Following a report in the Observer that a head teacher who tried to create the country's first secular state school had his plans blocked by senior government officials who called it a 'political impossibility', BBC Radio Five Live debated the subject on its breakfast programme today.

Speaking on the programme, Paul Woolley, Director of Theos said:

"Every child is entitled to a spiritual journey, an opportunity to explore for themselves issues of religious faith.

"The issue underpinning this debate is whether or not secularism is neutral. No education system can be value free and the secularist position isn't a neutral position.

"If parents or a local community want to place their child in a school with a particular ethos they should be entitled to do so."