Religions in school

[Elsie20]

I was just wondering what your opinions are on what religions are taught in school?
Do you think children understand Christianity as well as other religions?


I was having a discussion with my cousin about Easter and why my daughters school finished for Easter only last Friday whereas his finished over a week ago. I was explaining most catholic schools go as close to Holy Week as possible.

His 8 year old son asked what is Holy Week? I explained the Easter story to him and he did not have a clue and didn't know that Easter is the most religious time of the Christian calendar. He said he is not taught this in school but he has a wonderful understanding of other religions i.e. Muslims and Hindu.

My cousin is against religion hence he never baptised his children though he is the first to complain that his sons school does not put up a Christmas tree, that they are not allowed to say happy Christmas but instead happy holidays and moans this is England etc etc but than moans that religion should not be taught in schools. I have to admit I find him hypocritical. (My personal opinion)

My opinion is that religion should be taught in school and that children should know about Christmas and should know about Easter as much as any other religion. My cousins children have very little knowledge on Christianity compared to other religions, surely that can not be right. I do love the fact they know about other religions as I was deprived of this as a child in a catholic school but thankfully this has now changed. Are schools holding back on Christianity in favour of other religions?

[Wellthen]

Questions:
How do you know he has good knowledge of Hinduism or Islam?
Do his school insist he says happy holidays? I have never heard of a uk school doing this.

To answer your question: given that state schools (with a few exceptions) should teach 50% Christianity and the other half all other religions, and given that in school worship should be of 'broadly Christian character' yes I think they know enough about Christianity.

He will have been taught about holy week but children don't remember stuff that they aren't requires to use or isn't important to them.

[nicename]

No christmas tree?! That's rotten.

DS probably knows more about viking religion at the moment to be honest.

[meditrina]

Some schools are more competent than others in how thy diverge RE curriculum which covers th principle world faiths.

I think it's more that the school you have heard about is weak rather than the entire (inclusive, diverse) curriculum needing (another) overhaul.

[Elsie20]

I should of said, he lives in London and is in a school that white British is the ethic minority, in fact out of a his class only one is Christian. My cousins son and the only other white child in his class is Jewish. My cousins child is of no religion. Of course this information is only from my cousin. I have not seen personally and regarding Christmas it's my cousin yearly rant on how crazy the U.K. has become lol.
A good friend of mine who is Muslim and a child at my cousins sons school also confirms that a Christmas tree is not used or is happy Christmas as it apparently offends others but I suppose that's a different story.

I have heard his knowledge on other religions and trust me he knows a lot which is fantastic and I'm certainly all for that.

[nicename]

Oh dear the 'mustn't offend the x,y,z...' lot.

I find only the most barking of x, y and zs get offended by another religions high days and holidays - especially the religion of the country in which they live!

[AuroraSim]

I'm not religious. In fact I'm a pagan, but my DS who is 4 has spent this week learning about Easter, with me.

I'm all for equality in teachings of religion, x

[Wellthen]

Do you not think his knowledge of there religions might done to where he lives and who he mixes with?!

But no... must be the school, its always the school.

[mummytime]

Also Catholic schools do not "go as close to Holy Week as possible" just like other state schools they follow their LAs holidays pretty closely. If Easter falls outside the "Spring Holiday" then they get it as an extra long weekend (it has happened here once).

Schools do teach multiple religions, including Christianity (usually more Christianity even in an ethnically mixed school - partly because most Christians don't get as upset if you get aspects wrong).

Maybe your DN just isn't that interested?

BTW when I was in my 20s a friend and I discussed how neither of us knew what "Whitsun" was, although we were both Christian and her Dad was a Pastor (we worked out after a while it must be Pentecost).

At my DCs C of E school, they probably wouldn't have a very clear idea about Holy Week until year 6, although they would know the story. They could also tell you a lot about Shabbat, Divali and Eid (food is very important).

[Elsie20]

Wellthen, have I said something to upset you? Your text seems a little defensive, though I could be wrong so I apologise if you are not.

I'm not blaming anyone's school or his school. This particular child is not my child and of course I'm aware this is only from hear say of my cousin and not personally of me. The child himself has said he learnt the other religions in school so again I'm only taking his word.

I do know for a fact that away from school my cousins son is in the company with children from his own ethic group and is very close to his extended family, i.e. cousins, who are all Irish/catholic and actually never spends time with his peers from school outside of the school environment. It is very unlikely that his knowledge is from where he lives or mixes with. To be fair, any child that I have, or know, do not talk about religion to each other. Children see themselves the same as everyone and that's how it should be.

Again I'm sorry if I offended you or that you feel I'm blaming the school, I'm not.

[Elsie20]

Hi mummy time, actually the lea do not choose the holidays for catholic schools but the diocese. So yes in fact they will go to close as they can to Holy Week as the can. It has caused a bit of a uproar this year as Easter is relatively late and what with the exams, most secondary school closed the 4th but the primary stayed to the 11th to follow the diocese advice. We had a letter home about it as some parents like myself are faced with a 3 week Easter holiday and only 1 week we have all together :(

Maybe it varies between schools. I do know that in my DD school they are little ott with their liturgies, especially with the crucifixion. They base it on the passion of Christ with every child from reception to year 6 chanting crucify him, crucify him, set Barabbas free. It's very intense and would have you crying. Again I believe this is very extreme but have many friends who think it's right to do.

It's interesting to know others experience and maybe he is in a school where other religions are taught more, purely as Christianity is of the minority

[ErrolTheDragonsEgg]

It's interesting to know others experience and maybe he is in a school where other religions are taught more, purely as Christianity is of the minority

I think that's probably it - the impression you have of this school doesn't sound like the norm.

You are right that children should be taught about a range of religions (and ideally also non-religious worldviews) in a purely factual way - which can certainly include details of festivals and ceremonies, particularly those pertaining to the cultures represented in each school. Have the tree and the Diwali lights etc - its what most schools seem to do quite happily.

Actual worship is another matter entirely, and getting 6yos to chant 'crucify' sounds quite appalling.

[Wellthen]

I think people are not really understanding how RE is taught.
The curriculum is set by the LA (as opposed to nationally as in all other subjects). Its against the law for state schools to not teach Christianity or other religions. Christianity must take up 50% of their RE. So it simply isn't the case that some schools teach it and some don't. Although yes, some schools will give more emphasis to a certain religion because of their intake.

Elsie I'm not offended just irritated. Don't worry.

I very much doubt the children in his class never talk about religion - don't most children discuss what they got for Christmas or the recent eid party? He may not have got his knowledge from them but I don't think you can say that you know what he talks about with his friends.

I'm equally pretty certain no state school bases their RE on passion of the Christ.

[HowardTJMoon]

So the boy in question is half-way through his career in primary school. It may be that they simply haven't got round to doing Christianity in the RE curriculum yet.

Saying that, I went to a standard 70s primary school and the vast majority of children there were white and we had no religious education other than Christian. Yet I was never taught the term "Holy Week". We did hear about Palm Sunday, the crucifixion, the resurrection etc. It was just never framed with the words "Holy Week". It was just "Easter".