Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Too much religion at school ?

219 replies

Twowords · 10/09/2023 23:55

How much does your child's school reference religion in teaching about something else? We don't identify as Christian or any religion and our child just started at our local village C of E school last week. We realised that there would be teaching about different religions, however the second day of school they have learnt Christian songs and the first term 'homework' has a big section to read out about Jesus, using it to explain respect, which in our opinion could have been done using loads of other examples in a secular way. Am I being unreasonable to expect that they shouldn't be pushing this as the first homework example? Is this common with your experiences of C of E schools?

OP posts:
Boomboom22 · 12/09/2023 16:48

Frabbits · 12/09/2023 11:20

No, it's a fact.

The uk is a secular country. Access to education should reflect that. The days of the C of E being able to brainwash kids should be long gone. If religious types want to do that, fine, but they should pay for it out of their own pockets and it should be an alternative to mainstream education.

Show quote history

The UK isn't a secular country though. It is a Christian country with 26 c of e bishops in the House of Lords and the head of the church, the King, is also the head of state. We do value tolerance but we are not a secular country.

Mayhemmumma · 12/09/2023 16:55

It was impossible for me to avoid a Cof E school, I requested a non Faith school on application and didn't get any of 3 preferences (which were not church affiliated) was given very religious school and appeal failed on these grounds also.

I imagine OP had no bloody choice

CurlewKate · 12/09/2023 17:00

I have no problem with people choosing faith schools. So long as have to pay for them. And they don't do covert selection.

As an interim measure may I suggest an amendment to the Education Act to the effect that if you want a faith school, you are only allowed to apply to faith schools.

Frabbits · 12/09/2023 17:18

Boomboom22 · 12/09/2023 16:48

The UK isn't a secular country though. It is a Christian country with 26 c of e bishops in the House of Lords and the head of the church, the King, is also the head of state. We do value tolerance but we are not a secular country.

Show quote history

In all but name the UK is secular. Less than half of the population identify as being christian according to the last census. Probably within the next 10-20 years more people will identify as being athiest than having a religious faith.

A few relics of a bygone age do not override that.

zingally · 12/09/2023 17:24

I do supply teaching, and the ethos of C of E schools, especially village ones, can vary massively.
Some are fairly casual about religion, and others are pretty high church, bordering on catholic levels of vigor. I find it depends on the religion level of the Head.

You have to remember that C of E schools receive a lot of their funding from the church, so there has to be a reasonable amount of "toeing the party line."

Unfortunately, it's hard to read from the outside just how much god-bothering is involved, until you're a bum on a seat.

DinnaeFashYersel · 12/09/2023 17:28

Its a religious school so there's going to be religion.

My kids go to a catholic school and they pray 4 times a day, religion is woven in to most of the curriculum and they are always doing a religious project of some kind.

Zenithia · 12/09/2023 17:35

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 16:27

Yes, a religious school will be very religious, particularly at primary level.

It will run through the curriculum.

What a novel take.

pennyfest · 12/09/2023 17:39

It's not always as simple as not choosing a C of E school. If that's your catchment school and others are over subscribed you don't have much choice.

Wideskye · 12/09/2023 17:54

One assumes that if your local Cof E shool(which often gets some extra funding from the Church) is so abhorrent and there is no alternative provision that your only option would be to move.

I have read the whole friend and I am not Cof E

7Worfs · 12/09/2023 18:00

Everyone saying there’s no choice - if the school was downgraded by Ofsted and there were rumours of drug dealing I’d imagine every single parent on this thread would magically start thinking of options Grin

Zenithia · 12/09/2023 18:01

7Worfs · 12/09/2023 18:00

Everyone saying there’s no choice - if the school was downgraded by Ofsted and there were rumours of drug dealing I’d imagine every single parent on this thread would magically start thinking of options Grin

What sort of "not everyone has a choice" do you not understand?

Chickenkeev · 12/09/2023 18:02

Wideskye WHY is that the assumption? Why should kids have religion foisted upon them? Education should not be religious. If parents choose it, ok, but it should not be something people are saddled with bc they have no other choice.

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:03

If someone is anti religion and doesn't like Christianity being taught at a Christian school, it boggles the mind that they moved to an area/continued living in an area where the only option was a faith school.

whatsappdoc · 12/09/2023 18:08

Aaargh! That's it. I'm going to shoot myself.

Zenithia · 12/09/2023 18:15

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:03

If someone is anti religion and doesn't like Christianity being taught at a Christian school, it boggles the mind that they moved to an area/continued living in an area where the only option was a faith school.

Good thing everyone can afford to move then 🙄

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:17

@Zenithia you have 5 years before they start school to plan things (if not before conception).

CurlewKate · 12/09/2023 18:24

In the spirit of the thread- having to say the same things multiple times and being ignored- I will repeat. People of faith have a choice of 30% more tax payer funded schools than people without faith. Is that fair? Would people be happy if the same thing applied to hospitals or libraries?

clashok · 12/09/2023 18:25

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:17

@Zenithia you have 5 years before they start school to plan things (if not before conception).

Not everyone gets to plan before conception. For example thr rape victims and children you think should be forced to give birth.

bingobongos · 12/09/2023 18:26

It's CRAP isn't it OP?!

We're in exactly the same boat. The only local school is C of E. So we had no choice as to where we sent our child... unless of course we were prepared to drive 6 miles to the nearest non religious school. That would be bonkers on many levels!

In my mind the issue is the school system here. It should be entirely secular. Even the non religious schools are technically religious eg having to participate in a daily collective act of worship.

Our son is now in year 2. We knew he would have Christianity rammed down his throat at every turn. We counteracted it before he started school - lots of focus on science, evolution, critical thinking etc.

We could have pulled him out of some of the religious nonsense - but, on balance didn't want him to be 'that weird kid.'

As to the PP who suggested planning house buying/ contraception - do fuck off!!

Zenithia · 12/09/2023 18:31

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:17

@Zenithia you have 5 years before they start school to plan things (if not before conception).

So you think every single parent can, in five years with a young child, can save up enough to go to a different part of the country where they probably don't know anyone and might not be able to find s job? And that schools never close or change?

You're just trying to justify your religion being pushed at taxpayers expense. If the only schools near you taught a different religion as fact, or taught that God doesn't exist, you'd be complaining.

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:36

@Zenithia I can categorically tell you that if every school near me was teaching that God didn't exist, I wouldn't be sending my child
there; only school in the village or not.

I would have a plan of action and move heaven and earth to get something else sorted/move house/home school or whatever.

I wouldn't be sending my kids there and then moaning that a religious school is teaching religion.

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:36

I mean, moaning that an atheist school is teaching that God doesn't exist.

GorillaInBikini · 12/09/2023 18:39

It is crap isn't it. Our only good option for eldest DD was independent c of e prep school. She went through a bit of a god bothery phase at the age of 7 then swiftly grew out of it. Try not to worry so much.

We now live in Northern Ireland and there are no schools to my knowledge that do not push some flavour of Christianity. We sent our younger ones to an integrated school here and they just learn a more diverse range of nonsense 😆 but I'm confident they will grow up to be church dodging heathens like us

CurlewKate · 12/09/2023 18:48

@Dacadactyl I don't want schools to teach that god doesn't exist- I want them to teach that some people think he does and some people don't. And I don't want them praying to him!

Zenithia · 12/09/2023 18:49

Dacadactyl · 12/09/2023 18:36

@Zenithia I can categorically tell you that if every school near me was teaching that God didn't exist, I wouldn't be sending my child
there; only school in the village or not.

I would have a plan of action and move heaven and earth to get something else sorted/move house/home school or whatever.

I wouldn't be sending my kids there and then moaning that a religious school is teaching religion.

Good for you. But as has been pointed out multiple times on this thread, not everyone has the option to move.