Jehovah Witness Right to Withdraw from Wider Curriculum

Hi,

I wonder if anyone has any experience of this.

Our Yr6 are currently working on a topic around WW1 and then WW2. We have a young man in Yr6 who is a JW who keeps withdrawing himself from lessons when anything to do with this is mentioned. Problem is this is a significant part of the terms work. I fully appreciate the right for parents to withdraw him from RE but I can’t find any guidance around withdrawal from other curriculum areas. Have tried discussing with parents but getting no where with this.

Can anyone help?

 

He has no right to do this, being a minor. Do not permit this under any circumstances.

The parents can request it but since it is (presumably) part of the statutory curriculum, they have no right either.

 

My understanding is that the only subject which a parent can withdraw their child from is RE.

 

I am not sure if the law change has gone through yet but there was / is a right to withdraw from the non-science part of Sex education

 

From what little I know of the world of witnesses He is probably concerned that what he is told in class about WW1 is in direct contradiction to what he has been told about Jesus who supposedly changed status in October 1914 and has been directly responsible for all sorts of things. If he gets upset its quite possible he believes Armageddon is on its way and Jehovah's Witnesses will be the only survivors so there is not much point in being at school anyway.

 

I think in Primary but not secondary parents can withdraw from the non-science bit of SRE, but wasn't there a recent announcement from government about making SRE compulsory in Primary too? Not sure from when.

Otherwise as said, parents have right to withdraw from RE lessons (and collective worship part of assemblies) but nothing else.

Primary pupils don't have a right to withdraw themselves from anything.

 

We've just had a pupil join in Reception and parents can only withdraw from RE and Collective Worship. Anything else is curriculum. We try to be considerate and make adjustments so as not upset the child (birthdays, Christmas) but we have been explicit with parents. Is it his religion that is causing him to remove himself or is it finding the content generally upsetting? Maybe there is a link to family history? Jehovah's witnesses were persecuted in WWII and he may be aware of this?

 

In America, I know we are in the UK, but in America parents can withdraw from Science lessons that do with Evolution because some churches do not bevel in Evolution but in the way it was presented in Genesis.