Avanti Schools Trust is the sponsor of state-funded Hindu

faith school A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded faith ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The I-Foundation is a Hindu and

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhakti ...

charity in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is ...

that is the

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

authority governing schools run by the Avanti Schools Trust. Prior to the founding of schools by the I-Foundation, Hinduism was the only major world religion which did not have a dedicated faith school in the UK. The I-Foundation founded the first Hindu faith school in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to be funded by the government. The Krishna Avanti school opened in February 2010. The organisation has since opened additional Hindu faith schools, with more schools planned for development.

Admission

Admission to schools is open to students having a Hindu faith background as well as students of other faiths. Concerns had initially surfaced surrounding the first I-Foundation school's classification of the term "Hindu" or "practising Hindu" in relation to student families. However, Krishna Avanti Primary School appropriately responded to these concerns by revising the admissions policy to accommodate a less stringent definition of the term "practising Hindu" and left the responsibility for determination of the "practising Hindu" status of a prospective student's family to local Hindu temple priests.

Curriculum

Avanti schools aim to promote "educational excellence, character formation and spiritual insight." Avanti schools follow the standard national curriculum of the government-run schools of the United Kingdom. In addition to the standard curriculum, Avanti schools feature

Sanskrit language Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the lat ...

teaching,

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

and

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-conscio ...

practice, ethics and philosophy education, and inclusive religious instruction.

Religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to te ...

is evenly split between Hinduism and other world religions.

Schools

The Avanti Schools Trust and the I-Foundation operate primary and secondary schools.

Primary schools

Krishna Avanti Primary School, Harrow

Krishna Avanti Primary School, Harrow is the first state-funded Hindu faith school in the United Kingdom, operating in the

borough of

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

. Krishna Avanti Primary School opened in February 2010. In its initial year, all students of the school met government targets for education.

Krishna Avanti Primary School, Leicester

A second school, also with the name Krishna Avanti Primary School, opened in Leicester in September 2011. The school is the second Hindu faith

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

in the United Kingdom, and the first state-funded Hindu school in Leicester. The school is open to students of Hindu background, but half (50%) of places available in the school are also reserved for local students of various faith backgrounds.

Krishna Avanti Primary School, Croydon

Krishna Avanti Primary School, Croydon is a Hindu faith primary school, to be located in the London borough of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

. The Avanti Schools Trust has already found an ideal site for the school.

Avanti Court Primary School, Redbridge

Avanti Court Primary School is the third Hindu faith primary school in London, operating in the London borough of Redbridge.

Former Steiner-Waldorf schools

At the end of 2019, three schools in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouce ...

, all formerly Steiner-Waldorf schools were taken over by the Avanti Schools Trust. Those schools are Avanti Gardens in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, Avanti Hall in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

and Avanti Park in

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip ...

Secondary schools

Avanti Fields, Leicester

Avanti Fields School opened in September 2018 in temporary accommodation in the Narborough Road area of Leicester. The school moved to move to a purpose built site in the Hamilton area of the city in September 2021.

Avanti House Secondary School, Harrow

Avanti House Secondary School is the first Hindu faith secondary school in the United Kingdom, operating in the London borough of Harrow. It had no permanent building between 2012 and 2018, however the school is now based on Wemborough Road.

Planned schools

Gants Hill School, Redbridge

Gants Hill School is a planned Hindu faith secondary school, to be located in the London borough of Redbridge. The Avanti Schools Trust has already found and earmarked an ideal site for the school.

Partnerships

The I-Foundation has a partnership with Bhaktivedanta College, a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as ...

university run by ISKCON in the Radhadesh spiritual community of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

offering degree programmes externally validated by the

University of Chester , mottoeng = "He that teacheth, on teaching" , former_names = , established = (gained university status in 2005) , type = Public , endowment = £395,000 (2018) , budget = £118.3 million , chancellor = Gyles Brandreth , vice_chancell ...

, whereby students in the Education degree programmes may undertake teacher's training and placement in Avanti schools.

References

External links

I-Foundation

Avanti Schools Trust
{{authority control Schools affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness International Society for Krishna Consciousness Hindu organisations based in the United Kingdom Hindu schools in the United Kingdom