I have some comments re the above. Firstly are we sending the Scottish Government Education department a wish list of  bullet points, some which are just bizarre or should we be more constructive?  If I received the above list I would honestly laugh and bin it. We need to expand the 3-5 key issues that we have and suggest some solutions.

So using the list above we may want to restructure as follows:

Sex Education:

As concerned parents we would like to highlight our objection to the state providing sex education to our children at such an early age. Whilst this is an important education process we believe it should be delivered at a later state in out children’s life. We believe sex  should be taught as part of a health relationship which for most Muslims means marriage. Sex education should also be restricted to hetro sexucal education and not same sex education. We are not prejudiced in our views nor do we teach prejudices against same sex couples, however we have a strong preference not to teach our children same sex education as this is against our Islamic principles.

Prayer and religious practises

Some of the older Muslim children  (12+) may elect to pray at lunch time and therefore a small room available for this prayer would be great. Obviously we do not want to disturb the education of the children, nor the teachers, hence this prayer could be conducted around the lunch time break.

Racism

More should be done in school to educate all children on racism and bullying. And it should not just be a one way education, racism affects all races, white, black, brown etc. So we should educate the children to be accepting of all races and creeds.

1. Mixed swimming classes – (very rare, and if it happens its at a very young age)
2. No space for Friday prayers (who will lead these prayers, who will do the Kutbah? this is not practical)
3. Eid should have a day off same as Christmas and not an authorized absence (No, this is a Christian country and therefore it makes no sense for Muslim children to have a day off on Eid. What about Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and the many other religious holidays that are out there. This is not practical and doesn’t make any sense, sorry. )
4. There are no alternatives for fasting children (What does this mean? Please provide an example of an alternative. When we used to fast at school there was a special room allocated to us where we could go and rest at lunchtimes. And guess what, the majority of the students that were fasting didn’t go! Instead the boys continued to play football etc. We need to get real!)
5.  
6. Dance classes are being forced upon children (simple solution, a letter from the parents saying their children have opted out of this. We don’t need the government looking into this! )
7. Things are being imposed upon children through the curriculum ( like what? what things? )
8. Theatre trips for children which may contain unsuitable content ( again give examples, what age group are we talking here? We cant say may or may not. Be precise)
9. Music lessons being given to childrendespite their dislikes to it ( right, this is bonkers, music is only compulsory until you are around 14 and then it’s a subject which you select. By 14, most children (I mean Pakistani)  do not even know how to read English let alone read music. There is no issue here! Children have toys at home which play music. They don’t teach rock n roll. And the most important thing to remember is this is an elective subject.)
10. Children getting changed in front of class members ( oh please, have these people who have recommended these issues actually been to a British school. Do they not realize modest is preserved by most children! What do you want, individual changing rooms?
11. Some of the learning material is not appropriate (Tom O’ Shanter) (Robert Burns is regarded as a great Scottish poet and his poem about the drinking classes in Ayr is very relevant and very appropriate. Has anyone been to Ayr on a Friday or Saturday night? It is a poem and depicts reality in the 18thcentury however it is still relevant today. Is the poem going to corrupt our children or is it your weekly fix of Bollywood!
12. Unfair treatment of parents as some are left out of decision making processes (what does this mean, expand! There is not solution to this as you have not articulated an issue, just a statement which frankly is so generic that one wonders whether the parents actually were educated themselves)
13. Bright children are not encouraged (this is not a Muslim issue but a country wide issue. )
14. Schools are getting mixed messages as not all Muslim parents have the same responses (and? )
15. Parents are left out from Parent Councils ( don’t understand the point)
16. Parents are left out from being school parent helpers ( again don’t understand the point)
17. Children are being taught about drugs, alcohol and responsible sex (yes they are, and surely it’s the dangers of drugs and alchol. We teach our kids this is banned in islam. So please expand)

This response is refreshing, well informed and intelligent. 

I am a scottish muslim woman, a mother and a teacher in Scottish secondary school.  Many of the issues raised are issues that are not restricted to muslims.  In fact in  my experience it is our children who are the, in the majority, the best behaved, well mannered and mature in their approach to these 'inappropriate' topics in the document.  We live in a country that has many social problems: alcohol, drugs, gambling and promiscuity - we cannot pretend these do not exist because it is anti-islamic.  We should ensure our children are educated appropriately about the dangers and receive full support from their parents.  It is the easy option to point the finger and blame the powers at be and some times this can be correct although we have the responsibility as individuals to pursue what we want.  In my experience schools are crying out for non christian and ethnic minority parent helpers simply because it bodes well with the local authority and HMI if nothing else.