School asking daughter to remove small cross despite religious symbols policy

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I'm looking for some advice and thoughts!

DD is 15 and at secondary school. She has always worn a small silver cross - at primary school this was never an issue (it was a church school) Up until this point it's not been an issue at secondary school either. The cross is very small and is tucked into her shirt so you would have to be really looking for it in order to see it. She always removes it for PE etc.

Last Monday her head of year saw the cross and asked her to remove it. My daughter replied that it was her cross, and that she didn't want to. She was then approached and asked to remove it every day for the remainder of the week, with increasing threats of sanctions if she didn't comply with the schools 'no jewelry' rule. My daughter kept reiterating that this was her cross, and asked the teacher to speak with me. Finally on Friday I received an email to tell me that my daughter needed to take her cross off.

I completely understand the new jewelry rule but wonder how this sits alongside the responsibility that the school has under the equalities act 2010. In their uniform policy it states that it will 'allow pupils to wear headscarves and other religious or cultural symbols' I would interpret this to include a cross too?

My daughter wears her cross as a sign of her faith and really wants to continue to do this.

Has anyone come across this situation before? If so, what was the solution?

Quite. And so you’ll know that crosses have been deemed legitimate religious expression

In the same way people of other faiths do you mean. Muslims totally keep their hijabs in their pencil cases!
It’s true that Christian’s are not obliged to wear any expression of faith (freedom to choose) But a Christian should surely be allowed to wear a small discreet symbol of their faith if they choose to do so (in a technically Christian country) without being accused of simply wanting to flout the rules.

Absolute bullshit, as are the responses from people telling you to tell her to take it off. You are 100% right to quote the equality act and their equality policy. I would fight this tooth and nail on principle.

It doesn’t have to be mandatory. The cross is a personal religious expression of faith and that’s all anyone needs to know.

But if the no jewellery policy is down to health and safety or to stop the risk of theft of expensive jewellery, then the school is within its rights to say no jewellery and arrange for her to show her faith in a different way.

Why did it take you a whole week to get involved in this? And why did it take the school contacting you?

I’d be calling on the first day there was issue to clarify and challenge this madness.

And ?

When a right is qualified, it is trumped by happenstance. As rather laboured upthread, no matter what any court in the UK or Europe thinks, you are not going to get to wear your tinkly thing inside an MRI machine.

A school cannot ask a pupil to substitute their chosen form of religious expression for another.

Many schools allow chains with crosses on, so this school is being unnecessarily harsh and does not need to enforce such a strict rule in order to maintain health and safety.

Just another medium to waste more hours of teachers time, going up the chain of command, to the head, governors...

Just take it off and stop making a fuss. Sew a cross into her clothing. Job done.

Teachers just don't have time to deal with a parent over this. Far more important things to be getting on with, special needs help, bullying, etc. But yes, you've found something to tie people up in knots with, fear about making a 'wrong' decision over and so on...

Please take it off. Don't spend hours wrangling with people about how devout your daughter is or how the school policies can be interpreted. It's just 'me me me' wasting time and energy.

If she is honestly wanting to wear her cross as a sign of her faith, and not just to be awkward and smug for getting away with flouting the uniform rules, then I would get her to speak to your local vicar/priest about why she feels it is important for her to do this and ask if they will write a letter to confirm they have spoken to her about her faith and she is wearing it as a practising Christian.

I do remember an obnoxious child in my school asking why he couldn’t wear a cross when a Sikh student could wear a small dagger and the teacher sweetly replying that he would be very welcome to wear one when he brought in a letter from the vicar confirming his faith.

You are down playing and trivialising a symbol that has significant meaning to many many people. Calling it a tinkly thing is disrespectful and says everything I need to know about your views.

Then they could look at what has happened before and get on with something more worthwhile. Total jobsworth attitude.

The MRI machine is a straw man anyway.

The MRI machine is a straw man anyway.

@Diamond7272 as a Chair of Governors I would not consider this at all a waste of my time. It’s an important issue for this young person and is being handled clumsily.

Half of children don't achieve the equivalent of a grade 'c' in English and Maths these days. 10% would be classified as illiterate.

I feel that schools should have bigger fish to fry than wasting hours on religious jewellery debates at top levels.

I'd get your point if schools were a huge success and there was 'spare' time in the curriculum and working day for teachers to address this...

But... Religious jewellery isn't a big deal for most children. Religion isn't a big deal for the majority. Have you seen the age demographic on songs of praise???? Children need English and Maths.... Not teachers tied in knots over this!!!!

This is definitely Daily Mail fodder…

Would you get someone to discretely wear their headscarf on a long chain under their clothes so it was invisible?
And invisible to who?

That’s because in that case it’s proportionate to remove it so that the scanner can operate properly. The assessment of proportionality will be different in different circumstances. The risk assessment for a secondary school environment will be different

I hope this wouldn’t happen today but in 1988 my mother asked school to let me wear my late father’s ring (flat signet). He had died very suddenly & unexpectedly the month before. They did indeed say no: ‘If we say yes to you, we have to say yes to everyone.’

And yet the teachers seem to have time to harass and bully a young girl over her faith and expression of it.

definitely an issue for the governors

Well yes they can in the interests of fairness and health and safety and as a matter of policy.

I suggest you look up the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I've provided a link. Because if I had a child at that school I might suggest they wear the traditional headgear of the Pastafarians as an expression of their faith if this child is allowed to wear a cross.

Wearing a colander is not compulsory, but it is an expression of our faith, and therefore the school can't ask a child to substitute their chosen form of religious expression for another...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

No, this is not a parody.

I think there's a greater 'risk' in that an experienced, good, teacher will find themselves in and out of the heads Office, the head enquiring about every word and gesture to the pupil about this cross... After 3 or 4 summons, each with a fear that they 'might have offended' said pupil or breached their 'rights', that teacher will say 'sod it!' and hand in their notice...

The straw that broke the camel's back.

Teachers are tired, overworked... They don't need religion just used as another medium to waste hours of the day.

And to the school governor. Great. That's your voluntary job, to oversee. But you aren't a qualified teacher, or an experienced one. If the teacher leaves, that's a problem for the children... Far more than if you leave. Governors are far more easily replaced than experienced teachers these days.

That is a satirical ‘religion’ and it’s not protected under the law. Christianity is.

Rubbish. No ones bullying her. She's breaking the rules on jewellery.

She's been repeatedly 'asked'....