to support the local community

quote from the schools web site

" developing, throughout the community, supportive and constructive relationships based on mutual respect and understanding, upholding the values and Christian ideals of our Founders";

i think that all parties should get round a table and show a bit of common sense and leave religion out of it..and perhaps ask the children what they want

bloody good idea