Catholic secondary schools -how do you get in?

I haven't read the whole thread, and I'm not Catholic, but I know that if you want to get your girl into one of the "top" Catholic girls schools (as a friend does),

you have to get your child babptised BEFORE they are 3 months old!

Hope it's not too late

the point i am trying to make is that it is not all one way.

zephirine, no i am saying they are excluded because we did not go to the associated primary school. because we chose a catholic one. oh and btw my nearest primary school is a fantastic CofE one, no chance of getting in, we can't suddenly change allegiance. no other "state" primary in catchment. we would have had to go private like many others in my borough.

Teddington secondary school is at the top of my road. brilliant school. my children will not get in as they did not go to the linked primaries.

Do you think if the Catholic schools had an open admissions policy, they'd stop being best of breed in the locality and scoring mega high on pastoral and discipline?
Then people would have to look at what they do next.

amidaiwish, are you saying that your children are excluded from some of the schools in your borough because they are Catholic? Because unless you are, it's really not comparable.

another perspective:
my dcs go to a catholic primary in richmond borough.
there is NO catholic secondary in the borough.
every other primary school has a linked secondary. we do not.
we either have to try our luck and go out of borough to a secondary school (making sure we do enough in the parish to meet the criteria for these increasingly oversubscribed schools) or we go private. (paying for tutors to get through the exam) that is the choice.
fair?
no.

so you get us back in the end don't worry.

god will get the liars!

we do let in some heathens i;m sure

zephirinedrouhin, well said, i totally agree with you. the admissions policy creates total discrimination and segregation. non catholic schools are not permitted to discriminate in this way and catholic children would be admitted and treated in exactly the same way as the next child. i wonder if zanzibarmum and her dedicated followers would have quite the same views if it were their children being discriminated against? and how does she feel about the fact that her catholic school is probably full of children whose parents have lied to gain entry because of the prejudice? are those people excused as they have been baptised?

Well they would probably have a few more than that wouldn't they, as presumably more Catholics would apply.

There are plenty of Catholic schools that do take non-Catholic children. I went to one myself. No reason why they all can't do it.

Regarding the headteacher, they should obviously just appoint the best person for the job.

Thought so. You want Catholic schools which don't favour Catholics in admissions. So for you, Catholic schools would typically have a lot fewer than 20 per cent of Catholics on the roll. No doubt, too, you do not favour Catholic schools appointing a Catholic to be headteacer.

Yes I support Catholic schools but I believe they should use the same criteria for admissions as community schools.

Which part of that are you finding hard to understand?

'ere we go again....

Catholic schools educate around 30% of non-Catholics so you could argue the church and its members who pay 10% of captial costs are funding a large number of pupils who would otherwise be educated in the community school sector.

ZephirineDrouhin you support Catholic schools but not their admission policies - what precisely are you talking about. You seem to be generalising based perhaps on the school near you in SW London. Hard cases make bad educational policy and practice don't you think.

hmm. I am also in SW London. Catchment areas do cause division of course, but around here this is not in any way alleviated by the faith schools - they just add an extra layer of division. I live right behind an RC school and the difference in intake between the children that go there and the children that go to the nearest community school is quite stark (this is from free school meal stats etc not just from observation).

and with regards to the filtering, surely catchment areas are more hugely divisive than anything else?
where we live (SWLondon) there are no chaotic neighbourhoods. all the (primary) schools are good.
in some ways the church schools have a better mix (of wealth anyway) because it isn't about those who can afford the houses on the right streets to get in, there is another way, via the priest signing the form.

I know that amidaiwish, but the state does provide the vast majority of the funding.

I actually have no issue with faith schools themselves - it's just the admissions policies I have a (very big) problem with.

fair enough, i do actually agree with you.

but, the church owns the schools and the land they sit on. and the church/parents do fund a %. they haven't just come along and "taken" state schools and then not let anyone else in.

All selective schools, including private, have an impact on the rest. But at least the private schools are funded by the parents who choose to send their children there, not by the rest of us.

"oversubscribed church schools have immediately filtered out a large proportion of those children who come from very difficult or chaotic backgrounds"

maybe... but it isn't about wealth (i know you haven't said it is, but that is a common preconceived idea) but committed parents i guess.

and yes i do agree on the impact on the other schools, but what is the difference between that and the private schools?

amidaiwish, that's great that your school does that, especially if if it doesn't discriminate against non-Catholic children with SENs.

I think there is definitely something in your idea about why church schools do well. By giving priority to the children of regular churchgoers, oversubscribed church schools have immediately filtered out a large proportion of those children who come from very difficult or chaotic backgrounds. So what about these children? Do they not deserve an equal chance to go to any of their local schools? And what effect do you think this filtering has on the neighbouring non-church school that then has to cope with a disproportionate number of children from chaotic homes. Do you not see this as divisive and unfair?

well zephririne, the catholic primary my children goes to has the biggest SEN unit in the borough. the school is well known for its fantastic work with SEN.

djjc - agreed, but why is it the catholic schools do so well? my mum would say that any family that manages to get up and out to attend mass on a sunday morning has a focus and determination that filters through to other areas of their life. i used to think it was bullshit but more and more i think she has a point. anyway, i know that is contentious . But i overheard at ballet class the other day some mum bitching and moaning about the religious content of the assemblies of the local CofE school she battled to get her children into. the school where the priest takes a register at church so he knows who "deserves" the places . Her "very bright" children apparently are very bored in the assembly and don't know all the prayers.

A small point re Catholic schools and special needs: a quick trawl through the figures for pupils with statements of special educational needs in my local primaries shows that in the 3 community schools 15.6%, 17.5% and 23.6% of pupils have statements of SEN, whereas for the two Catholic schools the figures are 6.3% and 2.2%.

So where I live, the Catholic schools certainly seem to be keeping the kids with SENs out somehow or other. I would guess this is fairly typical for any schools that are oversubscribed, and which are allowed to use their own criteria to select pupils for admission.

It is utterly wrong.

djjc, perhaps being a high achieving school is linked to the mission statement and the active practice of Catholic beliefs.

why shouldn't you want your child to attend if this is the highest achieving school, whether you are a 'practising' catholic or not?? contrary to your belief, non catholic people would like a good education for their children aswell and are obviously plumping for the best local schools. a crime in your view? or prejudice against decent people wanting the best for their children?? catholic or not!!!!

back to the OP's question - how to get in depends on the school.
if oversubscribed then you need to:

• be baptised as a baby. not at 6 or 7.
• attend mass regularly, the priest needs to know you and sign the form accordingly

• e.g. in the choir, a reader, eucharistic minister, the children need to be altar servers.

also if you are not a practising catholic WHY would you want your dc to attend? families in these schools DO actually go to church regularly, prayers are said morning, lunch, end of day, assemblies, masses in school etc. your dc is going to feel quite left out about it if this is alien to him.

Bit of a jump there in your post to catholic schools being full of people with no morals!!!!