Interesting post. I agree with you strongly on faith schools. Weirdly enough, I actually went to a voluntary-aided secondary (St Edmunds in Portsmouth). It was selected basically on sectarian grounds rather then practical and it probably wasn't the best choice.
The religion thing wasn't massively overt, but it was there lurking in the background; it did add a layer of inconvenience to everything. (At the end of every term they insisted we had to go to a special 90-minute service at the cathedral, which meant hauling 900+ boisterous kids halfway across Portsmouth...)
Ironically enough, in hindsight my RE class at that school was one of the best things there. We spent so much time arguing with our teacher that we ended up learning free thinking. It wasn't their plan, but it was how it worked out!
no subject
The religion thing wasn't massively overt, but it was there lurking in the background; it did add a layer of inconvenience to everything. (At the end of every term they insisted we had to go to a special 90-minute service at the cathedral, which meant hauling 900+ boisterous kids halfway across Portsmouth...)
Ironically enough, in hindsight my RE class at that school was one of the best things there. We spent so much time arguing with our teacher that we ended up learning free thinking. It wasn't their plan, but it was how it worked out!