should I send my atheist kid to a C of E school?

[TrixieHeliotrope]

Where I live, there are no schools within 16 miles that are not C of E (Church of England), so it would be natural to send him to one, but the trouble is he's a hardcore atheist (someone who doesn't believe in any religion), so he might not like it there. Should I send him to a C of E school?

Dd is now at 6th form college. She's an atheist but chose a C of E secondary school and was happy with it. The students were a mixture of Christians, members of other religions and atheists. There was a fairly strong Christian ethos but also plenty of respect for those with other faiths or no faith.

Are these C of E secondary schools? That's quite unusual IME.

If they are, some new like you don't have much choice. Maybe find out how much stress the school lays on religion and what the students have to do (eg is RS GCSE compulsory? not necessarily an issue, many find it interesting).

sorry, that should say "sounds like you don't have much choice".

Don't see how you've got much choice tbh. Send him and lobby for secular schools. It's bullshit isn't it.

I mean, the argument i hear most often in favour of them is that people went to them and aren't religious now.

So, not only divisive but also pointless then.

@clary Yes they are, I'll see how strong they are about pushing Christianity. Thanks!

@cariadelt Thanks for your advice!

My atheist DS (Yr11) goes to a church school. Surprisingly he is excelling at RE and is always up for a 'debate' on the subject. His debating skills are pretty amazing these days.

They will follow the same curriculum and a daily act of collective worship same as any other school.
The 'RE curriculum will vary but they will cover other religions and have an Ofsted type inspection focussing on the RE provision, how it is taught, the standard it is and how it allows children of all faiths to flourish.
He is not required to believe or pray. He just needs to be respectful whilst others pray etc. It is an additional requirement and linked to Ofsted outcomes.

@passthemustard Thanks for the advice! I'll admit, my son is pretty good at debating whether he gets more time on Fortnite, and he's pretty interested in other cultures, so maybe he would do well?

@TrixieHeliotrope I think he would do very well!!

Why not, your taxes pay for it!

In areas where the majority of schools are CoE presumably there is a high proportion of non religious people, because everyone goes there? Unlike areas where there is a choice and only families that attend church 3 times a month can get a place.

LOL: my Dc never attended ‘an act of collective worship’ in primary or secondary because they never held them. Assemblies on constructive moral themes, but no religion. London community schools.

I'm a governor at a community CofE school (so no entrance criteria based around religion) we welcome all children, we respect all religions as well as no religion. Our values are Christian values....respect, honesty, trust, thankfulness, faith. These underpin everything we do...but we don't force anyone to believe anything.

Schools are there to educate and especially at secondary I would expect them to present information and let the students critically evaluate it. I'm sure your son will do fine.

@RainingBatsAndFrogs based on what I know of his primary school, it is mainly a mixed cultured area, so they do allow non-Christian kids there.

I doubt they'll be trying to convert him or push religion on to him. It will just mean more focus on Christian festivals, but they will/should discuss other faiths as well.
TBH, most schools C of E or not, have the emphasis on Christmas, Easter etc as the holidays are based around them.
They probably don't sing hymns in assembly these days, but may have a vicar come in now and again to talk!

Send him but make sure he can be respectful of other people's different beliefs, which is a good life lesson anyway. My DC are self proclaimed atheists despite being raised RC. They go to an RC school where GCSE RE is mandatory.

@inappopiaterasperry That makes sense, I hope that's the case

A daily collective act of worship is required in community, foundation or voluntary schools. This can be in class but in a CofE the expectation is the children should be leading this where ever possible. They may be given the theme and have to plan how it is executed. Might write their own songs, prayers, narrative, actions etc. regardless of belief.
I would expect a spiritual council along with a school council where the children decide what charity to support, how they would raise those funds, what community and global support suits the school.
You can go along and see what they are doing or decide to remove him from the assembly. Many assemblies just have a prayer and info about the school week. They are not all religious and some will be done in class where they are likely to have a prayer corner where worries can be shared.

They will have an additional grade similar to Ofsted based on their provision.

Read the SIAMs report but you can't get excellent without being at least Ofsted good as childrens progress is part and parcel of catering for the whole child.

If there's not much choice in the area there will be plenty of other atheists there. We are, after all, close to 50% of the population these days. If he does end up being in a minority then that will be a formative experience for him. He will get to hear other points of view and will get plenty of practice at putting his own point of view across. By doing so, he will be benefitting other children there who might otherwise never get to hear different perspectives.

Both of my children have gone to a C of E school although we are atheists.
I think that it has given them another perspective and although they are taught Christianity they are not required to believe in it.
I like the school and it has less social problems than my eldest child's first school, a comprehensive, there is a lot less drug taking if any!
My eldest child joined at a late staage and only about half the year believed in God by the final year.

@cabbageking thanks! He might be a bit annoyed if I came along to the assembly though!

Tell him a lot of schools in the UK (including most primary schools) have a Christian foundation because the Church of England decided all children should have the opportunity to receive and education long before the government did. As a result, they set aside or bought land and created local schools. You don't have to believe in a metaphysical being in order to be interested in our country's history or the ethical frameworks they follow.

Also the vast majority of Anglican schools cater for children or all faiths and none. Religious Education is taught as an academic subject that covers a combination of world religions, philosophy and ethics. Assemblies might have a bit of religion in them, but it tends to be cultural Christianity rather than proselytising.

Honestly, family convenience and local friends need to be a bigger factor than whether the school has a religious foundation.

I think it is misleading to expect the same daily act of worship as in a non-faith school. Whilst the legal requirements for a daily act of worship of a broadly Christian nature is the legal requirement (or something like that, I haven't looked up the actual phrase), many non-faith secondary schools pretty much ignore that. There are no consequences to ignoring it as ofsted don't inspect it. CofE schools have separate siams inspections, church nominated governors and things like that which make it harder to avoid holding Christian worship at school, even if their intake isn't religiously selective.

You can withdraw your DS from worship. At secondary age, I would give him that choice. We considered it for our DD, but she's primary age and it didn't seem worth the hassle.

RE will follow a different curriculum to a non-faith school. I think it would generally be more Christianity and less comparative religion. I don't know if that would bother me as understanding the cultural impact of Christianity on the UK is important and there seems to me to be a trade-off between that and world religion, whichever way you go.

I would look at the school and ask questions. Having local friends and a short journey would be a big pull for me.

Mine have coped, been happy in fact. I send letters (green ink of course) when the school oversteps, I didn't give permission for some super religious bits, and told them I would withdraw them from the religious assemblies etc if they wished (they didn't). Its been a good school.