Religion to Get Into School?

Jagraf

Tlg1991 wrote: »

Okay a lot of people calling me out for being a hypocrite, probably like a huge majority of other people. my main point i suppose was i am worried that other subject like science which i value very highly will be obscured by the school religious stature.

Like someone has already mentioned further up and the stories i have heard and also gone through when i was at school, mine wasn't so bad but looking back i can't remember doing about evolution or the big bang and when we did do sex education it was in our drama class as the teacher felt strongly we needed to be taught it so she took it into her own hand.

I know i could teach my child what to listen to and what to question, but surely its the schools job to ignite a bit of imagination in kids and give them knowledge to ask questions, not brain wash them with religious beliefs which from what i've heard is the only way i can describe what some schools do.

My daughter's chemistry teacher was atheist, at a catholic school. So, combined with her RE gcse, this gave her a fantastic set if viewpoints upon which to draw her own ideas. We have not had one situation, at all her time at school, where I thought she was being brainwashed. She did sex ed in RE, Biology and PSHE (or whatever its called). Her Auntie is Hindu and went to the school to talk about her faith (we have loads of 'religions' in our family). Most of the RE lessons included debate, which is broadly what the RE GCSE is based on. You only have to see the debates on here to realise how important it is to learn about religion and its impacts positive and negative in society. Our whole history is based on it. If done properly at school, its a fascinating topic.

Jagraf

bouicca21 wrote: »

I think there is research to show that faith schools do better because of the extent that they can control their admissions and use the criteria they set to exclude children from problem families.

My ex was a Catholic who had gone through the catholic education system. He refused to even consider sending our children into a system that he described as organised child abuse. Presumably it has changed with the times but being baptised is no guarantee of admission, I remember talking to one mum who was a devout Catholic and could not get her child into the local catholic primary school because the (essential) reference from the parish priest stated that she attended mass fortnightly instead of weekly.

My senior school had no faith. It was appalling, with bullying, fighting and no room to learn. However, I wouldn't say every school with no faith is like that. Just like not every catholic school is like the one your ex described.

As parents sometimes we thing our experiences of a situation will be the same as our childrens.

Tlg1991

Jagraf wrote: »

My daughter's chemistry teacher was atheist, at a catholic school. So, combined with her RE gcse, this gave her a fantastic set if viewpoints upon which to draw her own ideas. We have not had one situation, at all her time at school, where I thought she was being brainwashed. She did sex ed in RE, Biology and PSHE (or whatever its called). Her Auntie is Hindu and went to the school to talk about her faith (we have loads of 'religions' in our family). Most of the RE lessons included debate, which is broadly what the RE GCSE is based on. You only have to see the debates on here to realise how important it is to learn about religion and its impacts positive and negative in society. Our whole history is based on it. If done properly at school, its a fascinating topic.

I don't have a problem with my kid being taught about religion from a historical point of view across all religions. At the same time i can't understand why they are taught about sex ed in RE?? that is the last place i want me kid learning about sex ed. my partner went through a catholic education and was taught sex is wrong, full stop. surely in this day and age their should be a lesson on proper sex education the use of condoms ( that what i did over a carrot lol) and also relationship education, the amount of young people being manipulated or thinking something is normal when in fact its far from is terrifying and a lot of it seems to get brushed under the carpet in most schools because of religious beliefs don't condone sex in the first place, or before marriage should i say.

Kynthia

I went to a girls catholic school. I received sex education and there was a big emphasis on English literature, language and the three sciences. They took our Physics A-level group to the large particle accelerator (Hadron collider) in Geneva and sent me on a 'women in Physics' conference when I showed an interest in forensic science. We learnt about the bible in RE and the Big Bang in biology/physics. We also learnt about other religions and had a few people of other faiths attending the school.

However I'm now an atheist and I don't think I could commit to weekly church attendance and full participation in order to send my daughter there. Plus I feel uncomfortable when my niece comes home saying about what Jesus did and what God thinks, so perhaps I'll send my daughter elsewhere.

annannanna

I'm having the same dilemma, my daughter is 1 and we live in Liverpool were the majority of schools are religious. I was brought up CofE but don't attend church now and my partner is an atheist. There is a really good school near me so I'm trying to decide whether to start attending church to try to get her into the best school in the area.
Before I had kids I said I would never do that but now I am a mum I want the best for her and will do everything I can to get the best for her.
I think we might enjoy it anyway, it may be good to get to know people in the community.

Fosterdog

Before I'd even realised I am an atheist after being raised christian I trained to work with children, I had placements in a number of local primary schools mostly state CofE and two catholic.

One of the catholic schools would tell children that they had sinned, not just for something like fighting, bullying etc. but for things like spelling mistakes in their work. The number of red marks were counted up each day and they children had to get up in front of the class and pray for forgiveness for their sins. I was so disgusted with it I requested to move to another placement, I complained to the LEA and was told that's how things are done in catholic schools.

I may have believed it if I hadn't already had a placement in another Catholic school, they weren't as harsh about it but the children were constantly warned that God is watching you just to keep them in line.

I also remember when I was in a state run primary school myself as a child that there were three children in the school who didn't have to sit in on assembleys because they were Jehovah's witnesses, the teacher used to mock and humiliate them on a regular basis. The poor kids were bullied right through school by other children and the people who started it were the teachers.

Religion has no place in any school, children should be allowed to make up their own minds by making informed decisions but as already said other than teaching it as part of history lessons and giving each religion equal time it should be kept out of schools.

susancs

Tlg1991 wrote: »

Okay a lot of people calling me out for being a hypocrite, probably like a huge majority of other people. my main point i suppose was i am worried that other subject like science which i value very highly will be obscured by the school religious stature.

Like someone has already mentioned further up and the stories i have heard and also gone through when i was at school, mine wasn't so bad but looking back i can't remember doing about evolution or the big bang and when we did do sex education it was in our drama class as the teacher felt strongly we needed to be taught it so she took it into her own hand.

I know i could teach my child what to listen to and what to question, but surely its the schools job to ignite a bit of imagination in kids and give them knowledge to ask questions, not brain wash them with religious beliefs which from what i've heard is the only way i can describe what some schools do.

My children both go to Catholic schools and a lot of family members and friends have taught in both primary and secondary catholic schools. The science Dept in particular in most secondary schools these days, usually has few, if any teachers who are Catholics and hence science is taught, as part of the National Curriculum with no catholic undertones. My children were taught about the big bang theory and evolution in school. Sex Ed was taught, even in my time by a non Catholic from the Education Dept and still is in my local area. In religious studies, they learn about other belief systems as part of the curriculum. In regard to sacraments, this is done outside school as part of a course done at a local church now (unlike in my day when the school was involved in preparation). I think it is unlikely that a school like the one you describe, would be awarded an outstanding grade by non-denominational OFSTED inspectors (the Diocese does their own Catholic life inspection, but this does not form part of the OFSTED inspection outcome).

Tlg1991

susancs wrote: »

My children both go to Catholic schools and a lot of family members and friends have taught in both primary and secondary catholic schools. The science Dept in particular in most secondary schools these days, usually has few, if any teachers who are Catholics and hence science is taught, as part of the National Curriculum with no catholic undertones. My children were taught about the big bang theory and evolution in school. Sex Ed was taught, even in my time by a non Catholic from the Education Dept and still is in my local area. In religious studies, they learn about other belief systems as part of the curriculum. In regard to sacraments, this is done outside school as part of a course done at a local church now (unlike in my day when the school was involved in preparation). I think it is unlikely that a school like the one you describe, would be awarded an outstanding grade by non-denominational OFSTED inspectors (the Diocese does their own Catholic life inspection, but this does not form part of the OFSTED inspection outcome).

The one i described was stories from my partners little sisters high school and my partners high school (the same school) the highly rated one i spoke of they never went to, it is a school near where we are moving to, hence the reason i am bringing this topic up as there are a few schools around CofE and catholic.

Fireflyaway

My daughter goes to the local primary school which is a C of E school. However we are Muslims ( not that practising going on though I have to admit!).

As far as her school goes, the 'religious' part is so general rather than very religious based - teaches good manners and respect for others etc . We are fine with it because it matches the values that we have as Muslims and the values that any decent person would have regardless of whether they have a religion or not.

I really think it depends on what faith the school is. If its an Islamic school or a Jewish school it will be very religious indeed. If its Catholic less so and C of E you probably won't notice. That's just my observations!

Personally I would not pretend to be a religion to get into a school. Read up on the requirements. Most faith schools might admit those who go to church first but then have places for others as well. I don't think it sets a good example to pretend to be something you are not.

reehsetin

silvercar wrote: »

We need to learn why they do well and apply that teaching to all schools.

Easy peasy, just provide exemptions from equality laws and have an admissions criteria that works well for dedicated parents who are willing to jump through hoops to push their child and get them in.

a Report by the House of Commons Library (2009) stated:
“Recent research on primary schools suggests that performance difference can
largely be explained by prior attainment and background. The remaining differences
are due to parental self-selection and selection methods used by some faith schools.”

If it wasn't unethical I'd like to see an experiment with a perfectly normal and representative state school, change the management to the same as a faith school then let's see how well they fair