School becoming increasingly religious alongside loss of staff...

[Atheistmum]

NC for this as the details will be potentially outing.

So both my DC ages 6 and 10 attend a local state C of E primary school.

We have only two schools in the small town in which we live, the large C of E and another small Catholic one. Having been educated through the Catholic school system Myself, I was keen to avoid a ‘faith’ education for my kids however we have no secular option in this town or indeed in any of the local smaller surrounding towns and villages. So we were stuck with opting for the educationally ‘outstanding’ C of E school.

Until recently all has been well, the expected low level religious the,es woven in, however a new head was appointed about a year ago, and since then 6 or 7 members of staff have left including the deputy and assistant head and another Head of year all put down to ‘ people moving on to further their careers’.

In this time there has also been an increasing religious emphahsis underpinning an awful lot of what is done at the school, All assemblies are now religious based, local vicar comes in to school multiple times per week to teach, both of my kids come home singing what sound like evangelical christian songs!!

My eldest told me about a lesson wherby a picture of a sign was put up in class with a list of many faiths all pointing the ‘wrong’ way and only christianity pointing the ‘right’ way, he was actively concerned about this as there are kids of others faiths who have no choice but to attend the school!

Now my AIBU is basically aibu to email concerns about this, who to and how can I word it? I realise that the school is controlled to a certain extent by the church ( i fundamentally disagree with schools being used to indoctrinate young people but given we have no other option I am stuck with this) and l can live with it if its just about learning about and participating in mainstream stuff like easter, harvest festival, nativity etc however more and more of the kids learning is being based on religious content and I am really uncomfortable with this.

The head himself is obviously a deeply religious man and I am concerned that he is using the school to further his agenda.

I disagree Nike . I don't think it is unreasonable to want a state school within a reasonable distance that doesn't go OTT on pushing Christianity.
Oh I agree that there should be more choice of schools so that there are some (or one, in a smaller area) that aren't religiously-orientated, and equally I don't think any should be OTT on pushing Christianity, but I do think that it's up to the individual school what approach they take (and so if they are OTT then it's up to the parents to move their kids). I went to a CofE school and I don't remember any real focus on Christianity apart from singing hymns (and they could have been any song - there was no focus on the content).
I don't believe that any Christian-orientated school would say that all other faiths are going the wrong way - that's extreme and goes against what the Church teaches i.e. tolerance and acceptance of others.

so it's teaching the state religion. To be honest, it would be odd if it didn't ?

OP has made it clear that that is not her concern. I too would be concerned if so much time was being given to evangelising and the vicar was doing substantial amounts of teaching - and particularly if the school were teaching that every religion bar C of E is wrong. Given local conditions, there must be a large proportion of pupils who either belong to other religions or are from atheist families, and the school should be more sensitive to that. It is the reverse of Christian to make children feel uncomfortable about their family's choice of faith.

It’s a religious school, the fact there are no non religious schools near you does not mean they have to dilute their beliefs. If it’s such an issue move (like many do) to be near a school that offers a curriculum which suits you better. Simple

religious education

Now hang on, let's not be disingenuous, this isn't 'religious education' in the same way a Forever Living meeting isn't an education in nutrition.

A real 'religious education' would teach all the religions with the objectivity a casual observer.

Is it voluntary aided or voluntary controlled? Makes quite a big difference in how much involvement the church can/should have.

Op, your children are not suddenly going to become fervent worshipers through a couple of hours at school. Faith, broadly comes from the home. There are tens of thousands of Hindi, Sikh, Muslim (and many other faiths) children educated in church school across the UK - and state schools have to legally have an element of collective worship (assembly) and they are not en masse changing faith and taking up the cross

You do often get a huge staff turnover when a new head is appointed. So that in itself wouldn't worry me.

We chose for ours to go to a CofE school despite being ardent atheists. We figured it was easily something we could redress at home. Which we did.
I have no issue with them learning about any religion but am confident we can provide the balance of debate at home.

Which we did. All our children are also atheist but respect others for their individual beliefs and views.

There are tens of thousands of Hindi, Sikh, Muslim (and many other faiths) children educated in church school across the UK

And yet, most of them are able to attend school without being told that their own particular religion is "wrong" and the focus is on equality and diversity.

Newhear I do agree with you, however my concern isn't really the fact that there is christian teaching , more that it actually appears to be (possibly; I admit I have no ‘proof’) damaging the school in terms of time spent on non academic learning and loss of staff.

I really had no issue when it was just the expected religious themes, although I am an atheist I was raiseda Catholic and would consider that whilst I do not ‘believe’ many Christian values are commendable.

This simply demonstrates that it is time religion-based schools were taken right out of the state system. It is undemocratic and unacceptable that this situation persists.

This OP does not have the option to take her children to a non-faith school as none exists in her town - that is a disgrace.

Time for a secular state - those who wish for a religion based schooling for their children should have to pay for it; or send their children to a non-faith school and provide the religious education themselves at home.

The situation in which the OP finds herself as regards choice of schools for her children is fundamentally wrong in principle.

The voluntary aided or voluntary controlled is a very important question here.

or send their children to a non-faith school and provide the religious education themselves at home

That does seem like an astonishingly simple solution. I can't think how anyone could reasonably object.

Haven’t read all the messages but do you know any of the school governors? The school is accountable to them so they may have thoughts on this.

I did read a post on moving house....errrrr bonkers.

I’ve just had a look at primary schools near me. Within a three mile radius, all 4 primary schools (all village schools) are CofE. I find this quite disconcerting. It doesn’t really offer much choice, does it?!

I would be upset if my child at a school of ANY faith was told that there was one correct religion and the rest were wrong. This doesn’t even seem to fit with Christian values IMO.

Hello there . lLke you I disagree with faith schools and the sort of behaviour that you describe.

But as you say - you have no choice. What's best for your children right now ? I wonder what other parents think ?

Your 10 year old is about to leave - but your 6 year old will be there for a while . I'd ask around to gauge what others think.

I think I would also visit the church of the vicar who goes to the school - get a feel for them. You never know - they might be really open and chilled which might might be a plus ?

Op yanbu

It depends on the head really how religious a secular school is. My dc do mindfulness and yoga as their acts of daily worship. They sing secular songs thanking the farmer at harvest, tend to ignore Easter and a mix of secular and traditional songs at Christmas. It is a large part of why I chose the school.

I spent some time in a C of E junior school where they visited all different places of worship and the daily assembly was as likely to be opened with Namaste or Shalom as it was Peace be with you. I also didn't hear a single hymn the whole term I was there.

OP my DS goes to a Catholic school and I would not be happy at all if he were given a lesson that listed "wrong" religions. Nor would the parents of the non Christian children who attend.

If I were you I would raise this with the HoY and HT, to clarify what went on in the lesson, and if your DC was correct, I would contact Ofsted. Teaching religious intolerance is not on.

We have ended up with our children in a V
A CofE school despite being in catchment of a as-secular-they're-allowed state school. We put the secular one as first choice and I even filled in the religious reasons form for it (although no vicar to sign it for obvious reasons) but we didn't get a place there. We ended up with the church one which similarly has had a change of head who now puts weekly bible quotes on the website and seems to be 'pushing religion in the children more. I've had to accept this as an opportunity to develop the children's critical thinking skills. Every time one told me something as fact (e.g. god made all the animals) I'd talk about what other religions say about that fact and how they differ, and what science tells us about that subject. Eruption, Hindu and Norse gods are good for this. I encourage them to question their teachers, and me, on our beliefs. When they ask what I think I tell them but also tell them not everyone agrees. And I'm looking forward to getting out of there.

I’ve just had a look at primary schools near me. Within a three mile radius, all 4 primary schools (all village schools) are CofE. I find this quite disconcerting. It doesn’t really offer much choice, does it?!
This is historic as the State was pretty slow in providing schools, so the C of E operated a lot of schools especially in rural areas. Often the Church still owns the land/buildings.

However even in my nice SE area there is at least one C of E school which is preponderantly Muslim - and the church and the Mosque work quite nicely together.

And when a new Bishop is welcomed in my local area, there are Imams, Rabbis as well as lots of different Christian faith leaders there.

This is precisely why state funded schools should br secular. There is a time and a place for hymn singing and preaching, and it’s called church on Sunday.

Have you tried writing to the National Secular Society, they campaign against faith schools and use examples like yours to show why there should be fewer faith schools and how parents often have little choice but to send their kids to schools which have a faith ethos when they’d prefer not to.

You need to start fighting back. Withdraw your child from the assemblies and from religious education. Start writing to the head and kicking up a fuss, get these things on the record and mention them to Ofsted when they come around. Also try to get on the board of Governors and try to block/undo these changes.

I do think religion is growing stronger at the moment: whether its a Christian response to an increasingly vocal Islam I don't know, but CE schools do seem more intent on pushing religion than in the past. I find it unsettling. I'm not sure what can be done about it. The national secular society might be a good start, or even perhaps a local councillor might take an interest?

I agree with you OP but if it is a C of E school and promoting religion as its core ethos, I'm not sure what you can do? I presume it's a primary? I went to a school that sounds the same. Hymns at every assembly, bible readings, grace and prayers before lunch etc. My secondary school was a lot more balanced and I don't practice any religion now. You could contact the education authority and ask for their guidelines if you feel they're overstepping the mark?