Imagine that !

Pupils at a church primary school have been banned from singing hit Imagine — after the head said it was “anti-religious”.

Furious parents blasted the move, which upset youngsters who had spent weeks rehearsing ex-Beatle John Lennon’s most famous song for an end-of-term show.

It went ahead without Imagine, which contains the lines: “Imagine there’s no heaven . . . and no religion too.”

Instead, the pupils at St Leonard’s C of E school in Exeter, Devon, sang another number headteacher Geoff Williams considered more “appropriate”.

Karen Murray, 28, whose son James, eight, was due to sing, said: “It’s a ridiculous decision and doesn’t seem fair on the children. The song doesn’t have massive religious connotations.”

Deborah Dorman, 45, said: “It is a great song and it seems over-sensitive to remove it. I think the words are fantastic.”
Daughter, Ellie, ten, said: “I think it is a good song and it is a shame we could not sing it. We’d practised it four times.”

Mr Williams outlawed Imagine after another teacher raised concerns.

He said: “As a church school we decided it was not appropriate to sing it. The theme of the show was the environment . . . we felt it was better to sing something else.” School governor Rev David Harris added: “The song expresses longing for a different world and for eternal happiness. But it says you can have this without religion.”

St Leonard’s curate Rev Steve Goodbod said Imagine had “appealing sentiments of love”, but its message was of a world without religion.

But Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society said: “It’s an incredible decision.”