Council accused of '˜bias' towards religious school schools

The anti faith school group has accused Milton Keynes Council of a “lack of even-handedness” in its consultation about St Mary’s CE Primary School in Wavendon.

The 105-pupil school has a strong Christian ethos and is named after the nearby St Mary’s Church.

The council is considering expanding it dramatically and moving it a mile away to serve up to 2,700 homes on the new Eagle Farm South development near Magna Park.

A second option is to build a new school at Eagle Farm.

This month a public consultation document outlined both options – but described the option to expand St Mary’s as “sensible”.

This could be seen as a “bias” towards faith schools and prejudice the consultation, say the secular society.

A council spokesman said the consultation was in the early stages and all viewpoints were welcome.