Religion, assemblies etc

[SuiGeneris]

DS starts school on Thursday and I have just realised, reading another thread, that he is about to learn about praying, God etc. I come from a country where school and church are completely separate so had not even considered the issue until now- what do I tell him??

He knows about churches and has been 3/4 times but I don't think he knows why people stand up, sit down, kneel, sing etc. MIL is very religious and has given him bible-themed activity books etc but we have avoided reading/discussing them so far as the stories seem unsuitable for such a small boy...

Is your child going to a church school?

It depends on what type of school he's going to. If it's a C of E school, then the school will have a 'Christian ethos'. Most state primaries that I know do very little in the way of collective worship. I don't know any that force children to pray, and they teach Christianity during RE lessons.

Assemblies may have a moral message, but predominantly most are not Bible stories and just messages about how to be a good person. Then again, it depends on who is leading the assembly. My school does assemblies about all the major religious festivals, but we do go to the Church for our nativity. Lots of children opt out and stay at school.

If the school does share Bible stories and he finds it confusing, just make sure he understands that he can discuss his thoughts with you. When I went to school, we did pray and hear Bible stories so I really struggled when I started questioning it all when I was about 6, but thought I was alone in not believing.

What sort of school is he going to?

There is a wide spectrum of interpretation of "daily collective worship of a broadly Christian nature". Some community schools will appear more religious than somechurch schools.

The only way to find out is to ask. You could email a question, non-confrontational and friendly, "so you can explain/translate for DS".

As an aside, I think it's absurd that this rule still exists in 2014.

DS's go to a c of e school so they do the Lord's Prayer etc, but not much more than I expect from primary school. They do go to church more often, as it is next door. I think most primary schools that are non c of e do things like "quiet reflection" time and it is all very vague, eg helping others with an updated reference to the Good Samaritan story...

He is going to a non-denominational private primary, I forget the details, but there was something about a broad Christian ethos and this term's diary includes a harvest festival (whatever that is) in a local church.

Harvest festival is one of those old pagan things that was hijacked by the Christian church. It's traditionally a service of thanks for the harvest, held near to the harvest moon (approx end sept). Usually linked with charitable donations - most schools donate non perishable foodstuffs for local needy. Generally a time to reflect on how lucky we are to have enough food etc. by non-denominational, I think the school means it's not any particular type of Christian school.

Yes, I would assume that "non-denominational" meant Christian rather than secular, so I guess it's fair enough for them to have Christian worship etc.

However, I do object to the fact that even schools that have no particular affiliations to the church are still expected to do the whole Christian worship thing. It's totally anachronistic. I think all state schools should be secular, with teaching about all religions confined to RE. If parents want their children to grow up within a particular religion, surely that's what churches and Sunday schools are for!