Out of the mouths of babes ........

while rather than go home. I did some gentle probing, thinking he had fallen out with Mum or Dad but no. He was troubled because the school Chaplin had told him the story of the Flight to Egypt and DGS had realised that he was a 1st born Son and wanted to stay at our house so that Herod would not find him and kill him.

Withdrawing children from RE lessons is not something I ever did in spite of my agnosticism, as it seemed entirely reasonable that they should learn about world religions.

What I do not want to see is religious bias; and I certainly do not want to see an emphasis on the "death cult" aspects.

Years ago when teaching the Head decided we would enact the last supper and the rest of the Easter story, children were chosen for the parts and on top of the usual excitement of getting dressed up there was a heightened air. I asked why and they said they were all waiting to see the boy who was playing Joseph be crucified. Children can read a lot into stories and love gore.
I've also been asked why they wanted to crucify a baby they had no concept of time and thought the Christmas baby was being crucified at Easter.

Mollygo

Fleurpepper
I personally feel that religious schools should not exist- but if they do, then it should be entirely the parents choice and totally separate.
I agree with that, though I chose a religious primary for my children and they chose a religious high school, both for themselves and their children. They learnt about different religious beliefs and practices as well as Christianity.
If you live in an area where a Church school is the only primary school available, unless you want to drive your children to the nearest state school, parents should be reminded of their right to withdraw children from RE.

Yes, I know. but this is not the point, If I live in a village, it should be my right to send my children to the local school, without having to accept the religious teaching, or even endoctrination, and possible discrimination (as in the baptism comments above). You can't withdraw children from RE in primary school, and the Vical lived next door and popped in to classes as he wished to tell or teach the kids whatever and whenever he wanted.

I was very happy for my kids to do RE in their secondary schools, as they learnt about different religions, and that was fine. Well, apart that the option of not having a faith, and still have a strong moral compass and principles. Humanism should be taught alongside.

As a teacher however, I knew that the RE teachers were always very religious themselves, and most of them strongly evangelical, and that they did allow their own faith to have an influence on what they taught.

But withdrawing children from some lessons does have an influence on how those children are perceived by others. Why should anyone have to be withdrawn from any lessons? The Curriculum should be for all. This is so wrong. Schools should be secular- and all religious teaching be done on a voluntary basis outside school hours.

Faiths which require more intensive teaching are taught outside school.
Parents, even of primary children have the right to withdraw children from all or part of RE. (Though not RSE). When some of our parents learned that their children would be taught about Islam, a group spoke to the head about withdrawing the children.
Having looked at and discussed with the head, what would be taught in the syllabus and how it would be taught, (and some felt they had learned something new themselves) they decided against withdrawal, but they had the choice.

Don’t you think it is important for children to know about other’s faiths and way of life?
Nowadays, in state primary schools there is no prerequisite for a teacher teaching RE to have a particular faith or even a faith at all. RE in the curriculum means children hear about different faiths and beliefs, rather than religion being secretive and fed by rumours from people whose only knowledge comes from the media.
It means they learn about how different beliefs mean different ways of life for others, like the wearing of turbans or different clothing, fasting, food, etc.
Similarly, integrating SEND children into school where possible means children are aware of the different problems faced by others.
Mostly, when faith schools are the only school available in small villages, it is because the church saw a need for a school in that area and it has continued to be called by the original name. Some faith schools receive funding from the church as well as from the state.

eazybee

Of course there was a dead body in the tomb:
"And Joseph (of Arimathea) took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb;"(Matthew 28 v.59.)
The tomb was empty on Easter Sunday.

Whether you believe in the Resurrection or not it is good that these children are being taught the story of Holy Week; they may choose to reject it, but at least they know the events.
And what on earth do you think is taught in that most popular of Primary School topics, The Egyptians, full of details about the preparation of dead bodies for mummification?

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
To all who are throwing their arms up in horror, kids can handle it.
If you send them to your local village school which is often a church C of E school then what do you expect?
It does them no harm to listen to the Easter or Christmas story or anything else from the bible.
In most cases goes in one ear and comes out the other.

As I have clearly said, learning ABOUT religions gets my vote. They form part of the development of human beings over time. And they have sometimes been a force for good, as well as predominantly for evil. The children, when they grow up, cannot understand the world we live in, the art, the music, the conflicts and tragedies without knowing something about religion.

But they should not be taught one religion as fact. Every lesson should be preceded by "This is what Christians/Muslims/whatever believe."

The story of the events leading up to Easter are revolting and dehumanising and need not be described in detail, and there is certainly no need to be making model dead bodies. Certainly not with small primary school children. Might they be better learning to take delight in the good aspects of the world around them? - to be learning how to get on with those around them?

If you send them to your local village school which is often a church C of E school then what do you expect? - but you are missing the point that parents have no choice. Schools here are widely scattered. If there were no faith-based schools then the problem would not arise.

In most cases goes in one ear and comes out the other. - if that is the case, then why do it at all? And I do not think it is true of many children. I was terrified by the nuns at my school and the gory stations of the cross; my GD has voiced the desire not to go to a church aligned secondary school based on her experiences so far at primary; my GS declares it all to be "obviously nonsense." No family influences at play here - we do no discuss religion - they are just working from their own observations.

Comparative religion in school - yes; plugging one as the truth - no. And certainly no state funding for this.

Might they be better learning to take delight in the good aspects of the world around then?
In an ideal world yes, but life isn't all about hosts of golden daffodils, fluffy bunnies and chocolate eggs. Wasn't it Dostoevsky who said something like, to learn about someone else's pain and suffering is to increase your intelligence and make you a better person?
There's probably a good few quotes from the scriptures too, but I won't go there!

A lot of young children in our schools are currently witnessing the graphic atrocities in Ukraine and other places. Why would they better having these held from them?

'Comparative religion in school - yes; plugging one as the truth - no. And certainly no state funding for this.'

yes, and I agreed, so don't know why Molligro didn't see this. I did say I felt that as well as religions of the world 'humanism' and 'agnosticism' should also be talked about, and that one does NOT need a faith to have a strong moral framework.

As explained, in religious State village/area schools, religious aspects are not taught in specific, separate, lessons- but as part of the school day, at any time, be it by the visiting Vicar, or some of the teachers. The Curriculum should be for all, and no-one should have to drive their kids miles to go to another school than their friends, or be withdrawn from some lessons.

Not in State funded public schools.

France is a secular country, it isn’t here.
You can’t reasonably expect junior schools to explain about all religions and if a C of E school or a Jewish or a Muslim one why would they?
Other religions are explained and talked about in senior school.

It’s getting away from the OP tho and we don’t know if the teacher demanded the kids made a clay body or if this particular pupil wanted to include it, or thought she should include it from the Easter Garden story.

Oreo

France is a secular country, it isn’t here.
You can’t reasonably expect junior schools to explain about all religions and if a C of E school or a Jewish or a Muslim one why would they?
Other religions are explained and talked about in senior school.

Exactly, so all State funded public schools should be secular, and no CofE or Catholic, or whatever.

All schools should be secular.

Sadly, the situation in France is very hypocritical- as there are many State funded Catholic schools. But that is irrelevant to this thread.

The local school should be for all local kids- and not teach the religion of a few in a modern, and multi-cultural society.

In your opinion Fleurpepper

In which case, could you kindly give me your justification for a village school, the only village school, attended by the children of those of many faiths or none, all local tax payers, should teach one Faith, as if it is the only and correct faith?

How can you justify it?

Joseanne

A lot of young children in our schools are currently witnessing the graphic atrocities in Ukraine and other places. Why would they better having these held from them?

Children in DGC's schools are refugees from Ukraine.

Fleurpepper

In which case, could you kindly give me your justification for a village school, the only village school, attended by the children of those of many faiths or none, all local tax payers, should teach one Faith, as if it is the only and correct faith?

How can you justify it?

Which school? Where, here in UK?
I won’t bother to give a justification, kindly or otherwise, as you have made your mind up already.
Most villages in England don’t have tons of kids of ‘many faiths’ that’s more for the cities.

Oreo

Fleurpepper

In which case, could you kindly give me your justification for a village school, the only village school, attended by the children of those of many faiths or none, all local tax payers, should teach one Faith, as if it is the only and correct faith?

How can you justify it?

Which school? Where, here in UK?
I won’t bother to give a justification, kindly or otherwise, as you have made your mind up already.
Most villages in England don’t have tons of kids of ‘many faiths’ that’s more for the cities.

Given the results of recent surveys re faith, you could well argue that many school pupils will be of 'no faith'. I don't know where you come from, but I'm in Scotland and I can assure you that even in our village primary school, there are children of various nationalities and various faiths.

Oreo
Which school? Where, here in UK?

I’d like to know too.

Yeah, no faith for a lot I agree,
Hardly any different nationalities where I am at the little school.Obvs, schools vary from place to place.
If parents are strongly against any Christian teaching then they need to decide on an appropriate school for their own kids. Most parents don’t mind, even when they themselves are atheist or agnostic.I was on a local school board of governors for a while once and this subject never came up from parents.

Forgive my asking, because we do things differently in the private sector, but does the Dfe actually ask for faiths of the children in state schools? I know they require ethnicity of all pupils because we always strike a red line through this and write "children", with no comeback.

Parents do have the right to send their children to non-religious primary schools. When I started teaching in a village school there were three schools in the village; one on a rough council estate, one a C o f E school and a new one built to accommodate the new housing estates. I started at the new school, bang up to date, lovely facilities; many parents discovered themselves to be Catholic so they couldn't send their children to the (old and falling down ) church school and were allowed to access the school out of catchment area, very strictly adhered to in the 1960s.
They were confounded when a catholic school opened in the village, and the Priest literally ordered all the families who had declared themselves to be catholic to withdraw their children and send them to his school; many reluctantly did so.

When I taught elsewhere in the Midlands most of the Hindu and Sikh children participated avidly in the RE lessons and religious assemblies,, probably because the stories were new to them; their parents were perfectly content. They said 'we take care of their religion at home in the family and we are happy for them to understand what the Christian faith is about'.
It saddens me to see the antagonism some posters on here express against the Christian faith; I very rarely experienced it from parents of all faiths and those without in 40 years of teaching. My children went to a C of E primary and were not indoctrinated in any way, even though the vicar went in regularly and attended every function without fail, including the nursery Olympics.

.... to learn about someone else's pain and suffering is to increase your intelligence and make you a better person?

I cannot argue with that, but would argue about whether this is appropriate for little children, and bolted on to one religion which is being taught as truth rather than opinion.

I think that Luckygirl3 or (better) the child's parents should contact the teacher and find out whether the teacher did in fact instruct the child to make a dead body, before they are up in arms about it. It is possible that someone has got the wrong idea of what is required. If this is for an Easter tableau, by that point in the story the body had disappeared from the tomb, and the next time Jesus was seen, it was as an apparently living person.

If it is to be a depiction of the scene before Easter morning and the teacher feels that a body is essential (perhaps she means to secretly remove it overnight, to fit the narrative) then maybe there could be a swap with a different child who has been asked to make a different character, but would be quite happy to fashion a corpse. They might even prefer it, if they are a bit ghoulish!