Teacher told my child that child is not a Muslim

Folk still say that where I grew up.

Yes, I knew of at least 2 hard G folk called Gillian.

Children are baptised as a result of parents actions/words. That's another discussion for another day though.

Oh Lord. I could never remember which foot was which!

My late husband was from Aberdeenshire. He told me that when he was in the army someone from Dundee (I think) asked "Do you eat pie or cake?" Again, I can't remember which food was supposed to signify being a Protestant or a Catholic.

My dad was from Eastern Europe. People used to get really confused about him...He was Orthodox Christian. At one point, we had a rather bigoted neighbour who thought that dad was a Polish Catholic. I kid you not, the neighbour painted a clothes pole in his garden silver with orange accents at the crossbar bit and flew a union flag from it. (Flags never bothered Dad. The irony is that Dad was a Displaced Person who'd served alongside the British army.)

As an adult, I found out that some of my Scottish cousins thought that Dad was an Orthodox Jew who had abandoned all dietary requirements, etc.

As much as I agree with the teachers opinion, it's very much an opinion and not one she should be trying to teach a 4 year old. Sorry OP I think you should escalate this, even if gently.

What an insane thing to say to a young child. I wonder where she draws the line.

To a child in reception? Is the teacher an idiot? This is the kind of philosophical discussion you have with a child of at least secondary school age.

As a Humanist I kind of agree with her. It is what Humanists believe that children are not religious themselves more that they are e.g. the child of Christians. However, why would you say that to a small child, a small child who is too young to understand or debate this! It’s not an appropriate thing for a teacher to say to a four year old.

Wow op, I am astounded she did say it, how could she think that is acceptable? Teachers are very important figures in young people's lives and memories. I am glad your child is OK.

I'll never forget going to view a house and the viewing agent (about 30 ish) suddenly said 'I recognise you from Richmond Tertiary College. Is 'XX' still there?'. I said yes and he said 'please tell her you met XX and he has made something of himself,'. The lecturer he was referring to was very young when she was recruited and I had worried about her at the time - 16 years later he wanted his message of success relayed to her.

Honestly I used to get so confused. The worst one was my cousin's would warn me I kicked with the left but if anyone in the playground asked I was to say I kicked with the right. Would have been so much better to just say if anyone asks you kick with the right. Being asked about football was as bad, now remember TheignT you support Celtic but if anyone asks you support Rangers. Id say but I don't like football. My Orange cousins must have thought this English child is thick.

I had a colleague who pronounced it with the hard G. (In Scotland.). People mispronounced it all the time, I'm afraid.

Yes, when I was a child non-Catholics used to refer to Catholics going to 'the chapel'.

Wow, that's interesting.
If what she said was truth, children would not be baptised as babies and schools would not ask for religious food restrictions at school.
Small children may not understand the concept of a religion, but generally parents bring them up in some kind of a religion or baptise them, in which case the religion is already chosen for them.
My son was 7 or 8 when he decided he is a Hindu and won't eat beef. Since then he has rejected beef as a school lunch option and told everybody he is a Hindu. But until then we just didn't really care, as my husband said "small children have no idea what is in the food, so they cannot do the wrong thing". My other son is 5 and still has no idea.
BTW, we are a Hindu/Catholic family and we never imposed on our children one religion or the other (i.e. no baptism until they decide what they want). We go to temples or churches in respective festivals or some religious events but have friends of all faiths. We don't eat beef/pork, so I guess that's the only thing that might stick with kids at some point.

Technically the teacher is correct (afterall, would your daughter be any religion if you/OH weren't telling her she was that religion?), however she probably should NOT express that view at school.

She'd face a disciplinary for saying it about any religion. Not just Jewish.

Think about it, @Jkam24 , because she needs to stop doing this, and it's certainly not school policy. You could speak to the HT without making it a complaint. Perhaps she could undergo further training rather than have a disciplinary, although why she has missed this vital information from previous CPDs is a mystery.
I wouldn't just let it go.

Wow, that’s appalling. You definitely need to bring this to the Head’s attention asap. What other shit opinions is she pedalling?

It’s no different to her saying that a child can’t possibly be Jewish and she’d be severely reprimanded for saying that!

Thanks for updating OP. I agree that you do need to follow up on this.

Oh bloody hell.

I taught little kids. To some of them it is really important to be Muslim etc.

Not the teacher's place to state things so clearly. It is always a some people believe this and others that situation.

Yes, this most definitely needs to be followed up.

Thank you. I can imagine this isn’t the first time this teacher’s thoughts have got in the way of her actions. I hope you’ll come back to the thread and tell us what you did next