Summary from the draft guidelines on religious instruction

There can be diverse religious beliefs held across a community and within a school. When making decisions about whether to allow religious instruction, boards should ensure that the views of all members of the school community are given fair consideration, to uphold the rights of students and their parents, caregivers, families and whānau.

The Ministry recommends school boards:

• seek community input in the most appropriate way for that community (for example written survey, open meeting) about whether to allow religious instruction and how it should be offered
• seek to ensure that parents and whānau are made fully aware during the consultation process of the nature and content of any proposed programmes and the non-religious education alternative that will be offered 
• have a transparent and open decision-making process, and make the findings from consultation available to the school community
• consult every three years, or when there has been a noticeable change in the needs of the community, or if there is a proposed change to the religious instruction offered.
  In addition to the above recommendations, boards should consider how they collect and compare information from groups who wish to provide religious instruction in their schools. This is so the board is capturing accurate and consistent information from providers, and is able to demonstrate to the community a neutral, transparent selection process.

Information provided to students, their parents, caregivers and whānau, should inform them of the nature and content of any religious instruction programme(s) and the education alternative(s).  This will ensure that students, families and whānau are made fully aware of what students will be learning while in each of the programmes. Information should be provided during consultation (see guideline 1), and on a regular basis after consultation.

The Ministry recommends that students, their parents, caregivers and whānau are provided with clearly communicated written advice:

• on the nature of content being taught in any religious instruction and alternative programmes
• that any religious instruction programme is not religious education and therefore not part of the New Zealand Curriculum
• that attendance at any religious instruction programme is not compulsory
• that the religious instruction programme endorses a particular religious faith and will use or reference religious documents, such as the Bible
• on who will be taking each of the programmes, and the time and place that the programmes will be held.

The Ministry recommends that boards communicate information to students, families and whānau, including through regular community consultation (for example, every three years).

 

The Ministry recommends requiring signed consent for participation or non-participation in religious instruction.

Requiring signed consent helps schools to align practices and processes with the protection of students’ rights and ensure students are free from discrimination. This lowers the possibility that students will face discrimination based on their religious or non-religious beliefs. This is because with signed consent, students who participate in religious instruction are there with the knowledge and explicit consent of their parents, caregivers and whānau.

Requiring signed consent should also lower the risk of indirect pressure for students to participate in religious instruction. Indirect pressure could come about if students are embarrassed or confused about why they have been withdrawn from a class.

The Ministry recommends boards:

• require signed consent for all religious instruction offered, to make sure parents, caregivers and whānau agree to their child’s participation 
• adopt the default position of non-participation (e.g. participation in the alternative, non-religious option), where families and whānau have not provided signed consent 
• require signed consent at enrolment, prior to the commencement of a religious instruction programme if never offered before, and prior to the commencement of a religious instruction programme if any aspect of the programme has changed from previous years
• keep a record of the signed consent.

The Education Act 1964 specifies that all religious instruction be taken by volunteers.  When religious instruction is taken by a member of the teaching staff, it may be difficult for students to distinguish between the teaching of the curriculum, and the teaching of a particular faith, outside of the curriculum.

Ensuring that religious instruction is taken by volunteers lowers the risk that students will become confused about the place of religious instruction within the school. Using volunteers reduces the risk that some students feel excluded from their teacher and peers, reducing the pressure students may feel to participate in religious instruction.

The Ministry recommends that:

• all religious instruction is taken by volunteers
• volunteers who take religious instruction classes do not fulfil any other teaching or support role within the school, such as teacher aides or counsellors
• the teaching staff of the school have no role in leading religious instruction that takes place at the school, but if necessary may need to act in a supervisory role (see guideline 7).

In order to provide all students the same opportunity for access to support, the Ministry recommends that all pastoral and support services should be secular in nature.

Support services might include those provided by health and youth workers, counsellors, or mentors, or it might include the provision of specific learning and/or behaviour programmes.  This will ensure that students, families and whānau of diverse beliefs feel confident they can access the support they need.

The Ministry also recommends no counselling and support staff be linked to the religious instruction programmes offered at the school.

 

 

The Vulnerable Children Act 2014 (VCA) introduced a number of requirements including that paid workers who work with and provide regulated services to children will need to be safety checked by their employer. The overarching purpose of undertaking the safety check is to ensure that people working with children do not pose a risk to their safety. A safety check comprises six main elements – an identity check, an interview, a police vet, work history check, referee checks and a risk assessment. 

While volunteers (people who are not paid for their time) are not required under the VCA to be safety checked, the Ministry recommends that boards safety check all volunteers who will have access to, and who will have regular or overnight contact with, children.   The Education Act 1964 requires that volunteers deliver religious instruction programmes. Safety checks should be completed by the school (or religious instruction organisation) prior to the volunteer commencing involvement with the religious instruction programme allowed in the school.

Some providers of religious instruction programmes may complete some elements of the safety check, such as a police vet, on volunteers as part of their processes. A school may choose to rely on these elements as part of its safety check.  Where some or all components of a safety check have been completed by another organisation on a board’s behalf, the board is still responsible for confirming that these components have been completed, and ensuring that a full safety check has been done. Where this is the case, the Ministry recommends that the board sight a copy of the police vet after gaining authorisation from the volunteer (a police vet should be less than three years old). In these circumstances, the Ministry also recommends that the board still undertake its own identity check of the volunteer. 

Where a volunteer has not undergone a safety check, the Ministry recommends that a school staff member attends the religious instruction or observance in a supervisory role.  The staff member should not participate in the religious instruction programme.

The VCA also requires schools to have a Child Protection Policy in place from 1 July 2016.  This policy should outline the board’s commitment to child protection and recognise the important role and responsibility of all staff (including volunteers) in the protection of children.

For more information on the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 and helpful resources, see the Ministry website(external link) and the Children’s worker safety checking under the Vulnerable Children Act 2014(external link) resource.

 

Boards should aim to have open lines of communication with students, families, whānau and the community.  School boards should be able to use these guidelines to design policies and practices around religious instruction that reflect community need while at the same time protect the rights of students, their families and whānau.

However, there may be times where families and whānau are dissatisfied with the way that religious instruction is handled.

The Ministry recommends that:

• boards ensure they have a clear and accessible complaints procedure that staff are familiar with
• the complaints procedure (or how to access information about it) is clearly communicated to families and whānau
• boards follow the established complaints procedure in an effort to find a satisfactory solution.

If boards do not have a complaints procedure, the Ministry recommends that boards proactively develop one.

For more information on handling complaints, see the Ministry’s website for Educational Leaders on Dealing with complaints(external link) and a report from the Ombudsman’s Office on Good complaints handling by school board of trustees.(external link)

 

Closed -	The school (or a designated area of it) is not open for   instruction
Karakia -	Māori prayers or incantations (may be religious or non-religious)
Religious Education -	The neutral teaching and presentation of information about religion, in the context of another curriculum subject, such as the social sciences learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum
Religious Instruction -	The teaching or endorsing of a particular faith. It is the non-neutral, partisan teaching of religion which supports or encourages student belief in the religion being taught
Religious Observance -	Ceremonial or devotional acts of religion, such as: prayers, karakia, the singing of hymns, or religious readings.  It supports or encourages adherence to a particular belief or religion
Safety checks -	As required by the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 requires confirmation of identity, collection of information including work history and an interview, third party checks with police or licensing bodies like the Education Council
Secular -	Not connected with religious matters
Support Services -	Counselling, youth work or health services
Te ao Māori -	The Māori worldview
Te reo Māori -	The Māori language
Tikanga Māori -	The Māori way, culture, custom
Volunteer -	A person who performs work for an organisation without being paid