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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel annoyed at school motto

292 replies

WeasleyWoman · 14/07/2020 15:23

DS's primary school is CofE state mainstream. Its official motto is love hope forgiveness or similar which is great but on all letters they now say. Learning for Life: Ready to take our place in God's World.
I guess this shouldn't matter but it pisses me off. Why is it his world? Why not our world? The children's world? It might as well say Learning for life: ready to bow to the patriarchy and conform.
Aibu

OP posts:
Commonwasher · 15/07/2020 18:35

It’s funny, in cities CofE schools are oversubscribed — people of no faith pitch up to church on Sundays just to get their kids a school place. In the villages the complaint on this thread is that there are no secular schools and too many church ones...

The only thing I object to in the school vision statement is the use of ‘His’ to describe God, the feminist in me would want to sneak in and change it to ‘Her world’.

Interesting the interpretations of what’s actually meant by the statement, ie preparing children for ‘God’s world’ is to prepare them for death and heaven (which never occurred to me) rather than preparing children to flourish in life. The CofE clearly needs to cut its jargon — the school would be mortified that their vision statement is understood to mean that the school is preparing children for death!!

Remember that no school is neutral. My children go to a secular school but the head is a practicing Christian and the church is next door to a CofE church, the Vicar takes regular assemblies, RE lessons and services. Back in the day, I went to a CofE primary school but the head was an atheist so the obligatory daily prayers and ‘Worship’ contained no reference to God. My children’s secular school has much more religious input than my faith school was.

And if the ethos of the school bothers you, remember that the huge majority of religious ‘teaching’ is learnt in the home. Any input from school will be nominal.

cheeseismydownfall · 15/07/2020 18:40

FFS, MANY, MANY PEOPLE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO SEND THEIR CHILD TO A STATE FAITH SCHOOL. THERE IS NO CHOICE INVOLVED WHATSOEVER.

I honestly don't know how to make this point any clearer.

Griselda1 · 15/07/2020 18:48

Why send your child to a faith school if religion is an issue.

cheeseismydownfall · 15/07/2020 18:48

And did you know even in the fucking USA, a country with more adults who practice religion than in other developed country, teaching and symbols have been forbidden for more than 55 years after the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling. It isn't complicated. The state has no business whatsoever favouring a particular religion - or any religion - being taught in our schools.

cheeseismydownfall · 15/07/2020 18:49

religious teaching and symbols

griselda1, was that a wind up?

Intelinside57 · 15/07/2020 18:49

Would be interested to know which school this is. Can't find it on Google. Should be on their website

FelicisNox · 15/07/2020 18:50

So you enrolled your child in an openly religious school and now you don't like their religious viewpoint or motto?

I'm not religious but even I can see the absurdity in your complaint.

Also: 1st world problems are not problems.

starfishmummy · 15/07/2020 18:52

I agree that its the sort of thing you have to expect with a church school.

JasperRising · 15/07/2020 19:01

@cheeseismydownfall

FFS, MANY, MANY PEOPLE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO SEND THEIR CHILD TO A STATE FAITH SCHOOL. THERE IS NO CHOICE INVOLVED WHATSOEVER.

I honestly don't know how to make this point any clearer.

I am glad that other people are trying to make this point (even if it isn't being registered by many posters).

I am not religious but where I live all the primary schools are CofE academy chain or voluntary aided church schools. There is no choice. Except expensive private schools - most of which have an equally religious ethos. It is very weird to me as I grew up where faith schools was an option you chose but there were other state schools that whilst have a collective act of worship were not a church school.

I get that to the school their faith is central but they've got to recognise that if they are the only choice in the area then a lot of the kids are not going to be CofE (and will hate mottos like the OPs).

maddiemookins16mum · 15/07/2020 19:10

The clue is in the words Church of England.

viques · 15/07/2020 19:10

@BrandNewShinyThings

Oh come on now, the staff will have spent a good part of an INSET day coming up with that, they'll be really fed up proud of it
Tell me about it. MY beautifully crafted proposal written on a specially brought in for the day luminous post it note started with the word Aspire , as A was the first initial of the school. Then it was Persevere and Succeed, for Parochial and school.I thought it hung together rather well, but I was cut down down by some one who said the word Aspire next to Persevere was all sounding a bit perspiration y. I said that wasn't a problem as a bit of honest sweat never hurt anyone but apparently sweating didn't fit the way the school wanted to present itself........ I sat and sulked for the rest of the inset.
Justajot · 15/07/2020 19:11

Some non-religious people are keen on religiously selective schools in cities and jump through hoops to get their DC into them because they get better results. However much of that is down to them being socially selective. If you have parents who can be bothered to jump through the hoops then you have parents who care about education. So these schools have fewer disadvantaged children and fewer of the challenges they bring. There are also some non-religious parents in cities who choose not to do this because they don't want to send their DC to a faith school.

In some rural areas the "social selection" advantage doesn't exist as the faith school takes all DC, even the ones whose parents aren't motivated by education. But there is still a population of parents who wouldn't send their DC to a faith school if they could avoid it.

Tessabelle1 · 15/07/2020 19:50

Your child goes to a C of E school yet you have an issue with god and faith? I'd suggest you pick one you have better aligned beliefs with rather than one you picked as (I'm guessing) it was the best in the area

LittleMsM · 15/07/2020 19:55

It's you that's putting the he there..... God is a gender neutral name.... how you bring them up at home will have much more of an impact.

Lancrelady80 · 15/07/2020 19:56

As a C of E school, they HAVE to reference God / the Bible in their "tag line" summing up their ethos. They get inspected by SIAMS (think OFSTED done by the church) and this HAS to be in place.

C of E schools receive funding from the church so have to push Christianity. Just as the reason many schools were set up in the past (before state education) was for exactly this reason.

We had to choose one earlier this year. We were advised it should preferably be drawn straight from the Bible, and then we had to explain our ethos by relating to examples from the Bible eg (a random made up) teach our children to be as wise as Solomon and to strive to make the most of their talents, just as in the parable told by Jesus. (Apologies for how rubbish those are, it's been a long week...and it's only Weds!)

Collective act of daily worship is a requirement in all schools but far more general and on the whole not particularly worshipful..eg think more about the wonders of OUR world, PSHE stuff etc.

Localocal · 15/07/2020 19:57

This is why we should not have faith based state schools.

cheeseismydownfall · 15/07/2020 19:58

@tessabelle1, read the thread. Many, many parents in those country have absolutely no option of a state funded secular education. Don't make unpleasant assumptions about the OP's motives. And even if she did pick the best school in the area, why the hell shouldn't she? Why should she have to accept a lower quality education for her child because she doesn't want a school that pushes a particular faith on its students?

Tessabelle1 · 15/07/2020 20:05

@cheeseismydownfall my children attend a C of E school, you can opt them out of any/all religious parts, such as assemblies, lunchtime prayers etc. To object to a motto mentioning God in a faith school is ridiculous. Opt out of the bits you don't like, or move schools.

Danglingmod · 15/07/2020 20:09

To where? In a county with virtually only CofE schools?

Harls1969 · 15/07/2020 20:13

YABU, sorry. It's a CofE school, of course God is going to be right up there. Send your kids to a non-faith school if it bothers you that much

JasperRising · 15/07/2020 20:14

If only it were so simple as move schools. I think there is one non CofE primary school nearish to us - it is massively oversubscribed (unsurprisingly). We couldn't afford to live close enough to get a place and, if we could, it would be completely inconvenient for work. Otherwise I guess we just have to move to the other side of the county/or move counties. Simple really...

Estheryan07 · 15/07/2020 20:18

My children go to cofE schools, we have no issue with this motto, as we are CofE! I’m wondering if you are- being as your children are attending a CofE school? For instance- I wouldn’t send my children to a catholic school as I’m not catholic!

JasperRising · 15/07/2020 20:27

@Estheryan07 but imagine that you lived somewhere where a Catholic school was your only choice... because that is the situation for people in some counties when it come to CofE schools

SurroundedByIdiotsEverywhere · 15/07/2020 20:28

CofE school... It is Gods world!

I went to a CofE school and I am not religious or brainwashed by ANY religion!

YABU

BlueMoodComing · 15/07/2020 20:45

If you want your child to attend a faith school, there is going to be a massive focus on God.
Maybe time to look elsewhere for education?

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