Atheist and the nativity

Justamum

JC9297 wrote: »

They don't have to study RE after year 9 unless they have chosen to take GCSE. I know some Catholic secondary schools make their pupils do it but it is not a requirement of the National Curriculum.

They are supposed to teach it after year 9 as it is still on the NC, but I think it's only tokenism if you haven't chosen it. My daughter is in year 11 and they usually watch a video with some kind of moral message in it. They were supposed to do half a GCSE in it if it wasn't a chosen subject, but they're not doing any exams in it hence the videos.

peachyprice

claire16c wrote: »

Yes they do have to teach RE, its even shown in the link I posted that they do.

How much the school actually does and what they teach is another thing.

They don't have to teach it as an individual subject after yr9 though.

Justamum wrote: »

They are supposed to teach it after year 9 as it is still on the NC, but I think it's only tokenism if you haven't chosen it. My daughter is in year 11 and they usually watch a video with some kind of moral message in it. They were supposed to do half a GCSE in it if it wasn't a chosen subject, but they're not doing any exams in it hence the videos.

Isn't it covered on the PSHE classes after yr 9? I'm sure it then they do it at my boys school, but no, definitley not a compulsory GCSE, but there is some sort of test in the PSHE classes.

onlyroz

robpw2 wrote: »

the whole point about christmas is that its a celebration of the birth of jesus , a christian festival and thefore her child should learn about what the day means

I disagree. Jesus almost certainly was not born on December 25th, and most likely was not born in a stable in Bethlehem. Previous posters have also convincingly explained that the festival on 25th December is an amalgamation of a whole bundle of winter festivals.

As a non-Christian I am happy to celebrate all of these in some manner - for me, the "whole point" is about spending some time with my family, enjoying a bright point in the darkest time of winter, and exchanging some gifts because I think it's a nice thing to do.

You can pretend it's all about the birth of some baby in some stable about 2000 years ago if you want, but I prefer to go with the more meaningful tradition of slaughtering all the animals that you can't afford to feed until Spring, and throwing a bl00dy good party to eat them at.

pearl123

We are talking about a child celebrating Christmas.

newcook

pearl123 wrote: »

We are talking about a child celebrating Christmas.

not quite, we are talking about a child with Athiest parents learning about the Nativity Story

The_One_Who

PoorCharleyBear wrote: »

Not actively avoiding- it just never comes up in daily life. It is something I do not force onto my child, along with other things I believe (I don't eat meat, she does) but it was just a surprise that it seems to have featured highly in school. And I know that her little classmates are Muslims, Hindus and Catholic so featuring one religion seems strange.

I am happy to expose her to it- just do not want it to be forced on her as it was for us as children. We were dropped at church, while our parents went off and did other things.....

Learning the story of the Nativity (which will be done in an incredibly simplified way!) is not having a religion forced upon you. It is treated as a story. Religious Education features in schools, and a part of that is to learn about different religions.

There really is no getting away from this, since it is Christmas and I believe a school should at least talk about the story and why people celebrate at this time. If she chooses to carry on with her religious education then she will learn about the Pagan influences on this festival, and the same with Easter.

onlyroz

The_One_Who wrote: »

If she chooses to carry on with her religious education then she will learn about the Pagan influences on this festival, and the same with Easter.

Really? I was never taught about any pagan influences when I was at school.

balletshoes

onlyroz wrote: »

Really? I was never taught about any pagan influences when I was at school.

neither was I - and I've not heard my daughter mention pagans at all when talking about Easter or Christmas stories at school.

The_One_Who

onlyroz wrote: »

Really? I was never taught about any pagan influences when I was at school.

Did you do it as an actual course, rather than just the compulsory classes?

I am in Scotland and so studied under the Scottish curriculum, so there will be differences.

RazWaz

The_One_Who wrote: »

Did you do it as an actual course, rather than just the compulsory classes?

I am in Scotland and so studied under the Scottish curriculum, so there will be differences.

I did it as a GCSE a few years ago and it wasn't even mentioned. We hardly even looked at other religions either. The exam was actually just about one of the Gospels.