Preparing child for a Church School

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Dd is due to start reception in September at a Church School. It was easily the best school to support her and all our closest schools are all church schools anyway. As DH and I are atheists, I spoke with the HT, teachers and some parents and was reassured that the focus was more on general Christian values which felt ok to us. Now we have more information and there is more of a focus on religion than we thought. It's still the best school for DD and I wouldn't want my beliefs to stop her getting the best support she needs. She knows the very basics of different religions but I'm not sure how I prepare her for a school that will communicate Christian beliefs when her parents don't share them. I know I might be overthinking it and it could be a non issue but if anyone has any tips they would be appreciated.

Op I think I am agnostic - my son goes to a church school he loves singing in the church choir but he also loves bringing up science to any RE lesson.

I am really happy with the school I am not religious. The staff are just amazing.

It is a typical diverse London school with some challenging kids in it.

I feel my son is learning to respect difference.

I know a little boy in his class is Muslim and he dips out of anything overtly religious - only know this from speaking to him mum and it seems you can dip out of anything too overly religious.

I like that the school has emphasis on being kind, accepting others and also different religions but I gather than is all syllabus based.

The school is linked to a couple of church's wth preachers - or whatever they are called but they seriously cool and do heaps to help people without I think pushing religion into people.

Through the church singing my son found a real love for music so I don't mind him belting out hallelujahs

My 2 have gone to CE primary and we're both atheist. They've asked a lot of questions which we've answered openly. We talk about what we believe and don't believe and about the historical origins of religion, but tell them they can choose what to believe as they grow up.

DS1 is now at a non faith secondary and doing RP rather than RE. He loves it - it's like a breath of fresh air in comparison to primary. But I think it's been a good experience to have. Very good for critical thinking skills and good for the CE children at the primary to hear different views in the classroom.

Thank you all I'm feeling more reassured. DD has enjoyed us reading through a book about different religions. She asks questions a lot so she's quite fascinated by it. Keeping engaging her in talking about how people believe different things seems to be working well.

I remember having to explain to both of mine that their teachers were Christians, so were giving a Christian perspective when they said certain things, but that if they had gone to another school their teachers would have a range of different views (or the same views, but for different reasons). That gave them permission to put what they were being told into perspective rather than defaulting to the natural assumption that their teachers are always right.

Good luck!

Our two children just coming to the end of secondary education in a Catholic school. The worst feature of the religion there was a total disconnect with reality when it came to sex education and PSHE. CHECK their policies comply with DfE guidance and best practice. CHECK they teach about consent. CHECK the content of PSHE lessons. This stuff matters more than any GSCEs. We found out too late how important this stuff is. You can teach your own child this stuff but you can't teach the rest of their peer group, and boys who do not get taught about consent don't understand consent. Good luck.

My kids school is c of e. I love the way they approach things. The schools values are basically taken from the bible. They are the fruits of the spirit and are kindness, goodness, gentleness, love, joy, peace etc. Most of the religious Teaching is hinged on these values which I believe are good values to aspire to. They learn about a lot of different religions as well. DD is in yr 5 and knows a lot about different branches of Christianity, Buddhism, muslims, Jews and Hindus. She also knows about atheists and agnostics.

I think the message is - fine at primary, but be more wary at secondary (unless you want to turn them into cynics rather than skeptics).

7acrewood - can you expand was this secondary?

I think it is greatl.Surely you want to make up her own mind about religion when she is a little older -rather than blindly following your lead? This enables he to be exposed to 2 opposite belief systems, facilitating this

Yes! I find I find out so much more about options when I limit them to 2.

Get a great understanding of world food by eating only bread and cheese!

7acrewood surely sex education is the job of a parent. Why would you ever leave it to another person?
OP I am a Christian and chose for my children to go to a church school. Unlike PPs my children do not burst into song and rarely talk about the stories they learn in RE. However they have learnt about evolution for example and happily discuss that ie my kids take more notice of the science than RE lessons.
I would imagine that the leaflet asking you to tell your child about prayer is so you can prepare them how you want eg a christian parent would say you know how we say our prayers to God at home you will do that at school whereas an atheist parent can say when you are asked to pray you just need to sit their quietly and listen because some people who go to your school believe that they can talk to an invisible God but we don't.