Aibu in being shocked at this school newsletter?

[whensitmyturn]

Aibu in being pretty appalled at this school news letter or am i being naive?

Children attend a catholic primary school- dh is Catholic I am not. Never had an issue with the school, children are in the last couple of years there.

Had a newsletter home tonight saying that a new ‘children and social work act of 2017’ has been passed and that parents will no longer be able to remove their children for PSHE lessons but that the government are still deciding what content the lessons should have. There is a public questionnaire on gov.uk to write your ideas.

The newsletter then goes on to say that we need to ensure that things that are age suited to children get suggested and I quote ‘to avoid respect for alternative lifestyles being allowed to undermine Christian principles of marriage and family life’.

It then goes on to link ‘coalition for marriage’ for help with us filling in this questionnaire.

Coalition 4 marriage is a group that promotes a traditional family set up and states that children should be taught that ‘marriage between a man and a woman as the gold standard of adult relationships’ Also that ‘they believe there is no age-appropriate way to teach primary school children about same sex marriages or transgenderism’. In blinding hypocrisy it then goes on to say ‘we should be teaching children broad values of tolerance and respect’.

!? I thought that in this day and age in the uk even if you attend a faith school inclusivity was seen as important/ the norm.
Would you be angry at this or just see it as an unavoidable downside of attending a catholic school?

you could sit down with your children and educate them yourself on what you believe?
You may not be a teacher but you are a parent, and it is down to you to instil what you believe is right and to open their eyes to the world.
They may attend a school but some parts of teaching in parenting still apply.
Not everyone will agree with religions, but you sent them there. If your Husband is Catholic are his views not the same as the schools? Or is he lukewarm?
Not everyone has the same opinions and it’s no secret religions have their own ways and rules.

Loo no not at all, but you must enter the marriage intending to have children.

You can't send you kids to a Catholic school and then be surprised when the school implements strict Catholic doctrine .

I've read all the posts on Mumsnet about the definition of a woman. Many people are deeply unhappy at the suggestion this definition may change. Why should it be different for marriage?

Loo no not at all, but you must enter the marriage intending to have children.
If the woman is post-menopausal when they marry then that’s plainly impossible. So the position doesn’t hold.

What if you’re straight and you don’t much want children?

What if you’re catholic but you realise that many, many tenets of your faith are thousands of years out of date and probably totally misinterpreted thousands of years ago so could do with a rejig? You know, so they’re less hateful, less bigoted?

Because....marriage is a social construct, whereas woman is a biological reality?

really???

I know gay couples with children, and m/f couples who choose to have no children. All are married.

Ah, seeking shelter among the transphobes and switching the argument?

I would contact school and express your concerns. My dc attend 2 different catholic secondary schools but I’ve never come across this sort of thing, in fact they both have openly gay married teachers and from what I’ve seen of their RE books they are taught about inclusivity and tolerance. If either of them brought home a letter like that I’d be straight up to school, along with most of the parents I know.

Thry are marriage under the laws of the UK but not under the laws of the Catholic church.

In the church marriage isn't just a social construct. It's a sacrament and fundamental to the faith.

It doesn’t surprise me that a catholic school supports the coalition for marriage.

But I was brought up catholic at catholic schools (now atheist) and have to be honest and say all the catholics I know well enough to discuss these things with are completely tolerant and liberal. Some are even gay. And still catholic. I’m not sure how they manage such cognitive dissonance but millions of catholics are on the pill, use condoms and are non judgemental of others and many are openly gay.

Well it is a catholic school....
Faith schools have no place in our society and I say that as a Christian, they're divisive and are a cause of sectarianism in Scotland at least - rant over.
Tbh I wouldn't worry about this too much as long as you are teaching them about other types of relationships and the school is good in other ways.

FWIW I have no problem with gay marriage outside of the church. I've been to gay weddings and celebrates them with my friends but gay marriage does not fit within the Catholic definition of marriage. It's a seperate thing. You can't expect a Catholic school to not teach children aboit the concept of Catholic marriage.

The problem isn’t necessarily the OP’s children - who will no doubted be guided by the OP into questioning and challenging homophobic thinking.

It’s all the other children whose parents may not know what’s going on in the school, may not be able to challenge these views, or may indeed wholeheartedly support them. Should the school be brainwashing their intake into accepting homophobic views? No, it shouldn’t.

Well lets hope the Catholic church and it's archaic views die out sooner rather than later.

@JJPP many people may have had no choice but to send their children to a catholic school. So many primaries are faith based that it’s pretty inescapable. On balance of probability, my children are likely to end up at a catholic school even though they are not Christened.

If your DCs are in their last few years at the school, I'd imagine you have a good idea of what the school is like so I don't understand why this is bothering you.
Either this is in keeping with the school's attitude and lessons in which case you'd have noticed before now surely?
Or it's a standardised letter issued from a higher authority (eg the archdiocese rather than God) and most teachers/parents will ignore the suggested 'help' from the website and complete the form themselves.
tbh I don't think you're 'shocked' at this at all.

@Waffles80 I get what you're saying but this is a catholic school that the parents have chosen to send their kids to. The Catholic Church's view on these things is widely publicised.

Most Catholic schools will not discuss gay marriage as a bad thing they will instead focus on the sacrament of marriage within the Catholic church.

I went to a normal, public school in Scotland and I can't remember marriage ever even being discussed. Why is it even part of the curriculum? Weird.

There are two things here AFAIK.

1. If OP has it right, the government passed a bill (which is therefore an Act?) saying parents can't remove children from PHSE.

1. They haven't decided what should be in PHSE, shame on them.

1. Faith schools will be clearly trying to combat this. If you believe something, why shouldn't you be trying to keep to your faith whether it's what you eat, how you manage sexuality, marriage, abortion, interfaith marriage etc.

1. If you don't agree, don't send your children to a faith school.

Genuine question @JJPP, how do you know most schools won’t do this?

I don’t think it is right that so many people feel there shouldn’t be religious schools in our country.

If people want to send their kids to religious schools they should be allowed the choice. Why is it right to forcibly take away someone’s faith and teachings of their faith?
That isn’t right.
It would be like forcing everyone to be vegan... let people make their own choices, don’t just strip people’s rights from them.