ISLINGTON council has provoked astonishment by suggesting that one of its schools, which has received £2 million in sponsorship from the Church of England, drop the word Saint from its name for fear of causing offence to other religions.

St Mary Magdelene Church of England Primary School in North London, which has served the community since 1710, is the subject of a consultation exercise over its name, which may change when it expands into a city academy for all ages in 2007.

Parents and religious leaders — among them Muslim and Jewish — have expressed outrage at the proposal by the Lib Dem-run council, which they suggest is running an anti-Christian agenda.

Councillor James Kempton, executive member for children at Islington, said the new Church of England-sponsored academy is intended to be open to the whole community, not just Anglicans.

“There are concerns and that is why we are consulting people. We need to ensure that it is a school appropriate for Islington in the 21st century and church-going is a much less significant part of people’s lives (than it used to be),” he said.

Jewish and Muslim communities have expressed amazement, insisting that the name was “simply not an issue”.

Last night a spokeswoman for the Association of Muslim Social Scientists said she had never heard of any complaints about the prefix of “saint” attached to a school’s name.

She said: “This is silly. We actually revere Mary a lot, as the Mother of Jesus. All people related to the prophets are accepted in Islam, and she especially so.”

A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews was astonished that the name should cause any offence. He said: “This is not an issue, we live in a country which is Christian by history and culture.”

Last night Tom Peryer, the director for education, Diocese of London, said: “If everyone responds (to the consultation) in the same way as the parents, the name will almost certainly remain as now.”

John Stewart, 39, headmaster of St Mary Magdalene, said that while no final decision had been taken, he was concerned. “There are C of E schools all around England serving the local community and none of them excludes children based on faith — quite the opposite,” he said.

Local clergy and parents are equally alarmed that the council wishes to restrict the number of Anglican children at the new school. St Mary Magdelene gives children from Church of England families first choice of places, but at the larger £30 million academy, the council intends to reduce the proportion of places to 30 per cent.

The new city academy will be the first new secondary school in the area in 100 years. Among the names being considered are the Islington Academy, the Barnsbury Academy, the St Mary Magdalene Academy and the Magdalene Academy.

The Rev Malcolm Rogers, vicar of St Mary Magdelene, said there was a groundswell of parental opinion opposed to a name change. “There is a real fear that we’ll lose ‘Saint’ from the title and even ‘Mary Magdelene’,” he said. “Names are so important. They are about identity and the school’s allegiance to the Church.”

Parents and primary schools have campaigned for 20 years to build a new Anglican secondary school in the area, he said. “There is a perception that Islington council have been running an anti-Christian agenda, consistently on ideological grounds rejecting Christianity.”

Karen Hicks, who has three children at the school, said: “It’s offensive to us not to have a Church name. We have sacrificed our primary school for the academy which we thought was a Church of England secondary school.”

A decision on the future name of the school is expected to be made early next year.

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