catholic schools question

[nailpolish]

my SIL is considering sending her ds to a catholic school, because she says its better, but they are not even catholic (or any church come to it)

can you do that?

[Aimsmum]

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[nailpolish]

is religion a big part of what they teach?

or not so much nowadays

thanks aimsmum

[Rhubarb]

Depends on the school. Most want to see a Baptism certificate for the child, if their child is not baptised then he will only be allowed to attend if they have any spare places left. If that school is particularly popular, she might find that her ds cannot get in, as priority goes to children who are Catholics.

She does realise that he will be educated in the Catholic faith?

[Rhubarb]

The other catholic children will have big preparations for making their Communion and then later on their Confession. They have Mass Days, prayers in assembly, they are taught about religion and big deals are made at Christmas and Easter, with religious activities and so on. He won't have to join in any of these, but would feel very left out if he didn't.

[nailpolish]

she is a teacher, and very snobbish about schools, but imo shes a bit lacking common sense

im not going to discuss it with her, im just nosy and interested

[nailpolish]

yes i thought he might feel a bit left out at mass, easter, etc

thank you rhubarb

[WigWamBam]

Our local Catholic school has a real emphasis on religion and collective worship - as you'd expect! Non-Catholic children can apply, but they are so far down the selection criteria that they never actually get in.

[nailpolish]

why are they so much better? are they better funded?

[Gobbledispook]

I don't think any non-catholic children get into our local one.

Personally I wouldn't send my children there because they do regularly attend mass as part of school so it would be totally irrelevant to my ds's.

I know someone who has done this though. Not something I'd do.

[Caligula]

She can do it as long as he's not taking up a space wanted by a catholic.

Will she then start complaining that he's talking too much about Baby Jesus?

[nailpolish]

it doesnt sound like he will get in anyway, i imagine he will be very far down the line and there are a lot of catholic families around here

[LIZS]

Depends on the school admnissions policy (most faith schools are opted out of direct LEA control and operate their own). If they have applications from children who fit their criteria better ie. siblings, baptised RC and/or practising at specified local church(es), living within a catchment etc then her ds could fall too far down the priority list to be considered.

[gigglinggoblin]

if it is better its not because its catholic. i went to catholic primary and secondary. primary was an ok school but the kids who did not take part in 1st communion etc were left out a lot (my friend was not baptised and begged her mum to let her be so she would fit in, she is now very glad her mum said no). my secondary school used to be excellent, then new head took over and is one of the problem schools in the area. they also have a lot of girls getting pregnant because there is no teaching about birth control there (other than a) dont have sex and b) if you are married, count the days so you dont get pregnant).

there is no chance my kids will be going to catholic school

[Aimsmum]

Message withdrawn

[Gobbledispook]

OMG - I hadn't even thought about the sex education aspect! What do they tell them at catholic schools about contraception?

[Rhubarb]

The one i went to is still a problem school too, it depends on the area, where I lived was just a problem area! All of the schools, apart from the grammar ones, where the same.

Catholic schools are generally considered better because they are half funded by the government and half by charity i.e. the Church. They also tend to be stricter, more into discipline, etc.

[Rhubarb]

Gobbledispook, they tell them what every school school would tell them! They go on about condoms and stuff too! But there is more emphasis on relationships, on waiting and the importance of marriage, etc.

[gigglinggoblin]

they didnt at mine rhubarb, they taught us about what i put in my last post! they mentioned that you can buy a 'sheath' but the pope doesnt like them. thats it. lady from family planning clinic told me they are the only school in the area who will not allow them to do a talk. 25% of the girls i was in 6th form with had babies in their teens. head girl when i started had to leave cos she was pg! my cousin got his girlfriend (both pupils there) pg when she was 14. i always thought i was really clued up but was very wrong. suppose it may depend on the school tho

[Witchycat]

Nailpolish - Sorry this is long but thought it might be useful:

my ds has just started Reception at a Catholic school and we are not religious at all. He has never been Christened.
The school admission policy is stict but in our area they can't fill the intake (30) with Catholic children so despite being about 8th on the criteria list (after Catholics, siblings, other Christians, other faiths etc...) we still got him in. In fact I'm not sure but I think they have a policy of taking 15% non-Catholics. I had to write to the Governers explaining why I wanted him to go to the school but I didn't pretend he was Catholic or anything like that. (They would have wanted a Baptism Cert anyway).

We sent him because not only is it the best educationally in my area but it's whole ethos is about understanding of, and tolerance of, others and I can wholeheartedly support that. They also emphasise nurturing the individual and teaching respect which is what I wanted for him.

They teach National Curriculum RE obviously so they do get to hear of other faiths but I must admit I hadn't realised until he started that they do Mass, have the local priest in and do all the prep for those taking Communion. Maybe I was naive but so far so good. I'm still glad we got him in there.

I don't know if it's a local thing or a national one but in our LEA you have to state your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice school. The schools all see these choices and will fill their intake from the 1st choices first - i.e. if you fail to get into your 1st choice scholl, then you risk not getting in to the 2nd choice either because it may have filled it's intake with children who put it down as 1st choice. Does that make sense?

Your sister's LEA website should have details on whether each school usually fills it's intake or not and what the school's selection criteria is.

[nailpolish]

no, i wasnt saying it was better because it was catholic. my SIL likes it because they have a wonderful reputation and have great teachers (or she thinks, she is a teacher too and hears all about other schools)

as i mentioned, she hasnt a jot of common sense and probably hasnt considered all the other implications (like celebrating communion, mass, easter etc) far less the contraception debate

i am now seriously considering pointing these things out to her

[gigglinggoblin]

all she has to do is ask how much religious stuff they do. they will probably be very proud if they do lots and be more than happy to tell her. if its a good school they are not going to lie to get bums on seats! i do remember religion creeping into everything we did, especially at primary and although my kids are not at a catholic school i do get annoyed by the amount of religious stuff they come home with. for me it would depend how good the school is and how good the alternatives are

[Witchycat]

Adding to my comment about my naivity when it comes to these things, I hadn't realised, for example, that they sing a prayer in Reception class every day.

DS came home saying they'd learnt a new song about a Farmer and the Sun. It was only when he said there was a Ghost in it too that I twigged he'd heard 'The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost' and got it all wrong.

In our area the local schools really are rubbish & and the Catholic school is excellent. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone for it. When it comes to Secondary schools I think we'll be moving house!

[twinsetandpearls]

My dd will be starting a Catholic primary in September, the school does take a few non Catholics if there are spaces after all the children who are baptised in the church and ar regular church attenders have been admitted.

It depends on the school, at dd primary the church is at the core of school life, the children to to mass every week, and plays a key role in celebrating the festivals, they say prayers everyday and have religious assemblies.

I have noticed that there is a definite clique of Mums who are church attenders and those children play together. I was at a party the other week ( the one I gatecrashed) and there was a table of Mums laughing and chatting and then one mum on her own - she was the only one who wasn't also part of the Catholic community. Rather unpleasant I thought and I went to sit with the mum but those Mums do know each other better , and hence so do the children, because they are part of that community. If a non Catholic child goes to a Catholic school with a strong Catholic ethos ( and many of the best ones do have this) they may feel left out especially as rhubabrb says at times such as Holy Communion or Easter.

[CarolinaFullMoon]

Think Catholic schools do well because they tend to attract parents who put some thought into their children's education - for most pupils it won't be their nearest state school, so their parents will have made a positive decision to send the kids there rather than going along with whatever's handiest and therefore (in theory at least) will support the school's efforts.

Religion played a huge part in my own Catholic primary school, particularly with one teacher who used to bring in really gory old paintings of the crucifixion and get us to think about how much it would hurt to be crucified .

It wasn't a big deal at all at my secondary school - we said prayers before meals I think in the first year, but after that it was just Mass on holy days of obligation (usually held in the school hall). Even more boring than assembly.

[Normsnockers]

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