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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To become Catholic in order to ensure decent schooling?

92 replies

catholicschool · 10/02/2011 10:04

dcs both attend Catholic schools and we are a christian family and attend a CofE church.

youngest son is in year 1 and we want him to go to Catholic secondary but that is only guaranteed if he is Catholic Hmm

I now have a dilemma. I am baptised Catholic and am strongly tempted to take youngest son over to the Catholic faith and part of that would be to ensure he gets into the school that his brother currently attends.

I was thinking of returning to the Catholic faith last year after the Pope visited the UK and it inspired me to consider it.

I know I will probably be flamed for this but the only decent schools in our area are Catholic and it's not as though we're atheists who are just planning to pretend to be something we're not iyswim.

I love the fact that our children are receiving a christian based education and that can only be found in Catholic schools as the state secondary schools are secular.

OP posts:
MrSpoc · 10/02/2011 10:31

no child desserves a place over another child. every child is the same. if one child gets a place and the other does not. so what. hard luck.

And my catholic shild has been turned down at the only catholic nursery as no places left.

Bramshott · 10/02/2011 10:32

YABU to become a Catholic (note become, not pretend to become) to ensure Catholic schooling for your DC, if that's what you want them to have.

cantspel · 10/02/2011 10:33

catholic schools are not exclusively catholic as around 30% of children in catholic schools are non catholic.

Litchick · 10/02/2011 10:34

And it's not as if transubstantiation is a regular part of the maths curriculum.

Original poster
catholicschool · 10/02/2011 10:36

If the secondary school has limited places then the Catholic children obviously take priority. There is a percentage of non Catholic children at the school but they are only given the places that are left.

OP posts:
MrSpoc · 10/02/2011 10:38

it could be litchick- the kids could down a glass of wine andtotal how many units they had and how many peices of bread they will need to soak up the alcohol. Wine

faeriefruitcake · 10/02/2011 10:38

Bread and wine into the actualy body and blood of Christ. One of the main differences between the Catholic and Protestant Churches.

It may not be part of the maths curriculum but then neither is hypocrisy

GetOrfMoiLand · 10/02/2011 10:39

I totally agree with Litchick and do not understand the moral handwringing.

You have the wherewithal to get your children a place in a good school. Just go for it.

breatheslowly · 10/02/2011 10:44

State schools are not secular - they have a daily act of Christian worship.

Do you actually agree with the teachings of the Catholic church? Contraception, role of women etc?

What do your DC believe? I would personally rather my DC not waste school time going to mass. If I want them to have a religious education, that is what Sundays are for.

JoanofArgos · 10/02/2011 10:44

I bet Jesus wouldn't like faith schools, actually.

Litchick · 10/02/2011 10:45

faerie a lot of practising catholics don't believe in it or at least question it.

As long as the OP and her DC are respectful of the belief then that's fine.

Or are we now saying that every child who attends a catholic school has to beleive every plank of the faith?

Because let's be very very clear. The vast majority of DC who attend faith schools do so because their parents are availing themselves of a good school that happens to be of their faith.

They will in all liklihood not pursue the faith when they leave...until they have children of their own and need to secure a place at a good school.

gobehindabushfgs · 10/02/2011 10:48

I think hypocrisy is central to the doctrine of a catholic school

why on earth would you want your kids to go to a catholic school? I wouldn't let mine within a hundred yards of one

gobehindabushfgs · 10/02/2011 10:50

and there is no such thing as a "catholic child". Just parents who don't respect their children's right to find their own spirituality.

Litchick · 10/02/2011 10:53

People do it for a better education, I suppose.

And to be honest, how much of the religious stuff actually permeates the day to day running of the school.

My DC attend private schools that call themselves Church of England. I am a catholic by birth and DH and I are atheists by choice.

The religious aspect of the schools are nominal. Some of it well worth knowing for cultural purposes, given we live in England.

I just tell DC to be respectful.

teddymum · 10/02/2011 10:54

Really depends on the school tbh. Here in SW London it would be impossible to do this. Our priest would see right through this hypocrisy and never sign the necessary forms needed to get in. The schools around here don't even have enough spaces for practising Catholic families in the catchment, much less fake ones.

Would you still be thinking of converting if the outstanding secondary was CofE? Doubt it.

Mumwithadragontattoo · 10/02/2011 10:55

I think if you genuinely want to return to practise the faith you were brought up in taking your children with you that is fine. If the good schooling is merely an added benefit to this rather than the driving force I see no problem at all.

If you are changing faith and the main motivation is accessing the good schooling you must realise that that is very morally dubious.

Your conscience will know which one it is.

ShirleyKnot · 10/02/2011 10:57

I'm a bit confused about this, I might be being thick though.

So one of your sons is attending the local Catholic Secondary school as part of the schools' requirement to admit a certain percentage of non catholic children? And your second child is attending the local catholic primary school, as a non-catholic child, and I don't get it.

Surely there is a points system, the same way there is in in most secondaries and sibling attendence is part of that points system? And surely the school will know that your second child has only been baptised in order to get into the chool, because the oldest child is there as part of their non-faith percentage?

I don't understand.

maryz · 10/02/2011 10:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JoanofArgos · 10/02/2011 10:57

I'm not so sure about the nominal nature of religious aspects you know.... in this here Catholic school, they did all have to go and watch a big-screen showing of the Pope's speech (outside), they have masses quite frequently, prayers in form time, a Priest who seems to live here.....

Although it is astounding how many of the actual kids are unclear on, for example, whether a protestant is a kind of Catholic, or whether or how the two are different.

Odd set up really, faith schools.

Litchick · 10/02/2011 11:02

Kids are wrapped up in their own little worlds and pay far more attention to their families and peers.

The majority of children leaving catholic schools do not go on to practise their faith...so I tink we can safely assume that they weren't very convinced by all the masses and priests.

Original poster
catholicschool · 10/02/2011 11:02

The Catholic faith does permeate the teaching in the school and the effect that it has is good from what I can see. The children are more respectful and better behaved and the entire environment feels more caring and nurturing. It's not just about the quality of education it's about the whole ethos.

There isn't a daily act of worship in normal state schools. Both children attended normal schools and there was no worship at all. Even the Christmas celebrations were secularized.

OP posts:
Litchick · 10/02/2011 11:05

Then go for it.

I pay for my DCs education so I won't critisise.

But don't pretend to yourself that you have a higher motive.

TheButterflyCollector · 10/02/2011 11:11

"so shruggy, you would be totally accepting of your child losing out on a place in teh good school and ending up in the sink estate school because of another family's bending and breaking of the rules?"

I can assure you that my children would never end up in the sink estate school. Never.

Shruggy.

vintageteacups · 10/02/2011 11:13

Catholic schools have to include all religions and have a certain percentage of other religions within their school.

The catholic school my SIL teaches, has a high number of children who are muslim faith.

vintageteacups · 10/02/2011 11:14

Oh and our head teacher was catholic but to get the job in a C of E school, she changed religion Wink

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