in support of Religious Education in schools

[rabbitlady]

am i allowed to post this link?
i know that many people don't support RE, but for those who do, here is an opportunity to show it.
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/52408

Grimma
Academies do not have to follow the National Curriculum.
DDs school is an academy.
Ergo

BUT the form I signed was old
because I have
Schools have to teach RE but parents can withdraw their children for all or part of the lessons.
opted to withdraw from all

Goves plans for the curriculum are an irrelevance
as Academies, Free Schools and Private schools do not have to follow it

by September that will be over 3/4 of all secondaries and heading towards 1/4 of all primaries

I think it's outrageous that RE is compulsory and history isn't.

Citizenship and Critical Thinking should be compulsory- RE should be an option like any other.

If your school is an Academy, it IS optional
ignore what Gove and the Daily Fail rant about
the National Curriculum ONLY applies to LEA schools - of which there are fewer every term

Talkinpeace, out of interest why did you withdraw your daughter?

It all seems a bit of a waste of time if children can be withdrawn from part of a lesson that just provides neutral information for discussion, or if state schools are allowed to teach a belief rather than teach about belief.

Maybe it does need to be reclassified as something else.

However, that seems a pity, as, as far as I know, (and I know very little about this) the subject that is examined at school (and studied at university?) is not about indoctrination.

Talkin...yes, of course...

If there was a petition to 'make all schools follow the SACRE/national curriculum' for RE - including all faith schools - I'd sign it.

(personally I think that allowing schools to opt out of the national curriculum will lead to some successes but quite a lot of disasters. I reckon they should keep a core compulsory curriculum so that schools can't mess around too much especially with religion and science.)

merrymouse
frankly, timetable time!
she's doing a full set of heavy GCSEs and a waste of time lesson seemed exactly that.
she gets a full dose of comparative faith and philosophy discussion at meal times while listening to the Radio 4 news

grimma
Yes, the fact that "faith" schools do not have to teach about other faiths is a disaster waiting to happen (thanks Bliar)

Curlew
"I think it's outrageous that RE is compulsory and history isn't.
Citizenship and Critical Thinking should be compulsory- RE should be an option like any other."

+1

Absolutely agreed.

there are 400 signatures on the petition. come on mumsnetters, make it some more! save RE jobs! save tolerance, independent thought, questioning... save asking ultimate questions...sign the petition!

no, sorry, not the right petition

well, that's ok. but people should sign if they can.

I am sorry, I am a profane in this subject. I was reading but couldn't understand what the petition was asking. I understood that Gove wants to listed to religious groups. That's not good news IMO, but what the petition is for?

Their are good issues taught in the RE class. The problem most parents have with it is the religious aspect. It is a conflict of interest for teachers who are religious taking this class, a bit like BNP members taking a race relations class. Take the religion out of RE, call it what it is Ethics, Culture ... etc (or whatever) and a lot more parents will find it less harmful and more positive.