Religious Education

[Donna]

My daughter has just got her options pack to chose which lessons she studies in Y10/11 for GCSE. Her school has now made RE compulsory.

My son had the option to drop RE which he did to study something more worthwhile.

I am angry that this is being shoved down our throats. I am not religious (athiest probably) and do not agree for my kids to be fed religious propaganda.

Have I any rights to withdraw her from RE classes for her GCSE years? Anyone know or have any experience on this?

(Not wanting to offend anyone who is religious as they have a right to be. As I have a right not to be).

[Mags]

I had no idea that RE has been made a compulsory subject either Donna..

MrsH is a teacher so maybe she will be able to answer your question if she comes online later..

[Fran]

My children attend a Catholic school, so for them, RE is a compulsory GCSE much to Tom's annoyance I don't have a problem with it tbh as I do feel it's worthwhile. They get to learn a little about all religions and I think that provides some insight into a lot of the world's problems both past and present. But I guess it should be an option really rather than it being insisted upon...

[Erin]

Donna when I in years 10/11 we also had to take weekly RE lessons,we didnt have an exam though,we had the option to take GCSE RE if we wanted to.Is it actually a GSCE option or just a compulsory lesson that needs to be taught? We also had to have PE lessons and IT but again unless we had chosen these subjects for our GCSE then we didnt have an exam.Hope I havnt confused you,although reading back Ive confused myself,oh dear

[Donna]

It is compulsory, but not an exam. It is worth half a GCSE (whatever that is).

[MrsH]

Ok, saw this and just checked a few things out.

It is a legal requirement for schools to provide Religious Education to every pupils.
It is a statutory subject for all registered pupils except those withdrawn by their parents.
It is a compulsory subject and must be taught according to the locally agreed syllabus.
There is no legal requirement for pupils to sit public examinations.

However, if your school has decided to fulfil their legal obligation by entering all pupils for a GCSE in the subject, I'm not sure what you could do other than withdraw your daughter from the course.

Ring up the school and ask some searching questions.

[Tom]

Hmmm gets annoying but at the end of the day it gets you a GCSE and lets face it, its pretty easy to pass. I don't particularly enjoy it but i do enjoy the theology aspect of RE! And as some mentioned above it does widen your knowledge of other religions. I think they should keep RE

Tom

[dandysmom]

Question /comment from the other side of the Pond: is this a Survey course covering religions or on the Christian Faith only? Are children who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. forced to take it? Sounds a bit like infringement of religious freedom to me...
I went thru Catholic education from grade school thru college, it was a compulsory class, but as Tom has pointed out, an easy A...

[Kim]

I most definitely think they should keep teaching RE. RE is not about 'shoving religion down our throats' but teaching students about others' beliefs and cultures and I agree with Fran that it gives them an insight into some of the worlds problems. Some very valuable ethical discussions occur during RE lessons! Half a GCSE is exactly that! It is usually taught with Citizenship Education (Cit Ed) which is worth half a GCSE too. In my opinion there are many less worthwhile subjects to put on your CV. My daughter's favourite subject is RE, she is going to study it along with Ethics and Philosophy at university this year.

[Fran]

Originally Posted by dandysmom

Question /comment from the other side of the Pond: is this a Survey course covering religions or on the Christian Faith only? Are children who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. forced to take it? Sounds a bit like infringement of religious freedom to me...
I went thru Catholic education from grade school thru college, it was a compulsory class, but as Tom has pointed out, an easy A...

No it's not just Christianity that's covered but many religions. Tom's year recently had a school visit to a mosque as part of their course