Aibu going to church so my child goes to a Catholic school

Do what’s best for your kids OP. I’m sure god won’t mind, just tell him you wanted then to be closer to him! 😳😂

If you believe in the Ten Commandments you wouldn’t be taking His name in vain and bearing false witness about your (nonexistent) faith in Christ to get your child into a school.

and by the way, it was Moses who parted the Red Sea.

My dc went to a c of e primary school. Youngest is still there, the others have all left. We are Christian but don't go to the church associated with the school. I would say most of the families aren't Christians or regular church goers. I think ds1 got in one admission category higher than he would have done if we weren't Christian. The others all got in as siblings which is several above "Christian attending a non c of e church" anyway. The church does a huge amount for the school so I think the tiny number of children who regularly attend in each school year should get their slightly higher chance of getting in to the school.

Tbh around here it's the secular schools that are the most popular. I think it's fine to attend church to get a school place as long as you don't then complain that the school is too religious.

We live in South London and have been visiting primary schools for our eldest. DH is Catholic, I'm CoE and the DC have been baptised Catholic. For the nearest faith schools near us:

1. v small Catholic school, only need to have been baptised to qualify, no regular attendance needed,
2. massive Catholic school, only need to have been baptised to qualify, no regular attendance needed
3. mid sized CoE school, 10 out of 60 places in reception are reserved for those who attended the linked church for two years prior to admission, the rest are usual admission criteria (LAC, siblings, distance etc) but school currently undersubscribed so largely irrelevant at the moment as anyone who applies will be offered a place

I suspect very much that the falling rolls in London mean that faith schools which would have been very strict in the past in terms of regular worship are now becoming less strict / baptism only in order to maintain admission numbers. So it's definitely worth carefully reading the admissions criteria on the school website because I was quite surprised at how relaxed they all were.

Oh my 😂

We are CofE.
I hope my youngste child will be accepted at a local Catholic secondary next year. Because of the shared Christian values which are important to our family and because it's a great school.
My kid would thrieve at it.

Believing Mary is a virgin is a pretty fundamental part of Catholicism. Even Protestants don't dispute that....

I teach in a Catholic school. It is very much a school that provides a Catholic education and not a school for Catholics. Of course children from all faiths and none are welcome (and staff) otherwise - to quote the head of the trust - we’d be a cult! FYI, I’m not Catholic and nobody cares.

However, I still don’t think you should lie to bump your child up the queue.

You think Jesus parted the Red Sea? I think you need to go to church yourself & not just for the school place…

EXACTLY what I thought when I read i
check it out OP it is on Netflix and hilarious

Catholic here op. You're fine. Most Roman Catholics of any intelligence are holding on by their finger nails. The RC church may be inspired by God but it's a failing institution run by failing human beings. Some of the Pope's encyclicals are stunning, enlightening guides to life, but by the time they have reached the ordinary parish church much of the nuance has been removed. Fifty per cent of the congregation don't believe in many of the church's teachings. We are there for the social justice aspects of the religion. (But we apply them to gay people too). If you believe in some of the church's teachings op, then you are the same as the rest of us. Imperfect people trying to do better with various degrees of success. Welcome!

Good grief, it wasn't Jesus who parted the Red Sea !

Exactly this.

It’s immoral because you are cheating the system to get a place, pushing your child to the front of the queue on false pretences. Everyone does it is a weak justificación.

My DS desperate to get to a Catholic Sixth form. I would not pretend to be a practicing Catholic to get in. It’s not right. If he doesn’t get in we’ll suck it up and make the best of what he does get.

You’re pretending. Playacting.
That’s what hypocrisy means.
putting on a mask, a show.
not being real.

as you said yourself
“.. I just don't believe in the teachings”

and if you were being real you wouldn’t be asking this question -

“Would I be unreasonable to attend church and get my child baptized/christned etc just to guarantee a school place?”

Come on, OP, be honest. 🤷🏼‍♀️

No. Just a common or garden state primary in Tower Hamlets. TBH, I only found out because I queried whether they would take non-Catholics, and that’s when they told me about the 20% thing and how a high church CofE background sounded ideal (from their perspective!)

When we went to our local CofE church for the school place, it turned out at least a third of the congregation were atheists or agnostics there for the school place.

It was a lovely community and nobody minded what religion or not anyone was.