to not want my dd to be taught this stuff..

[singingprincess]

She goes to a C of E school. There is no choice here, very rural, and all the schools are C of E.

Last year she came home telling me that her RE teacher had told her that Bonfire Night was unlucky....mildly amusing maybe?

But today she told me that she was a Christian. That Christians hate Jews.

I am horrified! She was amazed, and a bit worried when I told her that I knew some Jewish people, and that they were perfectly lovely. She is 7.

This is all wrong...what can I do?

I have no choice but to send her to a C of E school as that is all there is here, for miles around.

I have never had a problem like this before. The previous head was not especially religious, but this one who has just left, is VERY religious.

And no, there really is no choice here, all the schools in all the villages are c of e.

You still have choices - travel further or home school if you are that unhappy.

What does it have to do with the Head?

The Head doesn't control the words that come out of the teacher's mouths

Do you not accept that it just might be down to the way your child interpreted what was said to her?

This is really irrelevant to your issue but anyway - a friend's son goes to a Catholic school and was talking about God creating the world. Friend who is a science teacher and not religious, wanting to promote a variety of view-points, said "You know, not everyone believes that God created the world". "Oh yes I know Mummy", he said with great gusto, " Like criminals and bad people". She was at a complete loss as to how to proceed from there, so gave up!!! Decided he would most likely make up his own mind about what he believed as he got older. Gave me a right laugh, though!

A wonderful vicar I knew told a load of children that there was a giant jellyfish living under the church. He then asked who believed him. One or two children said they didn't. He said "Well done. You shouldn't always believe what everyone tells you, even if they are a teacher or a vicar or a parent". I thought it was a very worthwhile lesson.

How old is your DD? I think it is fine to explain that not everyone believes the same things and she can make up her own mind about what the teacher told her and what you're telling her and the evidence around her.

ceebie - love your vicar :)

mummymeister, you say that there is always a choice of which school, is that true? if so i'd love you to tell me where our local non faith school is, as far as i know in our medium sized rural town there are 2 c of e state primaries and 1 catholic private primary local to us.

op, it does sound as though she has got confused, but maybe still worth speaking to the teacher about how this has been misinterpreted.

when i was talking to dd1 (5) about how her nanna lived in london, she said that london was where people put bombs in the houses! i couldn't believe that they could be teaching them about terrorism, and then we worked out that they had been taught about guy fawkes putting bombs in [the] houses [of parliament]!

She is 7.

I have explained to her that what she has been told is wrong, and that lots of people believe in lots of different things, and that is just fine. That I have lots of friends with lots of different faiths, and rather more who have none at all, and that's fine too.

I also explained that she doesn't have to decide what she believes now, or indeed ever, and she can change her mind about it at any time too.

I do find, woral, that all organisations reflect the vibe of the person running it, schools being no exception. And this person was brought in, by him to teach RE. So yes, it had everything to do with the head. And no, I do not accept that she is confused. She is not remotely confused about what she was told. She is extremely clear about it.

Sorry, I do obviously realise that believing God created the world and believing Jews are bad are completely different issues - the first isn't really going to matter much but the second obviously is not acceptable. Your post just reminded me of a funny story which I thought I would share to lighten the mood. Sorry it doesn't actually help though.

I do find, woral, that all organisations reflect the vibe of the person running it, schools being no exception. And this person was brought in, by him to teach RE. So yes, it had everything to do with the head. And no, I do not accept that she is confused. She is not remotely confused about what she was told. She is extremely clear about it

Well there you go then

It seems to be clearly a cut and dried case of the school being at fault because there's no way in the world that your or your child could be wrong is there?

Meanwhile Mrs Hobson has decided to leave so you can continue to assume your slightly emotional 7yr old child was in no way mistaken.

It shouldn't matter if the school you send your child to is a religious one or not. No state schools should be teaching antisemitism or trying to convert pupils and no state school should be happy if that is what a child takes away from the school. And I doubt there are any schools that would be happy with it - so the OP should definitely have a quiet word so the school can try to redress things.

Why the nastiness?

Sometimes she gets confused about things, she is 7. They do. I have been mummying for a very, very, very long time. I know children can get the wrong end of the stick sometimes, as do some adults! And often it's very funny, as Ceebie has shared with us. The very last thing I am with my kids is precious. Too long in the tooth for that.

But she is not confused about this. Really, she is not. She is very clear.

The school, despite being c of e has only become like this for the two years that this head was there. Now he's gone and so has the RE teacher.

So good. Problem solved.

Bit harsh Worral?

Imho the reported incident is so very awful that if I were OP I would erring on the side of horrified caution too, and I would be up the school quicker than you could say Oswald Moseley. Perhaps not all guns blazing as a first tactic, there is ALWAYS the possibility of things being misunderstood, but I wouldn't be taking any chances.

Princess what are you waiting for??

Sorry Princess just read your last post. Is this not a recent incident then?
(I thought I had read the whole thread but maybe not... )

I will be speaking to the school at the first opportunity.

Of course she's very clear!

But that doesn't mean she isn't wrong

It doesn't mean she didn't 'understand' it wrongly and that the teacher said something like "Many years ago Christians and Jews hated one another" or something like that.

Long in the tooth or not, you do seem to be unbending in the fact that 7yr olds can quite often get the wrong end of the stick and feel totally 100% in the right.

All I'm saying here is perhaps you'd be better to open your mind to that, rather than assuming a school teacher is encouraging hatred of other people and religions.

Which as someone else pointed out, is quite probably illegal.

Glad it's solved. It does sometimes happen that a particular teacher is a superstitious fuckwit peddling harmful nonsense to DC, and whenever it happens it needs addressing fast and firmly with the school. It is, for instance illegal to encourage children in racial hatred. A lot of religious people are stupid and unpleasant; a lot of religion provides justification to the stupid for their bigotry. And unfortunately a lot of people still seem to think that religion is a Good Thing and therefore people who subscribe to one or other of the main myth systems can't possibly do or say bad stuff, despite the vast amounts of evidence to the contrary.

It is pretty recent yes. But as I say, the staff changes, hopefully, will prevent any more incidents. And I will, as I say be raising it with the school.

Good for you Princess

And just to add...my children were once told by a bigoted zealot wildly evangelical Sunday School teacher that all Jews were going to hell.

When I questioned her on it she freely and gladly admiitted it.

Oh blimey. I am not unbending at all. I KNOW that children get stuff wrong and misunderstand...of course I do.

But this feels different.

But this feels different.

Go with your instincts Princess.

I have said on a totally unrelated thread that there is a saying (possibly Edmund Burke) along the lines that all that is necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.

If you were to take the line that she had probably got it wrong (and so do nothing) then there is the (quite real) possibility that this alleged sort of not so casual anti-semistism will go unchecked, and so gather mementum for the next time.

I am a non religious person working in a C of E primary school much like the one you describe. I actually teach most of the R.E. in Key Stage 1 and the foundation stage. I honestly believe that when it is being properly taught it is very interesting and leads to a greater understanding of others and their beliefs. When it is badly taught (IMO) it can be confusing and damaging.

Like yourself, the vast majority of our parents send their Dcs to our school because it is the local village primary in a very rural location, not because it is a C of E school. Therefore we have to balance our teaching accordingly. If I were you i would go and talk to the teacher about these misconceptions and share your concerns. I would definitely want a parent to come and talk to me if they felt this way.

The issue of it being a C of E school isn't really the point here (ie posters saying OP should find a non-faith school) as it certainly isn't C of E policy to promote hatred of Jews! It is worth speaking to the school as a whole class of students potentially heard this, so a lesson presenting a better viewpoint could be a good idea.
It is interesting that a Catholic can be the Head of a C of E school, as a non-Catholic could not be the Head of a Catholic school.