To expect a non - religious school NOT to practise worship?

[bloomingfedup]

Please tell me if I am or not or just have my facts wrong. My DC is at a non- religious primary school, they learn about different religions - ok fine but they also practise pray to JC and God. My DC has been saying things like God is the saviour - don't get it.

Because it's important to keep reinforcing the point that superstitions are subjective and that people have no right to have their myth systems protected by law. We have a government that is worryingly in favour of privileging the superstitious, and it's a bad idea to allow theocracy to grow out of inertia.

stxmum....As others have said that schools are required by law to have a daily act of worship you can't chose a state school that is not religious...there aren't any!!!
One way you can make your feelings known though is by removing your child from assemblies involving acts of worship.

As an "undecided" though using insulting terminology when referring to beliefs other than your own would not endear me to your point of view. But, then again, maybe that's not your aim.

yes but the state should not promote religion
it is a sad sad time

If you chose your school on the basis of it not being religious than you haven't read the Education Acts, I think that last one was 1998 but I could be wrong.You chose a school that is required by law to have collective worship of a broadly Christian nature (the exact percentage is set down somewhere). If a school has more Hindu etc than Christian a Head can apply to change the percentage.

yes I do know that but as a foreigner some things still baffle me
most people don't go to church or practice any sort of religion yet when it comes to schools it is all so biased

Because the Cof E is the state religion sfxmum. I agree it sounds odd but the PM appoints the bishops. The bishops sit in the House of Lords.They are all tied together.They are state schools.
At the end of the day if everyone removed their DCs from the collective worship there couldn't be any. However one can only assume that the majority are happy with it.I wouldn't move mine. Anyone has the right to remove their DC, it is written into the education act. I should google 'society for secular Britain' if you want to see how things stand and make changes.

I get that the Queen is the head of the Church and it is her majesty's government
I come from a catholic country but there is separation of church and state so if you want a religious education you pay and go private otherwise the RE subject will have to do

kiddiz - you've missed my point. Not saying I feel like a weirdo. People should opt in to acts of "worship", not be forced to opt out.

I wasn't saying you feel like a weirdo. I was saying that opting out of collective worship in school shouldn't make you feel like a weirdo if you are doing what you believe is right for you and your dcs. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
You are maybe right and perhaps you should have to opt in rather than out. I don't know. But like a lot of systems in this country the education system we have is not ideal for everyone and could never accommodate everyones individual needs without exception. But things will never change if people just complain that their dcs are "forced" in to acts of group worship yet do nothing about it. Asking for their dcs not to be included is an easy way of putting a point across and also not having their dcs exposed to an activity some people clearly feel is wrong or inappropriate in schools.
I don't have a real problem with the way religion is incorporated in to schools but clearly you and others on here do. The reality is that one parent at a school is probably not going to change an education system that has for years been linked with religion. But if their child's inclusion in an act of worship is a real problem to them asking for their child not to be included is an option that, if I felt that way, I would take.

"yes but the state should not promote religion"

It does though doesn't it? By providing large grants from our taxes to religious schools.

I bloody object.

Not really wanting to get in to a debate about religious schools..but surely the vast majority of children in state funded religiuos schools would be in the state education system anyway wouldn't they? It could be argued (although not neccessarily by me !!) that the church is actually saving taxes by providing some of the funding to these schools which, were they not church schools, would have to be funded by the government.

Yes you could argue that. On the other hand you could also argue that as ALL of us pay for the vast bulk of the upkeep of these schools we all ought to be able to be able to have access to their facilities.

It's a great game for the Church though, our current system. They're allowed free rein to separate off and indoctrinate large numbers of children, none of who has made a truly free choice to be part of that faith, and all largely at the expense of the taxpayer.

My point about opting in vs. opting out is that having to opt out assumes there is a dichotomy - those who want an act of worship versus those who don't. It puts "worship" on a level of normality. If people had to opt in, it would be seen for the minority interest it actually is.

What we have at the moment is rather like everyone having to go to school and engage in a collective act of support for the Conservative Party, or Manchester United, unless you actively say you don't want your child to do this. Which is just daft.

And what would happen to "church schools" if, overnight, they just became "schools"? It wouldn't exactly be the end of civilisation, and it might just move us a little further into the Enlightenment.

"And what would happen to "church schools" if, overnight, they just became "schools"?"

What would happen round our way is that a large number of middle-class parents with children coming up to secondary transfer age would have immediate breakdowns, as (with the exception of one city academy which is vastly oversubscribed) all 15 of top achieving schools in my borough (out of 30) are either private or discriminate on religious grounds.

I know about three genuinely religious people. I know about 40 people who attend church simply for the purpose of getting their children into a church school. It's horrible. It's unfair on children and it encourages hypocricy and deceit. How Christian is that? None of church schools reflect the general social make up of the borough - they are overwhelmingly full of children from the better off families. It's appalling.

was thinking about this during the day, dd starts primary next year and for primary I did my best to be a non religious but for secondary there are only 2 decent ones and they are both religious but have an 'atheist' quota
I am less bothered by religious propaganda and indoctrination then
small children are far too literal

but I am an hypocrite realy