To go to church to broaden my childs choice of school

crack on, lots of people do.
as long as you’re respectful of it;
there’s a lot to get out of (the right sort of) church imo even if you’re of no faith or unsure. Messages about morality, ethics, self reflection, time to be quiet and reflect, and being part of a community. As long as you have chats with your children about different beliefs and counter anything too dogmatic

It's a commitment, our c of e school is twice a week for 2 years and the vicar won't sign it otherwise. Obviously staying for messy play getting involved will be good too. However that is only to go to top of pile, is only a handful each year do this, the rest and majority are catchment non religious (but you do need to expect Christian teaching and assemblies

I find this a little uncharitable. Why would anyone assume that the OP is going to ask their vicar to lie?!

Also reminds me of ' motherland ' ( bbc two
Sitcom ) when Julia attends a Catholic Church and it's so cringy.
The woman tells her she is wasting her time regarding the secondary school for her children.

That's a very disrespectful remark don't you think? Pretty sure you wouldn't aim that a muslim or a Hindu

Schools chop and change from being the "good" school to being the crappy one several times over a relatively short period of time. You said secondary was a few years away yet
The church school could be a failing undersubscribed horrible school in a few years and the terrible comp taken over by a decent academy chain and becomes fantastic.
If you have spare time to attend church why not use that time instead to do PTA things. Obviously at the primary he is at now and then join the secondary one when he starts (or set one up if there isn't one).
A good PTA can make a difference to a school.

Reminds me of that episode of Rev with Tom Hollander when his church becomes popular overnight when local parents hear a rumour that the associated school is about to be rated outstanding by Ofsted 😂

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sz1t0

Why not? There were a lot of born again Hindus when ISKON built a Hindu secondary school in an underperforming area if Leicester.

I think it is a form of deception. Especially if you 'suddenly' lose your faith once your child is at the school, or even once she finishes at 16 or 18.

However, you will not be alone.

Churches are not just about religion these days. They are more seen as community hubs and are filling roles such as food bank, benefits signposting help, repair sessions, and family suppport etc. My sister runs a cafe inside my local church, they have a post office, craft groups, outreach groups for people who are sick, technology help drop in sessions, live music, gallery for local artists, etc. Lots and lots of people attend groups and help out and a great deal of them are openly atheist/agnostic . The church doesn't care, they welcome non believers and often run courses based on debating the existence of God. In our church, just making yourself known, becoming involved in the groups and attending an occasional service would be "enough" to get a letter off the vicar saying you are a part of the congregation.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. They’re walking through that door: the rest is up to you.

@SlothOnARope I didn’t criticise her motives; we all want what’s best for our children. I would never ever ever say ‘this person attended for a school place.’ But I’m equally not going to embellish a person’s connection.

She loves her child and is doing the absolute best for her child in the circumstances. That's a good Christian principle, surely.

Yep you need to start going early, not just in time to have exactly one year regular attendance. You never know, you might actually like it. Many a member of the church in our town linked to a very good faith primary started off going to get a school form signed yet are still going 10+ years later.

Word of note, if it’s state funded, they won’t remove your place after the offer day if you stop going, unless it’s stated in their admissions policy. (Read that carefully!)

And yes to RS being a compulsory gcse in faith schools.

As a regular church attendee myself I can see no harm in this. Everyone should be made welcome at church regardless of their reasons for attending. I doubt you will be the first or last parent to go for school admission reasons and yes, some may assume this is the reason for your attendance but hopefully they will not be judgemental. People attend church for many different reasons including habit, companionship, the music, guidance, shelter and warmth, a sense of belonging, an hour to sit and think without the pressures of everyday life. It doesn't matter to me what the motivation is for people to attend, I just glad they are there and hope that they get something helpful out of it, even if it is just a warm drink and friendly face at the end of the service.

I'm a churchgoer for religious reasons, and I would see no problem in you doing this.

People go to church for all kinds of reasons. One of my best friends at church has no psrticular religious faith, but likes the sense of community. The church is there to welcome everybody, and in my experience they are only too pleased to get bums on seats.

He's not disadvantaged because he's an only child!

You'd have the same problem if he was the eldest of countless siblings.

Vicar here! We can spot these kinds of attendees. Whilst I think church is a great place to be on a Sunday, if you’re only doing it for a school place, you’re going to be annoyed at the lost lie-ins when the vicar won’t lie for you on application forms.

It is up to you but do not moan if RE is compulsory for GCSE, church attendance in term time is compulsory etc etc.

Most faith schools have a points system and around where I live you need quite a number of points to secure a place.

Attendance historically when they were young carries more weight than anything else. Read the criteria very carefully to see what points you gain for various things, find out how many points pupils have needed recently to get in.

Used to be 1 point here 10 years ago, now it's over 10 points.

Is your child Baptist into that religion. That forms part of the criteria, not just going to church

Yes, the current system allows for religious hypocrisy and plenty of people do it. You're not wrong to use the system in this way, but it's wrong that it exists in the first place in my opinion. A word of caution though - some schools now ask for proof of ongoing church attendance once you're at the school so you can't stop going as soon as you get the place.

Loads of people did this at the church where I used to live and the vicar was well aware of who they were because it was an easily identified phenomenon. You’ll have to go in for competitive worship, so be prepared for that. I’d say you’re not being unreasonable because it is such a ridiculous system.

Lots of parents do it. My mum did it for years to get us into better schools than the local comps. I wouldn’t feel guilty about it. The church will appreciate bums on seats but you may need to have child baptised/ confirmed etc to actually get them in to faith school. Check the criteria

That wasent my quote

Having taught in a range of state schools, I would 100% do this to get my child into a better school.