Religious Education (RE): Your Rights as a Parent

At Horsforth Newlaithes Primary School, we are incredibly proud of our Religious Education (RE) curriculum. In line with national guidelines, our RE lessons are designed to be inclusive, broad, and balanced. Rather than advocating for or inducting children into any specific faith, our curriculum explores world religions and non-religious worldviews. Our goal is to foster empathy, mutual respect, and cultural understanding, helping our pupils navigate a diverse world.

However, we fully respect that parents have diverse personal and religious beliefs. Under Section 71 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, parents hold the statutory right to withdraw their children from all or part of RE lessons and daily acts of Collective Worship.

What You Need to Know About the Right to Withdraw

If you are considering exercising this right, please note the following key legal and practical frameworks:

• No Reason Required: Parents have the right to choose total or partial withdrawal for their child, and you are under no legal obligation to provide an explanation or disclose your personal beliefs to the school.

• Age Limits: Parents hold the exclusive right to withdraw their child from RE lessons until the student turns 18. (Note: From the age of 16, pupils can legally choose to opt themselves out of Collective Worship, but they still require parental consent to withdraw from RE).

• School Supervision: If a pupil is withdrawn from RE, the school maintains its duty of care and will safely supervise your child in another part of the school (such as a parallel classroom or the library).

• Alternative Work: The school is not required to provide alternative teaching or incur extra costs for withdrawn students. Instead, we kindly ask parents to provide suitable reading material or alternative work for their child to complete during this time.

• Other Curriculum Areas: The right of withdrawal applies strictly to RE lessons, faith-specific assemblies, and designated visits to places of worship. It does not extend to other national curriculum subjects where religion may naturally arise, such as History, English literature, or Art.

Our Process for Requesting Withdrawal

We always encourage open communication and find that many parental concerns can be easily resolved by looking over our lesson plans together. Often, parents find that our contemporary approach to RE is much more objective and educational than they initially expected.

If you would like to proceed with a withdrawal, please follow these steps:

1. Submit a Written Request: Please send a formal written letter or email addressed to the Headteacher stating whether you intend a total or partial withdrawal (e.g., withdrawing from all RE, or only from trips to places of worship).

2. Attend an Informal Discussion: Upon receiving your request, the Headteacher or a Senior Leader will invite you to a brief meeting. This is not a means to change your mind, but a practical step to ensure you are fully informed about our curriculum content and to agree on the supervision and alternative work arrangements for your child.

3. Annual Review: To ensure we are continually meeting your child's needs as they progress through school, withdrawal requests are gently reviewed on an annual basis.

If you have any questions about our RE syllabus or wish to view our curriculum resources before making a decision, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.