To not want ds's headteacher to be telling reception the story of the 10 lepers on their third day?

[bearsmom]

DS (4.5, started school last week) came home from school today and happened to mention that the headteacher at his school came to his class today to tell them a story. That's nice, I said. Yes, he said, it was the story of the ten lepers. What, leopards? I said. No, lepers, he said. He then asked what lepers are so I explained as best I could.

I'm an atheist and so is DH, but all the schools around here are CofE voluntary aided or voluntary controlled so we had no choice but to send him to a "religious" school. In every other way it seems fine, and I knew when we applied for a place at the school that they'd be telling him bible stories (and I'm explaining to him that to us they are just that, stories) and going to church services. But somehow I wasn't expecting to have to explain to a 4.5-year-old about lepers and leprosy. It's a bit of a leap from teddy bears and bunnies!

Are there any other non-religious parents out there who have kids at a church school that really pushes religion? Or anyone else out there who has an opinion on this? I'm confident we can balance things out by making sure ds knows that people have a wide range of beliefs but I guess I'm just really shocked at the extent of the religiosity at his school and wonder if this school is unique.

I think you are missing the point of the OP Misty. Which was concern about religion being pushed onto atheists.
Manners, of course should be instilled at home and at school. They do not have to be taught through the medium of the Bible.

Sorry, this thread is getting complicated. The OP's school is a church one - ours isn't. Hence the RE lesson remark. Our Head is a committed Crhistian(I know him socially) but as it's not a Church school, I expect him to keep his faith to himself, just as I would expect him to keep his politics.

this is about non religious assemblies in case anyone's interested

Seeker. I agree.

I don't see that telling a parable is 'pushing religion'. Ii will tell the Bible stories (and lots of other stories) to DS and I am not a practising Christian. Parables talk about morals trhough the medium of a story that is also in the Bible - odd sit if telling a story about 10 bears (eg) to illustrate thankfulness is OK but 10 lepers is not. I'd go for the lepers - more colour as you can talk about bits dropping off

I agree with BarefootDancer's point about religious schools being divisive. Anything that says 'I am this and you are that' divides us. I used to be a Christian but now follow a Taoist/Buddhist path and I would be reluctant to let my dcs go to a church school, b/c there are a lot of fundamentalists within the CofE and I would be very concerned about the messages that my dcs were getting. Also I'm uncomfortable with the notion of any deity that is referred to as 'He' - am trying to undo that one with dd1.

Yes you are right Effie. One parable is not 'pushing religion'. Maybe they use other faith's stories too in the OP school.

I remember being scared witless by the description of leprosy at school.

The parables of Jesus are timeless and he was one of the greatest moral teachers. It is what the church made him into and what the church allows to happen in his name that make me uncomfortable.

And most of Jesus' teachings have so many layers that a lot of it will go over the heads of a four or five yr old anyway.

I guess that the government's support for faith schools stems partly from the funding that it will attract from the various religious bodies, whether they are Muslim, Christian, Hindu or whatever.

Hardly inclusive and comprehensive education. It just adds to the problem of lack of school choice. What if your local school is CofE and you are Muslim, or vice versa? You have to reject your local friends/community and go elsewhere, or go into a school where one faith is taught over others.

You can say it will go over their heads, but if so the teachers are not presenting it properly!

I remember when i was at a non-religious school and we learnt stories from the Bible.

Nothing to get worked up about i think.

They are some good tales in it that have some good messages for kids really - just see it as a collection of classic stories.

Sorry - forgot to add that most fairy tales have the same kind of themes running through them too.

Oh definitely, BarefootDancer, you can rely on the government to take anyone's money if it means they can get stuff done on the cheap.

It's not the Bible stories that worry me, it's the idea of a God that requires worship every day, and the notion of heaven and hell (which still gets pushed in some church circles) and the whole organised religion thing.

PSCMUM, thanks for your posts, totally agree with your second one .

Thanks to everyone who said we should just treat them as stories. I did mention in the op that this is what we're telling ds. I'd just expect the school to be a bit more careful about which stories they select for the youngest children in the school. Just because a story has a positive moral message doesn't mean it's appropriate for it to be loaded with gore (or all that fire and brimstone that's in the Bible for that matter).

Kaishay, your school sounds like the one I went to and tbh I was expecting ds's to be similar. I also think explaining about the people in the stories is very important, which the school don't appear to have done.

Seeker, I'm at the leaflet suggesting Jesus would help with difficulties moving to secondary school. It would be funny if it wasn't so worrying.

Barefoot dancer wrote "Faith should not be mixed up with education, especially in a multicultural society. Local state schools should be for everyone in the local community." I totally agree! Discovering that such a high percentage of local primary schools are C of E has made me wonder how much this predominance contributes to who chooses to move to this area. It is almost exclusively white and therefore unrepresentative of our society as a whole. It would be great to have more diversity, but I can see how people would be put off. I believe it is possible to opt out of collective worship at school, but that would just serve to accentuate differences and possibly stigmatise some children.

So far there's been no evidence at the school of other faith's stories being told though I know the NC will require the school to teach about other religions and their festivals (which is a relief).

Didn't get to talk to ds's teacher today as she was busy, but will try tomorrow.

Anyway, thank you all, it's an interesting debate.