I found out this morning that my children have been saying prayers before lunch...

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We deliberately chose a non-church school (most of the local schools to us are church schools) as we are not religious and did not want our children educated in this way. In fact it is a community school.

But today DS told us that they say prayers before they go for lunch. DD (who is now in the juniors, so was there for 3 years) confirmed this... She knew the words off by heart.

Now I am not happy (at all) about this, and neither is DH.

My question is should I complain?

If I were you I would value the fact that your children are being exposed to a range of different influences and practices, so that they are grounded enough in various ways of life to be able to make their own choices later.

How religious is the wording of the prayer?

At DS's school they say some words before lunch, but they are not overtly religious. The advantages are that is makes everyone quiet in the dinner hall before eating, and ensures that everyone eats their dinner at the same time. I am very anti-religion in schools, but I do see the advantage of this moment together before they all dig in!
Words are something like, 'Thankyou for food to eat, health to enjoy and friends to eat it with' or somesuch

Complain if you like but I doubt much will happen. Or maybe your children will be left out of the hall while they say prayers and then they will be different. Kids can hate being singled out..

Are you sure they are religious prayers? I sometimes wish my kids had to be thankful for the food on their table at school...

We have found out that DS is being taught that God made the first man & woman. I was very unimpressed. I do not want my son taught creationist rubbish! His school is also a community school and I think they say prayers in morning assembly. I think I am going to ask why rather than complain as such. But I agree with you, it is not on!

I like the idea of non-religious prayer. A moment of reflection and gratitude.

What harm has it done?

Just tell your dc's you think it's bollocks if you don't want them to believe.

It depends on the wording really - there is nothing wrong with a few words of thanks imo.

It just makes them think about others not so fortunate as themselves..which is a good thing?

I agree with threadworm

It is not in the hall though it is in the classroom. Apparently the other reception class doesn't do it .

I think you are right I won't complain but when the opportunity arises I will question it.

It is a bit about thank you for the food etc but does end with an Amen so is a proper Christian prayer. Now there are children fromm lots of different religious backgrounds in his class. I wonder if their parents are aware they are partaking in christian prayers??

I don't mind him learning about religions at all - in fact it is a very interesting subject IMO. However I do object to him participating in a certain religious practise.

Like others, I think it completely depends on the wording: if they mention God or the Lord or somesuch then you are well within your rights to complain. If it is more about being thankful for the food or thinking of others less fortunate etc. then I don't think there is anything wrong with that at all.

I'd complain.

DD goes to the school I went to, and we said prayer in morning assembly and before lunch, and we also had religious studies. I am not, and my parents are not, religious, however, most of my friends are, and dd chooses to go to two childrens church groups a week.

At home we read about other cultures and religions and we do non-religious thanksgiving whenever we feel we have something to say (ie, not necessarily before every meal) " I feel so fortunate that today we have been able to...whatever.

I have told her its ok not to repeat the prayers in school, but to silently think about something that she is grateful for.

when i worked in a non-faith school, i was surprised that they said a prayer in assembly every morning. the head teacher told me that they are obliged to do something called collective worship.

however, the 'prayer' was worded 'thank you for this and that...' as opposed to 'praise the lord' type mantras. nothing wrong with that imo. sometimes she said 'dear god' at the beginning but the children weren't expected to say 'amen' at the end so if they weren't religious it didn't matter.

why don't you ask the wording of the prayer and go from there?

They do this at DS's primary school, in the lunch hall though. BUT they do learn about lots of religions, not just Christianity, with most things leaning towards the moral lessons rather than the religious ones. I'm a committed Humanist, so you'd think I would object, but I can see that there's a lot to learn about ethics and morals from religious stories and traditions.

Does sound weird that it's only his class though and in the classroom - teacher should really keep their own beliefs separate, maybe have a word with the HT or one of the governors.

i think that all school assume the christian faith as a basis as it is the predominant religion here? i might be wrong though...

here is the info on collective worship

The head teacher is responsible for arranging the daily collective worship after consulting with the governing body. Daily collective worship must be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character. The precise nature will depend on the family background, ages and abilities of the pupils. It is acceptable for schools to split the collective worship sessions over the school year to be 51 per cent Christian and 49 per cent other faiths or interests.

Most schools should be able to include all pupils in their act of collective worship. There may be exceptional cases, however, where, in view of the family background of some or all pupils, the head teacher and governing body feel that a broadly Christian act of worship is not suitable. In these circumstances, the head teacher can apply to the local Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) to have the Christian content requirement lifted. Before doing so, the governing body should consult the parents of pupils at the school. Collective worship can take place at any time in the school day and the whole school does not need to get together at the same time. Collective worship can be organised into form groups or year groups or whatever is appropriate for the school. It cannot be organised in faith groups unless a determination has been sought and granted by the local SACRE.

so you have the right to withdraw your child from this if you see fit.

I think schools are obliged to include a certain amount of Christian practice in their day to day routines unless they are specific non-Christian faith schools. DD's school (community primary) is not a religious school but they say a simple grace before meals and sing a hymn in assembly.

DD has asked what it's all about as we are not religious so it was all new to her. I've told her that some people believe in God and like to talk to him but other people don't, and it's up to her what to think. She's happy with that although at 4 I don't think she really understands.

God made the first man and woman, sorry why is that creationist rubbish?
What's wrong with giving thanks and reflecting on whatever invisible forces are around us, whether the code name is God or otherwise? When someone says Bless you, do you recoil in horror?

One non-faith school I worked in always did this too. It was more of a quiet reflection than a prayer really, and just encouraged the children to think about where their food had come from, who had provided it (grown/cooked), and to think of other children around the world who maybe weren't so lucky to be eating so well.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I have grown into a very healthy sceptic where religion is concerned and have a very deep aversion to, and suspicion of, organised religion yet I went to Sunday school every Sunday for years as a child.

swanriver, it's not inappropriate to say 'some poeple believe that god made the first man and woman'.

thing is that kids don't always say exactly what the teacher says iykwim.

some people

My dd (8) has decided she doesn't believe in God and she HATES all the praying they do at assemblies and such. I've told her that it's up to her (tough for me, as I do believe in God, but there you go!) and that she has to just work around this.

Things will happen in life that we don't like/agree with/approve of, but you have to work around them.

If things were to get overly-religious at our school, which is possible as they are a very christian based school (though not a faith school) I would go in and chat to them to see how we could work around it. I do think that tolerace is one of the things dd needs to learn, though, so it would have to be pretty extreme for me to react.

Hope you manage to sort it ou.

Invisible forces
There are explainable forces.
And that is the education i want.

maybe the 'Flying spaghetti monster'.
look it up on wiki.