Last week saw a wealth of stories about the supposed approval of 'creationist' free schools, alongside a claim from GP magazine that schools are opting out of cervical cancer jabs "on the grounds of religion".

Both of these stories were seized on eagerly, fitting comfortably as they do into the increasingly pervasive narrative that any form of religion in schools can't help but be oppressive, anti-intellectual and ultimately abusive.

Both of these stories also sprung from statistically small incidents, supported by facts that were barely interrogated by journalists.

Elizabeth Hunter | Read this article in full at huffingtonpost.co.uk