School residential is religious

[Stephthegreat]

Dcs school is CofE and as there are four faith schools closest to us we sent dcs to the nearest one. Neither me or dh are religious but we support the values of the faith and the school.

The school used to go to a really fab place for residential and it was full of activities, adventuring, just a really fun weekend. Ds is due to go on camp soon and the new residential the school have chosen looks extremely religious. Ds really doesn’t enjoy this side of school and has his own ideas about faith.

The programme involves daily bible study and ‘getting to know jesus’. There are bible related games and quizzes and prayer sessions. It looks like they do bushcraft and have a bonfire too which is up Ds street. He’s a bit put off by the whole idea and I also think it’s quite serious!

AIBU?

Agree with @Gowithme

"what should actually happen is that all schools should be secular and should teach a little about all religions for tolerance. The church needs to butt out of schools IMO, our local one had these little old ladies spouting all sorts of religious nonsense to the kids."

Btw is it known as a gospel camp OP?

I have a friend whose dcs go to this type of camp and the family are very Evangelical about their faith.

It sounds like the indoctrination faith schools go for. I am disgusted that the LA does not provide a suitable school. Nothing would convince me to leave my child in the hands of people recruited on their belief in the supernatural.

It really is time that the Department for Education had a good look at faith schools and, at the very least, considered a requirement that parents should have a realistic choice not to send their children to one. There really should not be a situation like OP's where parents are stuck with sending their child to a faith school for lack of any alternative that their child can actually get into. If that means the state doing a compulsory purchase of faith schools, so be it.

Yanbu. I’d not send him if he really doesn’t want to go. Does he do cubs as there will be options for residentials there instead.

We didn’t but I have non-religious friends who sent their kids to CofE schools. I used to think this was just wrong but since having my own kids I don’t judge at all. We all compromise here and there but at the end of the day make the best decisions for our own kids.

@Onlyforcake

It sounds like the indoctrination faith schools go for. I am disgusted that the LA does not provide a suitable school. Nothing would convince me to leave my child in the hands of people recruited on their belief in the supernatural.

It's not the LA's fault, they can't set up alternatives nowadays - it's down to the DfE to try to persuade someone to open academies or free schools.

Or, of course, the DfE could look to abolish faith schools altogether, which would solve a LOT of problems.

I'm sure the children who attend this school will turn out no worse for learning about Christs teachings.

Learning good solid values about loving thy neighbour and doing on to others what you would be done by is surely a good thing. Too many children grow up with no values at all and no empathy for others.

I don’t see how it can possibly harm your DS to be educated about his country’s state established religion while having fun activities. Do you think Christ is a bad role model, or there is something wrong with being asked to love our neighbours?

I disagree.
Great to teach children about forgiveness, loving thy neighbours, and community rather than self focus. But this does not have to be wrapped in religion. It weakens the message when we then discuss it at home and present a different view about Christian stories. There is no reason to use religion for this, just lazy teaching when there are so many other teaching opportunities that children will relate to more.

And much religious teaching is very misogynistic so religious role models are not the ones I’d choose for my children, not say thing they are all bad but there are better ones.

I also think a lot of posters don’t understand how schools work in a lot of areas. When we last moved, 5 of the 9 schools that we’d have been in the catchment area of (area based on various things, mostly our work commutes) were CofE. Trying to avoid them was hard work. We moved very close to a supposedly non-denomination school yet I would say they teach a Christian curriculum. I hate it!
I want my children to learn about religion, but all religions equally. They do learn about certain things, like Diwali, and I’m massively supportive of this and wish they learnt about more religious beliefs, events and festivals. But any non Christian teaching is taught in a ‘this is what some other people do’ way. Whereas my DC are taught the Christian stories (Jesus’s birth, easter story etc) as a fact. In a very white area with little cultural diversity I don’t see this as a good thing.

It sounds like the school are being very ignorant of their actual intake, they will know that they have many pupils who are at the school simply because their is no community school available locally and that should be taken into account when planning things as extreme as this.

Daily worship and things is one thing but something as immersive as this sounds is different.

@crepesncream

I'm sure the children who attend this school will turn out no worse for learning about Christs teachings.

Learning good solid values about loving thy neighbour and doing on to others what you would be done by is surely a good thing. Too many children grow up with no values at all and no empathy for others.

Fine if that is all that is going on. But it sounds like what is planned comes much more into the evangelising category, which is definitely not just about teaching solid values.

All the people saying YABU because you 'chose' to send him to a faith school, I disagree. People make a pragmatic choice based on a whole bunch of elements, faith being just one of them. In principle I don't think there should be any religious schools, it should be a private matter. Given that there are the religious element shouldn't be too over the top. School shouldn't be about indoctrination.

A local CofE primary isn’t “a religious school”.
Our local CofE primary has 1/3 Muslim children - it would be wrong to take them on this type of residential and also wrong to exclude them from it.
I would try and speak to the headteacher for some reassurance that it will be mostly outdoor activities with an optional Bible element at one point in the day that children don’t have to attend.

Yanbu. I am not sure why people assume a faith school is a choice. Where I live all the local schools are oversubscribed except the faith school so there are frequently parents forced to send their kids to that school regardless of their beliefs. Education should be secular. That aside I can't blame your son, it sounds very dull!

I looked at the website and the camp directors describe themselves as ‘missionaries’ who don’t have a salary and ‘live by faith’ so god supplies their needs. There’s a link to financially support them underneath.

They also state that the gospel message is to point the young people to Jesus, their words. Lots of ‘pray for....as they deliver the message to X school’.

It’s more evangelical than I even first thought.

My DD rejected religion entirely after attending a religious residential with her school in year 9. She totally resented bring made to "share" her thoughts and emotions and described it as being run by amateurs who were having a gap year between sixth form and uni. They were wholly unqualified to be running what seemed to amount to group counselling sessions and a few bereaved children became very distressed.
They were told that only baptised and practicing Christians went to heaven.

I just looked in a 10 mile radius of my house. There are 8 primary schools, one is private and 6 are faith schools (not sure if all are c of e, as one might be catholic), 1 is community.
The community one is 9.8 miles away, 24 min car ride and in a town thats over subscribed

It's likely all the local kids near here would have no option other than c of e school

Yes similar her, the community school is miles away and massively oversubscribed. The houses near the school are more expensive to buy too.

@StScholastica yes this camp is also run by volunteers who are young kids of gap years.

I actually teach in a CofE primary school...and I'm annoyed on your behalf OP.

Posters saying 'just move house then' or 'find another school' are clearly bonkers and have NO IDEA how difficult it is to 'just move house' or 'find another school'!!

The responses on here are mad! If only life were so simple hey? 🤣🤦‍♀️

[quote Stephthegreat]@StScholastica yes this camp is also run by volunteers who are young kids of gap years.[/quote]
In that case I would definitely contact the school and ask them if there if there is any way your DC can be excluded from religious elements. Even if it means they sit and write poetry in a corner.
After DDs experiences we were much more cautious about what we allowed her siblings to attend.
DD was even told by the leaders that "what happens on camp stays on camp" which I found totally inappropriate.

They're not faith schools. They're just partially funded by the church and with usually only a light touch involvement with the local parish church

Mostly this is true, but all it needs is for a very religious new head or governors to be appointed and things can change quickly

The choice of residential here suggests they're pushing the religious angle hard, and in an area where parents are mostly confined to choosing a religious school, that wouldn't be acceptable to me personally - especially when churches are using state money for it

@underneaththeash

Just ask him to be removed from that element on the residential. Parents are able to pull their children out of RE lessons by drawing on the 1996 Education Act, which states that a parent can request that for their child to be wholly or partly excused from religious education and religious worship in the school They'll need to find something else to do with him instead (and hopefully won't fun that trip again).

It’s not in the school though is it? It’s an optional activity that the school are offering which the OP is free to choose not to send her child to at all, not quite the same as not going into assembly or going to the local church for Harvest Festival.

I wonder if the school trip is being offered at a cheaper rate because it is church run which is why the school have opted for it, school trips are very expensive and a church school might have jumped at the chance to offer a cheaper alternative to their pupils.

Really. Was there genuinely no clue in the school's title that your children would be learning about religion...

@Daffodilz

Really. Was there genuinely no clue in the school's title that your children would be learning about religion...

Difference between learning about religion - and going on a residential with evangelicals...