To apply DC to a religious school although we aren't religious at all

Why do you bother debating it if you just have to take what you can get and have no choice in the matter…. Unless that’s not actually true?
Of course it’s feasible to travel a little bit for another school - it may be difficult in that you might need to change work hours slightly, manage pre or after school care etc., but if you feel strongly about attending a non religious school it’s probably worth exploring? Sounds like this school is very handy location wise and a good school so it would be useful to ask some questions around the faith aspect and see if it’s a level you would feel comfortable with? Some schools may also allow a student to opt out of parts of the religious instruction which might be an option?

My younger daughter went to a non religious primary school but her sister went to a CoE school.

My thoughts are that the non religious school was much more inclusive and understanding of sen, behaviour issues etc. It had good policies and spent money on services to help the children who needed help.

The CoE school seemed to think that bible teachings would cover everything. They had sessions with the vicar where the non religious school did citizenship type classes.

My elder daughter had been at the school for a year - it was a junior school - and I realised my younger daughter wouldn't thrive there (it was also extremely old fashioned).

Btw there was a Catholic primary next door. I knew a woman who had sent their daughter there even though they weren't Catholic and she pulled her daughter out in the end because her daughter was getting upset not getting prepared for Communion. I think the girl was feeling she wasn't special like the others.

Feeder schools are primary schools that lead to a place at a particular secondary.

I went to an RC secondary school and the 'feeder schools' included one in the next town over. You could literally live on the same road as the school and not get a place but a child at the feeder school 10 miles away would get a place.

This sums up the problem perfectly.

Why would you inflict religion on a child when you're not religious?

I just remembered that in my home town three non-denominational high schools (3 seperate sites across town) were merged to create one new high school, part of a C of E academy. I just looked up the policy on withdrawal and basically the head tells parents that you can withdraw if you really must but that they knew it was a C of E academy when they applied. The whole website drips with religion; it’s right, left, front and centre. Clearly no light touch. If you do not want your child in this environment, all the kids who would previously have had a non-denominational high school go where? The only other high school is Catholic. The original three schools covered all the different areas of town geographically so the next nearest non religious affiliated schools are in the nearest city. The closest one is over subscribed so it’s unlikely kids from the town would get in. If they did they have a tricky bus journey that their parents would have to pay for as opposed to walking to the high school
in their own town. Crazy. It’s a terrible school too. On its second C of E academy chain after the first failed Ofsted for years and was removed.

Can't help but wonder if that is the effect of secular Catholic education... not following Christ at all if they treat people badly.

I strongly disagree.

Dividing people on religious grounds always leads to conflict and harm.

I think it’s vital that more non religious children go to religious schools because then maybe there’s a tiny chance that the religious zealots might finally realise that they’re actually very wrong about their superiority complex.

My DS went to a Catholic Primary school. We’re not religious in the slightest. He didn’t take part in the religious ceremonies but he got top marks in religion because he reads a lot.

Some of the worst bullies at secondary school attended the Catholic Primary. All those Masses they attended had zero effect on their moral compass.
They still turned out little shits.

I really don't think it's right to push for enrollment at a faith school and then try to opt out of that faith. Actually I think it is very wrong as the faith forms the ethos for the school, and you've taken a place that could have been filled by a child who would take up the full curriculum and ethos.

Yeah, it’s ethically wrong to pretend to follow a particular faith, when you absolutely don’t believe in their God. It undermines those whose faith means so much to them, in my opinion…and I speak as an Atheist.

I really, really wish schools were mixed so that child re in religious schools receive a well-rounded education where they’re encouraged to apply critical thinking to their studies.

I believe OP was asking about pros and cons of sending her children to a religious school. That’s what I was responding to. It’s fine to have your opinion, of course, but the rest of us have been invited to do so too.

Your child will get a place at a "free" school - the local authority has to provide a place. It may not be your nearest school.

The other major problems is that sometimes a parent sends a child to a non-aligned by choice then finds that this school gest absorbed into a multi-academy trust that is religion based.

It isn't mandatory, but there is provision for church schools to put church attendance on the priority list so you are less likely to get a place if you don't

This is so wrong.

It isn't mandatory, but there is provision for church schools to put church attendance on the priority list so you are less likely to get a place if you don't. I would be actively trying to get a place at a different school though as your child would either have to be involved to some extent in religious practices within school, or would be left out of lots of things.

In that case send them to a different one

Plenty of people do, but I really really really wish non religious people would stay out of religious schools and diluting them

And I really, really, really wish that schools were not allowed to base their entrance critieria upon which religion a child has. It's utterly ridiculous in this day and age that they are able to do this. Why should a child not be able to attend it's nearest state school purely because of that child's religion (or lack of)?

Religious school often means they’re taught one worldview as absolute truth, limiting their exposure to diverse perspectives. Critical thinking thrives on questioning, debate, and exploring different ideas but kids learn to accept claims without evidence, rather than analysing or challenging them.

they rarely teach about other religions or secular philosophies in depth, if at all, potentially leaving kids with a narrow understanding of the world. Without exposure to a range of beliefs, they miss the chance to develop empathy, compare ideas, and form their own reasoned conclusions. Children should be taught to think for themselves I get you’re not religious it this is the fact of the matter.

I might have missed it, but nobody seems to have mentioned the loss of curriculum time. Cof E and none faith schools spend 10% of curriculum time on religious education. Catholic schools do 10% RE, and then 10% religious instruction. So 20% of teaching time overall. That means less time for everything else.

Tolerating faith schools means that we have to make assumptions that religion is benign. It clearly is not.

The problem is that in school children are taught that 2 + 2 is 4, and at the same time that a man came back from the dead and still lives as a nebulous spirit.
The two things are qualitatively different and a child cannot make that distinction. And nor should they have to.
The things that they are taught in school should be objectively true.