Only Christian kids given a prize

[IDontWantRealism]

Can someone help me see reason with this? My kids are atheist but Jewish by ancestry. They go to a non-denominational school but in a very traditional rural area with lots of Christian students. They ran a competition which involved making a profession of faith over Easter. Obviously my kids didn’t enter but many others did. We were told there would be a prize but today at school all children who entered were given a prize leaving out the few non-Christian children and the few other children who didn’t enter. That’s not ok is it? I need some help navigating this as the school have form. We’ve previously had to moan about them being taught other problematic views.

@Hobbi no, it's if you don't enter you don't win!

That wasn’t given as an option. If it had been then fine. And everyone could have received a prize for taking part.

That seems a very odd thing to have a competition about in a non religious school. It's more like something a Sunday school would do. I would be unhappy too

Technically your children couldn't have won if they didn't enter so they haven't done anything "wrong"...

But I'd find that pretty distasteful. If its a non faith school then doing something which obviously promotes the Christian faith as being advantageous to certain children over others is very lacking in inclusive thinking.

@Rummikub If it bothered the OP so much, they could have taken some initiative. The UK is culturally 'Christian just as Isreal is' culturally Jewish. it's not really an issue. My DD attends a non Jewish school, we were concerned about security in the Jewish schools near to us, we have talked with the school and done activities in school, such as Shabbat, sweets at Hannukah ect.

I thought the same. You can write about things without believing in them, I could write a something about the virtues of Han Solo but I don't actually believe he is real.

You genuinely think non-Christian children should have to profess faith in Jesus in order to be included in a school competition? And if they don't want to, then keep their noses out? I genuinely thought people with hateful opinions like that kept them to themselves or MAGA rallies these days.

I wish I had created a bingo card for this thread!

But hang on a second. All schools, whether faith schools or secular have to teach RE. This can be as simple as a colouring competition, such as this, to celebrate a major religious festival - doesn’t mean they won’t celebrate a different religious festival later in the year! My children go to a Catholic school and learn about other religions and have recently been to visit a mosque.

@PipinwasAuntieMabelsdog I’m interested in your response. What initiative do you feel I could have taken. It’s a competition that took place in school. I only found out the proper details of it today.

Surely people always know whether their child is attending a C of E school? Even when it's the only school for miles around, the school sign would say something about it, the school name is often a clue, ditto the prospectus and the admissions criteria, there would be frequent visits from the vicar and trips to the local C of E church for carol services, etc etc.

Right so it’s quite clear they didn’t have to do anything. They had a choice. Next time it might be a different kind of competition which suits your kids but not others. Get over this.

I don’t know the rules surrounding RE teaching in primary schools but they have reached P3 and P4 without learning a single thing about other religions.

Surely you just say to your children it was a competition about Easter which is celebrated by Christians?

@IDontWantRealism then your DC mustn't have been that bothered then. If they had been surely you would have known sooner and as I said, given suggestions as to how the DCs could be included. That is what we did when DD came home with Christmas cards and sweets and wanted to give something in celebration of Hannukah to say thank you to her friends. The teacher then asked DH and I to do a Shabbat Dinner in RE

Read what the OP has written. This wasn't a competition to colour in pictures of things associated with Easter or even Christianity. The children had to write out or colour in a profession of faith, not even softened by the words 'Christians believe:' at the top of the sheet. It would have been obvious as soon as they saw the form of words that any child brought up in another faith or none could not honestly write those words out. The school recognised this by saying 'If you don't want to/can't do this, here's another task'. And now they have allowed the Christian group to hand out prizes to all the children who completed the Christian task and the children who did the alternative task get nothing. Can you not see the difference here? This is just not on in a non-denominational school.

Scottish state primary my DD went to, had this sort of overstepping by the local "attached" church.
I was fine with them them teaching about religions. Not fine with someone coming in and basically preaching.
Complain to the head and if necessary, escalate to the council education services.

They weren’t bothered until today when every other child, bar two others, in their classes was given a chocolate egg and they weren’t.

Reading these responses, I'm feeling glad I chose to bring my half-British kids up in my birth country, which is officially multi-racial and secular. So they get some experience of sensitivity and diversity, rather than hear stuff like "this is a Christian country" (which to be fair, England is).

Muslims are a racial minority in my country, but today is a bank holiday for everyone due to Ramadan.

My kid has been doing a ton of cute art and cultural stuff relating to Ramadan in school. But never once were they asked to recite or write Quran verses ("He is Risen" is a Biblical verse). It might have made some wee kids (eg of other religions) guilty or uncomfortable.

Equally, Easter, (what you call in Britain) Diwali, Buddha Day, etc are bank holidays. The kids have a ton of activities and celebrations in school beforehand. But there are no "faith" or "devotion" competitions as school is not the place for that. That should be for churches, Buddhist temples, mosques, etc to run.

There aren’t really any non domination schools are there? Am I wrong there? I thought all schools are associated with something?

@IDontWantRealism then you say 'never mind, we'll go to the shop and you can choose a treat'

I know that you are desperate for it to be an issue, but it's really not.

Everyone should have received a chocolate egg. That's where it crosses the line. How would anyone feel comfortable excluding children from receiving chocolate. Weird.

I’m sorry but that is bull. Ofsted would be all over them like a rash.

@PipinwasAuntieMabelsdog I disagree, as do many others. I’m not desperate for anything but I will be bringing it up with the school. We can agree to disagree.

I see this as akin to the stupid discrimination practised in many schools where children who by great luck or because their parents are tough/desperate have attended school every single day of the school year get a prize. The other children who have chronic health conditions or who got a cold or DV and whose parents did the sensible thing and kept them at home for a day or two don't get a prize. Common thread being that children are rewarded for decisions their parents have made, not for their own choices.

Life isn't fair, but do we have to make that so blatantly obvious to children from primary age?