Withdrawing DD from RE?

[Widget123]

I want to see if anyone’s had any experience withdrawing their children from PE? How did the school handle it etc.

My husband and I are both atheists. Our DD is 5 and is extremely interested in the universe and science. She’s now coming back from school very confused thinking that god created the world and asking if he made the Big Bang happen! This is too confusing for her, she naturally believes what her teachers tell her (why wouldn’t she) so naturally she’s taking RE as fact and it’s confusing the hell out of her.

I’m happy for her to learn about god in her own way in the future and find her own path but she’s much too young right now.

I’ve read we have the right to withdraw her from Re so simply want to see if people have had experiences with this.

[JassyRadlett]

I’ve just looked up the figures - in Australia, the average per student funding is $13k for government schools, $9k for independent schools, and because of a ludicrous historical anomaly, $10,900 for Catholic schools.

I have mixed feelings about the funding levels. On one hand, higher funding levels makes the schools more accessible and less ‘elite’. On the other hand, how much should the state top up parental choice?

The anomaly between Catholic and other Indy schools is nonsense and should stop, and there are plenty of issues with how the state funding level is worked out geographically.

And of course you are still segregating children by religion. Which is still daft from a social integration perspective.

[JassyRadlett]

I’m always fascinated by posters who simultaneously assure me that Christian worship in schools makes absolutely no difference to anything while simultaneously clinging on to the privilege like grim death.....

It’s almost like being able to get their kids into a ‘nicer’ school is the primary goal, rather than the vital nature of faith education to them.

I know you’ve heard the story of my son’s school before Bertrand - lovely leafy CofE school, all the faith places taken up every year (and almost all the other 50% of places taken up by younger siblings of those admitted through faith places.)

One ‘Needs Improvement’ Ofsted and mysteriously all those parents who had been so dedicated to faith education suddenly found their more local non-faith options much more attractive. Applications under the faith criterion plummeted. Kids like my son scraped in on distance (our only realistic options were faith schools because our catchments are so totally skewed by faith admissions).

The updated ‘good’ Ofsted, talking about the improvements in glowing terms, came out shortly after primary admissions closed in my son’s year. I quite enjoyed the (semi) local outcry about how unfair it was that it hadn’t come out before admissions closed.

Anecdote, not data. But I suspect it’s not an isolated one.

[InTheHeatofLisbon]

In our LA there are proposals to amalgamate the local RC primary with the non denominational primary (DS2 and DDs school). There is enormous reluctance on both sides which is beyond me.

Some of the RC parents don't want their children mixing with non RC children (no idea why but we're Scottish central belt so sectarianism is rife). Some of the non-d parents don't want RC pictures and objects in their child's school (again no idea why, possibly sectarian also.)

Personally I don't give a shit either way, if I don't believe in it the pictures/objects are just pictures and objects to me, but clearly they matter to the RC parents and that's fine with me.

Fair enough in Scotland we have a different school system and more than enough religious intolerance, but it all seems such a bloody faff.

Surely as parents we can explain things to our children? That's our job!

[BubblesBuddy]

What has funding in Australia got to do with any school funding here? There isn’t higher funding for Church or any other religious school here! At least stick to the Uk with “facts”.

Also I’m amazed a Catholic school is even contemplating amalgamation with a community school. It will be a take over! No one will back down and they won’t co exist in the same school.

[JassyRadlett]

What has funding in Australia got to do with any school funding here? There isn’t higher funding for Church or any other religious school here! At least stick to the Uk with “facts”.

It was part of a discussion about alternative models to the English system, and why there are alternatives to direct state provision of faith schools, contrary to what some on the thread have suggested. One poster suggested a tax rebate, I pointed out how the Australian system works as well as positing that there may be an argument in favour of fairness if faith schools were to get prioritised admissions equal to the proportion of funding they put in.

Sorry it didn’t meet your standards. Perhaps I should have used more exclamation marks?

Out of interest, which part of my post wasn’t factual?

[BubblesBuddy]

But the faiths don’t put any funding in. They may of course be MATs but that’s different. That’s what isn’t correct. What funding comes from the C of E? None in any school budget I’ve worked with. We cannot change school funding again! The state puts in what it decides it can afford (well possibly not) to each LA. The LA decides on priorities. The formula then divvies it up to each school. It takes no account of faith as far as I am aware. How is the Australia scenario a good idea when it gives faith schools more? Or am I missing something?

In fact, faith schools here could get more if their PP funding was high and they had many EHICs that were funded. There are very many variables. Any more complications, though, would overload an already complex system. What Australia does just won’t happen here. Hence I suggest sticking to the UK model and using the info on how it is funded is the best way to view faith school funding. Or we could look at 100 countries and come to no conclusion!

[Feenie]

In voluntary sided state c of e schools, building costs etc are contributed. My ds went to one (for no reason other than it was the only place his cm dropped off at, who he'd been with since he was 9 months old).

[Feenie]

It was around 10%, I believe?

[JassyRadlett]

It was around 10%, I believe?

It was, quite a long time ago. Very few faith schools provide any of their capital costs now. That was my point - faith schools get benefits to their religion from state funding out of all proportion to what they put in.

[JassyRadlett]

But the faiths don’t put any funding in. They may of course be MATs but that’s different. That’s what isn’t correct. What funding comes from the C of E? None in any school budget I’ve worked with. We cannot change school funding again! The state puts in what it decides it can afford (well possibly not) to each LA. The LA decides on priorities. The formula then divvies it up to each school. It takes no account of faith as far as I am aware.

How is the Australia scenario a good idea when it gives faith schools more? Or am I missing something?

It would better level the playing field in terms of access to state education by removing faith schools to the private sector but still leaving them more accessible than the English independent sector. It would also remove the bizarre situation where some parents think it is entirely reasonable that they have preferential access to a third of state schools

As I’ve said upthread, it’s not a model I’m particularly advocating as it still segregates children by faith.

Honestly, don’t latch onto this. It was one of a couple of alternative models chucked into the mix to demonstrate the possibility of other models other than ‘give a tax rebate’ or ‘abolish independent schools but leave the faith ones alone’, rather than advocating one strongly. Part of a much, much broader conversation, as you’ll have seen from the thread.

Which bit of my post wasn’t factual, by the way? I’m still intrigued by the quote marks you put around ‘facts’.