Compulsory religion? Can it be avoided?

[Agame]

Dear Mums… my DD and I just moved to Fife, Scotland from Texas, where she went to a British private school with no religious instruction at all, just academic subjects, arts, and fun. She’s been at St Leonards in St Andrews for two weeks. She’s five and in Year 1. She came home singing some Christian hymn and asking what the words meant. This is a shocker for me. I know St L is a great school, but iI don’t like Christian teaching happening behind my back at her school. It says nothing about Christian stuff being taught or infused into the curriculum on their website or any of their materials. What can or should I do? I’m not religious and I do not believe that school is where religion should be taught. There are many religions and many varieties of each. I believe it’s a personal and/or family decision. I’m taken aback to be learning now that religious instruction is compulsory in state schools in Scotland, and seems hard to avoid even in independent schools. Should I write a letter to the head of the school? Do I have any rights here? Are any schools simply secular private schools that leave religion out of the school day? Thank you!

@Agame

It's part of the curriculum for all British schools

It's part of being British and going to a British school

It's part of going to a British school

Not bro g British per se

Before you start

Being

So knowing what you now know, OP, what is your plan?

You are within your rights to ask for your child not to attend assembly if you're happy to single your child out like that when they've just started school then go for it

@Agame

It would appear the British school system isn't for you then

I'm British and went to a British school, but I would hope that being educated within a broadly Anglican tradition of critical thinking would give me the tools to question whether and why Christian worship still needs to be mandated as part of the curriculum. Apparently not in the case of some posters who just want to have a go at someone from abroad daring to criticise any aspect of the 'British' school system (inverted commas because Scotland is different from England).

@Agame does it have to be a private school? You could consider just getting in touch with some of the local state primaries and asking how they handle Religious and Moral Education. They all have to cover it as a core subject, but that's separate from offering 'opportunities for religious observance' which you can withdraw your child from. They have to do RME from the perspective of a mainly Christian context, but they'll all be following the non-denominational curriculum except for the one Catholic school in the area.

I'm an atheist. I allowed my child to make up his own mind, he's also an atheist. He went to a fee paying school and sang in the (selective) chapel choir, singing services, carols, hymns the lot. Other choir members were Christian, atheist, Hindu etc.

I live in Crail, and according to a friend and parent of a child my DD’s age who attends, the local state primary is behind the national norm. St Leonards has a great reputation. Nothing in the school materials or website or during the interview and tour prepared me for normalizing daily Christian songs and prayer.. That said, after hearing all your input, this is the norm. It can’t be fought or changed… my intention is not to be critical, I just was taken off guard and will adapt. In Scotland every religion is present… Christian, Judaism , Sikh, Hindu, Islam, Druidry, and according to the government, over half of all people identify as “non-religious”. Having no choice is startling… but I’ll adapt. Thank you for input.

What makes a school in Texas particularly 'British', Op? There isn't a 'British' national curriculum. Do you mean they follow the English curriculum? (Or the Scottish or do they teach Welsh?)

I'm intrigued!

Once you get adjust you will realise it will very very likely have no impact at all on your child, other than when they go to weddings and funerals they'll know a few hymns.

I get the discomfort though, I'd feel the same if we moved to the US and my children had to swear an oath of allegiance.

Most 5 year olds won't have been taught much about religion yet unless it's of a faith their family practices.
For 5 year olds they generally learn that different families believe different things.
Schools will soon be doing Easter related activities and for the 5 year olds that will mostly be around an Easter egg hunt and decorating a bonnet. They won't be going in depth at this age. I expect many schools will also be talking about Ramadan as that's happening now. A couple of months back it would have been a Nativity play. Before that Diwali etc
The RE lessons (Religious Education ) is very age appropriate for 5 year olds and they will gradually learn more about different faiths and belief systems as they get older.
All children in the UK learn this whether it's the English, Welsh, Scottish or NI curriculum - or the IB curriculum in the school you have chosen for your child.
Your child can't (and shouldn't) be able to opt out of RE lessons.
However you can opt your child out of religious worship. Every parent has the right to do that.
Over-seas parents such as yourself might not always be aware of the difference between RE lessons and religious worship and that's understandable.
However you chose to pay to send your child to a school named after a saint which has links with a university also named after a saint whose history is that it was set up by a religious group. It also states it has a "Christian ethos" yet you are surprised your daughter has learned a few hymns.
Odd.

No-one assumes 'that all children are Christian or should be.'

The UK is a Christian country, the Church of England is Christian.

I went to a CofE grammar school, we had a chapel & a pastor. Our RE teaching was about respecting the views of others, honesty, integrity etc, and then identifying the main points of the world's religions, their festivals and the key flashpoints.

Out of the 65 children in my year, I think one would claim to be Christian - she was a chorist - but everyone else was atheist.

I came away with a distaste for organised religion, but a liking for traditional Christmas carols. It was all pretty harmless.

To avoid it I think you'd have to home-school or move abroad.

@Agame it's hard to get out of catchment children into state primaries in St Andrews, as there's a lot of demand, but I think Kingsbarns is good (though tiny).

Having had a quick look at the Web info on St Leonards it does say it's based on Christian principles. Which with a name like St Leonards seems fairly obvious.

As someone on here once said "school worship is like a vaccine against extreme religion".

The vast majority of the UK can't be bothered with it after a light dose of it in primary school.

"Who put the hump upon the camel"... <<evolution!>>

Haha totally. Also helps if you aren’t that quick at picking up on analogies. I did wonder vaguely why we were always singing about lamp posts and candles. But then I didn’t spot Narnia books were chock full of religious imagery until quite a lot later on!

What were the actual words that your daughter didn't understand? And why do you think that explaining the meaning of a word is the equivalent of indoctrination?

I know the meaning of the words transubstantiation, iftar and yarmulke, but it doesn't mean I believe in the religions they are associated with.

This seems a bit nitpicky. Surely the OP is saying that her daughter asking to have certain words explained is how she has found out that they're routinely singing hymns in school as part of religious observance. It's the participation in religious observance that's the indoctrination, not the concept of learning new words.

My dc's state school has no religious observance.

No nativities.

No easter.

No trips to church.

No minister/priest coming in to deliver assemblies.

That sounds depressing.
Nativity plays and Easter events are more cultural than Christian for much of the UK.
Do they not celebrate anything?

Agree - culturally I’m well up for nativities and Easter events, but happy to leave out the church visits and minister assemblies. We never had the latter two at our English primary school in the 80’s anyway - though we did have nativity or Christmas themed plays, and various Easter egg decorating events.

My primary school (also 80s) was the same.
I remember we did a Harvest Festival event every year (one year I played a sycamore leaf).
It was only when I was an adult I discovered that Harvest Festival is traditionally linked with the Christian calendar (in the UK anyway).

It probably has pagan origins, and was co-opted by the Christians!

Well yes.... pretty much everything has pagan origins 😁