Help with drafting a withdrawal letter

[Crazybird2018]

Hi Mumsnet

Could someone help me to draft a withdrawal letter from RE, please?

I’m not a native English speaker and don’t know how to word it. I want to withdraw my Year 7 daughter from her RE lessons.

My daughter has ASD and finds it difficult to concentrate if she finds something confusing. That’s how she usually says that RE is very confusing, and she doesn’t want to do it. She generally finds abstract things hard to comprehend, but she is massively into chemistry and biology, and she simply doesn’t get the idea of RE studies. She is in religious school, and she currently has 2 RE lessons per week, which last 90min each. Although, she is totally fine with masses. She only has a problem with RE as a discipline.

So, do I just simply say that I would like to withdraw my daughter from RE, or do I need to give a reason that she doesn’t understand the subject because of her condition?

In my home country, religion is not mixed with education, so I have no problems to withdraw her. My daughter will have a compulsory RE in her GCSE, so I initially thought to withdraw her in Year 9 or 10 closer to GCSE time, but I guess it needs to be dealt now.
Thanks

The more I read this thread the more I think it's a load of bollocks. . 'Dreamland state'? '180 hours per week'? yeah, right.

And OP - you aren't in YOUR country now. You're in Britain. Suck it up. Or home ed.

The other point about finding things "very confusing" and wanting to give up kind of defeats the whole idea and purpose of going to school for an education. Life by itself is confusing, so may as well give it up altogether. . . Think about it.

Said presumably by someone who doesn't have a child with ASD? My 6 year has been suicidal because of the exhaustion and anxiety caused by trying to navigate a confusing world. If life is confusing for NT chikdren who mostly understand the 'rules' and can process the information, imagine how hard it is for a child with ASD.

My daughter is very bright, she currently achieves well, most people would say they wouldn't know she had ASD when they meet her. But she really struggles. I'm not co vinces she will manage secondary mainstream, partly because of the sort of lack of understanding shown on this thread.

As I said I taught RE, was a head of dept. I still belive strongly in it. But this idea that we must push children to do every subject as a benefit, when they are clearly struggling is ridiculous.

My dd also struggled in English and other subjects, but there is little or nor support to help her. So eventually she won't be able to keep up. That's how the current system works.

My daughter has a visual processing disorder and initially really struggled with RPE due to the need to argue both sides of the situation and the discuss type questions. It would have been really easy to withdraw her, but I felt the skills that she could learn were really important.
She struggled through years 7 and 8 and then in year 9 she realised that you learn the pattern of how to answer a question and suddenly she got it. This has paid off in English lit and History both of which she loves and now in year 10 she is doing well in both with RPE having taught her how to answer the questions.

I don’t know about secondary, but I’m primary the amount of coverage of other faiths in the RE curriculum of a catholic school is minimal. I doubt that’s a significant factor.

As for how we do things in Britain, well unlike other countries, we do mix religion and education, with the caveat that every parent has the right to withdraw their child from that aspect of the curriculum. The OP is only doing what’s enshrined in English law. Plenty of British parents do the same thing.

I’m not sure that the argument that you can’t drop out of other subjects you struggle with so you shouldn’t drop out of RE is entirely logical. I would think it would make more sense to drop the one you can in these circumstances.

No problem with RE as part of curriculum for KS3 but why should some schools be able to insist on it for GCSE - takes up revision time in the lead up to exams and could limit other timetable space for options. That’s the time for a tactical opt out.

The wording of the OP suggests her DD just doesn't really like RE and so wants to withdraw if that is the case I think it's a bad idea. If the lessons are causing her DD significant stress of anxiety then yes I don't see why she shouldn't be withdrawn.

Religious Education is not part of the national curriculum in the same way as Maths etc. Instead there is a National Framework. There is recognition that there are children from families whose religious beliefs prevent them from learning about other religions. This is why there is accommodation for them by way of withdrawal. That accommodation does not exist for people who do not like the subject.

It sounds like your daughter attends a Roman Catholic school with admissions criteria that require students to be Roman Catholic. As such, the school would be within its rights to say that children must participate in Religious Education and that those families who do not fully support the Roman Catholic ethos of the school should look for an alternative school.

I think you should have a conversation with the school. Meet the Head of RE. Look at the curriculum. Perhaps observe a lesson. Talk about what she finds challenging and how teachers could accommodate her needs. RE isn't all abstract. It encompasses history, analysis of literature, the construction of an argument, analytical criticism, sociological studies of different religious practices both now and in the past. In a world with so much religious tension and stereotyping in the press, it is a remarkably important subject. A little differentiation may help your daughter enjoy her RE lessons.

That accommodation does not exist for people who do not like the subject.

Yes it does. Parents can withdraw for any reason and they don’t have to give a reason. And the school are not within their rights to refuse even if they are an RC school. And they would definitely be breaking the law if they asked parents who didn’t fully support the RC ethos to leave.

What Maisypops said. So you want to stop your child learning different views/beliefs. But you will fill their time with Kumon? Fucking hell.

Frankly, as an immigrant myself I’m going to say this, if you are not living in your country, you are not sending your children to school in your country, then whatever hsoidbs in your country is not relevant. You need to adopt what is the norm in the country you are living in. I’ve lived in UK close to 28 years. All my children went to Uk education. I had to change my vocabulary and spelling to help them not be confused/marked down. I had to navigate the education system, which is drastically different than “my” country but guess what- we don’t live there. We live in the UK. Get over yourself and start truthfully assimilating if you want to live here.

IMPORTANTLY If you send your child to a religious school, then they will have studies in thst religion and you will have had to agree with that when you chose to apply to that school for your child to attend. If you do not like what the school is about, you are free to choose another school for your child and should do so

Additionally, I’m fairly certain that there are tutors available in the subject of RE that could help your child understand the concepts of this if thst is what you’re concerned they are not grasping.