I have to say something, don't I?

[specialgun]

Today my DS told me that in class he and all the other children who hadn't been christened were asked to stand up. The teacher then said to her colleague 'We should have a rule about this shouldn't we'

My DS goes to our village CofE school. Schools in this area are all oversubscribed and we'd have had to travel into town to find a place in a non CE school. I'm not religious and his father is a practising muslim. I accept that he is going to have a certain amount of religious indoctrination but surely this is going too far?

I hate complaining but I feel furious about what has happened. My poor DS was worried he would be expelled. I feel tempted to say he has been.

My ds is slightly younger but I highly doubt he would be able to tell you if he was christened or not (he wasn't). He would probably stand up/sit down based on what his best friend did. If the teacher really wanted to know how was christened this doesn't sound like a very accurate way of going about it!

Popcorn, is the biscuit for me or the OP?

?I took it to mean 'we should have a rule about the children at the school all being christened'?

That?s how I interpreted it too, specialgun. But never mind, first things first . . .

First and foremost, you?ll have to verify with the teachers what exactly was said because young kids can misinterpret something that was (or wasn?t) said.

Assuming what your DS reported was correct and such incident did happen, then I?d firmly ask what business is it of the teachers? ?to have a rule about this?? They are paid to do a job at the school, i.e. to teach, and if they are worth their salt then they should just stick to doing their job instead of rubbing their noses in the politics of the school. Also, you do not need to explain or apologise to anybody that your DS is at the school.

Edit: Pywacket4, I'll be most interested to participate in a parent's forum about this very topic.

It was for the OP, MerryMarigold. I agree with you that it's highly unlikely a teacher would do this.

nappysan Mon 20-Feb-12 20:49:26

"A C of E school IS for C of E children and families, maybe there is a non- faith school that would suit your needs more fully?"

Did you not read the OP where she stated quite clearly that this is the village school and that other schools in the area are over-subscribed (meaning they are not a choice)?

This is a big problem in areas which can only sustain one school: if that happens to be a school dedicated to one particular faith it doesn't leave a lot for the other inhabitants. Not everybody lives in a large city with a plethora of schools.

OP, I wish I could say that no teacher could possibly have said what your ds claims. But I have been in situations where teachers have said precisely the kind of thing that I could have sworn no teacher would ever say- and said it to my face, so that there was no danger of misreport. Even some written communications from dd's junior school were pretty hair-raising and would not have looked good in court had we decided to sue. So yes, it can happen, but it is rare.

However what I have learnt from experience is that you will never get to the bottom of this unless you go in very calmly and gently explain that there must have been some misunderstanding but that you need to get to the bottom of it to set your ds' mind at rest. Then watch them narrowly.