catholic Schools

[covgal1983]

Hello there, I wondered whether anyone has any experience of Catholic faith school that they would be willing to share with me, please?

DH is a lapsed Catholic and I'm an atheist. He was keen for us to look at the (very) local Catholic school for our DC (primary aged). I went along thinking I would not be particularly keen because of the faith part! But, I really liked it. I won't go into the many reasons, but I really did. My main concern however, is that DH (despite faith) and I both have 'liberal' views as regards many issues that would counter what I would assume would be the Catholic church's views. We already are very keen to impress such tolerance on our children. Would such views cause my children problems in such an environment? One of the things I liked about the school was how it seemed a very inclusive and warm place - I'm sure that is the case, but it does worry me.

We've not had the children baptised (mainly because it's something DH wanted and v little happens unless I get the ball rolling). This might mean we'd miss out anyway. We both talk to them about our differing views as regards how the earth was made... what happens when we die. Etc etc... just FYI!

Many thanks.

[HPFA]

My DD went to a Catholic primary (I am Catholic). Mostly it was just about peace and love and being nice to each other and most of the children were not Catholic. If you don't reinforce any religious messages that your DC receive (other than ones you like) you can be fairly certain that they will not "take". If you have a DD be aware that they may get a bit envious around First Communion time and wonder why they aren't getting presents and a lovely white dress!

[covgal1983]

Thank you! Really helpful. x

[Wanderingraspberry]

Hi, my children attend Catholic school (I am a Catholic who did not attend Catholic schools myself). It's very Catholic, you won't escape massive helpings of Christian RE whilst learning not very much about other faiths/beliefs you may have to cover that at home. My DH is an atheist and is happy with the school for the reasons you give, inclusive, welcoming and strong ethos. But it's something we agreed on when we married. You may be surprised by how strongly the Catholic doctrine is stressed and taught. Make sure you are comfortable with that first.

[CPtart]

My DC go to a Catholic secondary school, following on from primary. I am a non practising catholic. DH is not. Hypocritically we had DC baptised as babies so they would get into these schools, they are by far the best in the area with the best results. Yes, there is daily prayer, but the school and it's pupils are lovely. Warm, welcoming and tolerant. There is more emphasis on formal Religious Education that I'd like, I'd rather they did extra Maths or English, but it's a small price to pay. We don't go to church As a family, so they embrace what they want from the lessons and the rest is taken with a pinch of salt. They understand the element of sucking something up for the greater benefit as well as we do.

[covgal1983]

Thank you both. So very helpful.

[chamenager]

I think there are big differences between one catholic school and another.

I'm not catholic, DP is a lapsed catholic and similarly to CPtart we had the children baptised as babies (some schools' admission criteria specify an age limit by which the child must have been baptised, some don't. It would be worth checking, you could potentially still have them baptised if you wanted to).

DS' school is intensely catholic. DS is in Y2 now and has recently begun to say that he wishes I was catholic too. In the past he has come home worrying about the devil, about going to hell, and similar. He has declared that DP and I should get married. When I tell him things like 'this (e.g. stories about the devil) is a very important story, it means a lot, has had a huge influence on our world/culture, is hugely symbolic' and such, he will insist that he believes it is 'true' rather than a story. Similarly he wants to believe the story of genesis as 'truth' and struggles to combine it with his knowledge of dinosaurs and fossils.

DS is quite clever and also quite anxious to please and to fit in. He is eating up what he is being fed at school at great speed!

We're not too concerned as we're confident that he'll make his own mind up about things when he's older. He is being indoctrinated now, but he is also hearing alternative stories, and when he's older he'll be able to contrast things to each other and come to his own conclusions. Right now he wants to believe everything he is told at school, later I'm sure he'll want to reject everything, eventually he'll find his very own position.

I guess you need to find out how intense your RC school is, and then determine for yourselves if you are happy with that level.

[Underchipsandpeas]

My kids are at catholic school, we are quite liberal in our views although we are from very trad catholic families. There are a lot of European catholic families there which we like as it's very diverse but I think they're far more observant in their views than us.

What I would say though, is look at the admissions as you may well find that as voluntary aided schools, their admissions policy may well be completely different and highly dependent on a reference from the Priest.