Tag Archives: st andrews

An Open Letter To St Andrew’s Primary School

10 comments

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Earlier this week, I blogged about some concerning public comments made by the Head Teacher of St. Andrew’s Primary School in Accrington, UK regarding evolution and the Bible. I also proposed an offer to crowd source funds for a School trip to The Natural History Museum. I have followed up on that offer with the below email to the school. Please feel free to share and repost it.

From: Stephen Knight
Date: Thursday 28 January 2016
To: St Andrew’s Primary School
Subject: National History Museum Trip

Good Morning,

My name is Stephen Knight. I am a podcaster, blogger and occasional fundraiser. I read with surprise and concern the public comments made by Head Teacher Christina Wilkinson on Twitter regarding evolution and the Bible.

“Evolution is not a fact. That’s why it’s called a theory! There’s more evidence that the Bible is true”. (25 Jan 2016)

I’ve published my thoughts on these comments here.

I’m a staunch supporter of free expression and freedom of religion, however given that these comments were made in an official capacity as Head Teacher, I feel that they must be addressed by the school. Especially since Mrs Wilkinson’s views do not appear to be representative of the curriculum. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of what evolution is, what scientific ‘theory’ means and what constitutes ‘evidence’ which I find worrying.

Although I do not currently possess information to claim that the pupils of St. Andrew’s are being disadvantaged by Mrs Wilkinson’s failings in this area, given her senior role, her views do not fill me with confidence either.

With this in mind, I’d like to propose an offer. I would be pleased to launch a crowd sourcing campaign to fund a field trip to the Natural History Museum for some of the pupils of St. Andrew’s. It would be a truly enlightening and exciting experience for the young, inquisitive minds at your school. They will have the opportunity to learn about the wonders of evolution and see the abundance of evidence with their own eyes.

I hope we can work through the details of this together. It would be a fantastic opportunity and experience.

I will be also be publishing this as an open letter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Stephen

I will update this blog with any responses.

Stephen Knight is host of The #GSPodcast. You can listen to The Godless Spellchecker Podcast here, and support it by becoming a patron here.

UK Head Teacher Claims ‘There Is More Evidence For The Bible Than Evolution’

28 comments

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Even though attitudes in the U.K are predominantly (and increasingly) secular, one of the more depressing aspects about religion in the UK is the privilege it enjoys in our educational system. Faith schools of all stripes and denominations exist up and down the country, instilling their particular brand of dogma and untruth in the minds of children. What chance do young, impressionable minds have when faith based ideology is pushed on them at such a crucial age?

This brings me to Head Teacher of St Andrew’s CE Primary School, Tina Wilkinson:

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Ignorance regarding the scientific definition of ‘theory’ is not uncommon, however you would expect better from an academic. Yes, ‘Theory’ in the common vernacular means ‘best guess, or hunch’. Evolution is Science however, meaning scientific definitions apply:

A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation.1

Here is a simpler explanation that some of her students may have seen:

As for the claim that the bible is better supported than evolution? I look forward to Mrs Wilkinson submitting her paper on the matter to Nobel. Is it too late to nominate her image for the 20 pound note?

It’s easy to sneer rather than contribute of course, so with the School’s permission, I offer to start a crowd funding campaign to fund a field trip to the National History Museum for the young minds at St Andrew’s. What say you Mrs Wilkinson?

Stephen Knight is host of The #GSPodcast. You can listen to The Godless Spellchecker Podcast here, and support it by becoming a patron here.

  1. Definition Of Theory, National Academy Of Sciences ↩