Bishop Gilpin parents - And you call yourselves Christians?? (MERTON SCHOOLS)

[NutellaWithEverything]

Name changed because I need to rant about my DS not having been offered a school place and don't want to be outed. I am in Wimbledon and my nearest school in Bishop Gilpin. My DS has not been accepted to start in Reception this September coming even though it takes us three minutes to get there. Yet, they take in children from the other side of Wimbledon even though they have to drive through town to get there. And why?? Because they go to the right churches. So last November there was a request from the Council to add another Reception class but parents voted against other children from their own community benefiting from attending a good school. They felt it would be in the detriment of their school's community feel!!!!! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THIS IS SELFISH, SHORT-SIGHTED, UN-GODLY AND JUST PLAIN WRONG?????????????????

Someone suggested that if my DC were already in the school I would not care if other children from the community were able to get in or not. You couldn't be any more wrong. I can truthfully say that I feel schools need to accomodate the community and if that means increasing by an extra class, then we should all make some room and let others in. I would not be at all happy with the individual classes increasing in numbers, because that would have a negative effect on all the children. If BG is such a good school, wouldn't it be a positive thing for more children to be educated in it? Will the standards suffer from going from 2 to 3 classes?

"Have you told them how to get into the system".

To get into the system you need to live in the area for long enough to qualify - not an option if you're being moved from immigration centre to B&B to hostel to short-term council let to another short-term council let...

To get into the system you need to speak the language, to be able to understand the information that is available if you know where to find it.

To get into the system you need to be able to understand how things work: that the Council will tell you how to apply but actually you need to talk to local parents, chat up the vicar, get onto the parish electoral roll, make sure you don't just attend church but have your child attend Sunday school and get their name ticked off etc.

To get into the system you need to be able to prove that your child was baptised (which may not be easy if it was long ago in another place) or know that you need to get them baptised asap.

To get into the system you need to become part of the church community, which will be full of people not like you, with lives very different from your own, who don't speak your language, who may be very well-meaning but feel slightly embarrassed at your presence and don't really know how to talk to you.

To get into the system you need to do voluntary work for the church, which may be tough if you are working three cash-in-hand jobs just to survive, while looking after your three children and your elderly mother...

To get into the system you need a letter of reference from the vicar, who may be a little too concerned about maintaining Outstanding Ofsted reports and excellent SATS results, which may be a result of excellent faith schooling but may also have just something to do with the intake...

To get into the system may be just a little bit easier if you are not traumatised, depressed, overwhelmed with trying to get by and keep your children safe in a strange new country whose ways you don't understand.

I am not saying the situation is like this everywhere, and I'm not saying all faith schools turn a blind eye to this. But those of you who think your local situation is ok should be aware that this is what it is like, in many many areas.

Peachy that was a genuine comment! I liked what you said, a lot. Genuine smile!!

Sorry garnish

keep getting myself into trouble not understanding so have started asking and now look! PMSL

Something I particualrly loathe about faith schools is the insistence on such basic things as Church attendance. thereby eliminating anyone who works Sundays (eg a paramedic), who might be a carer and needing to care, whose child has Sn and can't manage a Church service...

It doesn't select for faith, it selcets for quite irrelevant things. I also suspect that the same churchgoers would be pretty anrked if they could not get an ambulance or A&E visit on a Sunday as all the staff were in Church; or quite probably if they could not get a bottle of red to have with lunch!

I agree, good posts Peachy.

Shame the main political parties are too far up their own 'our children attend state school' arses to listen to what most parents actually want.

Onagar - start a waiting list, I'll add my name

But Peachy are you saying that if they did truthfully select for faith then it would be okay?

Nutella,
I feel for you. We live even closer than you and we didn't get into BG last year. My ds got into a school further away so this summer we're moving to be closer to his school.

Very unfair situation, but I also realise that the demand is overwhelming. Merton were actually very helpful when I hounded them last year, so stay on the waiting list and keep ringing the LA to find out where you are on waiting lists. Good luck.

No i'm not garnish; just pointing out that even the systems they claim allows people access if they use them aren;t open to everyone: there must be many Christians barred rom Christians schools as well as non beleivers.

My old school ( avery large comp many, many years ago) offered different faith group 'clubs' at lunchtime (that chidlren not parents could opt for) alongside a very mixed education; that was good. But otherwise I don;t think religius selction has a palce in education. RE as a combination of factual info and general philosophy does (my degree is religion adn philosophy and I;d like RE generally changed to that) bit nothing that purposrts to teach children what to believe outside basic sociatal codes: that's for the aprents to choose 9although I;d rather my boys chose for themselves- one is completely atheistand that's fine)

Nutella, I am really sorry your DS did not get offered a place at all. It is a hard pill to swallow when your nearest school is not available to your DC because of your religious beliefs and because you have chosen not to play them at their own game and attend church. I just wanted to show some sympathy as some of the posters here have been truly awful, particularly the ones starting with a laugh. What's so funny about a child not having a school place? Honestly. So anyway, back to the OP. Merton has failed hundreds of children this year but there are talks of 4 schools taking 4 bulge classes. I empathise with the stress of not knowing where your DS will end up in September but hopefully you'll know something soon. Good luck.

State funding of faith schools should be banned. There's barely enough funding for education as it is, we shouldn't be subsidising superstition.
If you want religion in your child's life, do it at a private school or at the weekend.

I appreciate that AllTheGoodOnesAreTaken. What 4 schools exactly?

Coorong, I couldn't agree more

Nutella - did your son go to the nursery / pre school at BG ? The fact that if he had it would have pushed you further up the list I think isnt that clear on the admissions policy. Most of the people who got the open places were all pre school attendees. I think out of the 30 open places 17 went to siblings and 10 on location, and i think all the location ones all attended the nursery.
As far as I am aware Dundonald , Hillcross have both announced bulges and Merton is looking into another school to announce the end of May.

"I chose for my child to go to a faith school. I also chose him to be baptised into that faith. As a child baptised to that faith, I consider it his right to be educated in the values and sacraments of that church."

Yes. You indoctrinated your child and had him baptised into a faith that he at present probably has very little TRUE understanding of.

This is all about the religious commitment of parents, not children. Faith should be a private matter between you and your god.

If you want to continue and deepen your child's religious indoctrination then do it at the weekends and in the evenings, in your own time. And don't expect the state to fund it.

ooops - X posts with you coorong.

I haven't read every post on this thread, but I'm very glad to see that Kartell and others agree that the principal problem lies with Merton Council. It is appallingly badly managed. If you don't live in the borough, you can have little idea how this impacts on local schools.

Many local residents educate outside of the borough for this very reason (eg in Wandsworth, Sutton, Kingston) because their boroughs are reasonably well-led. Never criticise a Merton resident for going out of borough. You have no idea what they're up against unless you live there too.

It's not just one council though. It's all over the country.

in my area a local community school was closed a couple of years ago; the land sold to build flats.
It was a school that was really needed, and the govmnt knew the demographic was on the rise, and they knew there would be this crisis.

The solution seems to be to add to existing schools, but this is not ideal at all.
It is much easier due to red tape to add to an existing school than it is to build new schools.

So, they close small local schools, and create massive Super Schools which many children have to travel long distances to.
Doing it this way makes it cheaper for the LA but is in no way advantageous to the children, or the parents, who have to ferry kids miles and then get to work.

Put pressure on this government to re-instate small local community schools (NOT faith schools).

My DD goes to a faith school (not in Merton). A few years ago they changed the entry criteria. Catchment area now comes above being a church goer. It was recognised by the school that for people in the catchment area it was unfair that places were being given to people out of the catchment area, largely because there were no places available to people within the catchment at other schools. They are still very much a faith school even though they take more non faith dcs.

Depressing that the one new free school vaguely in the area is slated to be run by evangelical christians as well - I know I have a bee in my bonnet about it but think that the lack of primary school places means that all new schools should be fully inclusive.

Oh is that one being advertised on Radio Jackie as the free school in Raynes Park- with the alliterative name?
Where are they planning to put it?

No this is one in Worcester Park. Though I dont know precisely where - it could be further over, def falling under Sutton though I think.

Have heard bad things already about it - they are getting advice from Phillipa Stroud (the prospective MP for Sutton who allegedly thinks that gay people can be cured through religion)

Doxi Deo is the one I'm thinking of.
Another one proposed in Merton on the site of the old Wimbledon House school.
I was in a school today that's moving to four form entry......that's big.

There is another class proposed linked to All Saints CofE which would be in the Community Centre on haydons Road. I have no idea how far this proposal has gone, but it would be strange just one class in that big building.

Nutella, I'm really sorry your DC hasn't got a place - that is obviously stressful in itself and it is tough not being able to get into the school closest to you.

Having said all that, I do think that YABU with respect to BG's parents in calling them the (pretty heavy-handed) things you did. There are MANY reasons why a school may choose not to expand and a lot of them are perfectly reasonable.

While school places should obviously be available to all children in a borough, the burden doesn't fall on one school. Why does BG have to (ever-) expand to accommodate all the children in the borough? I don't imagine that the school is being "selfish" by saying that it would no longer be able to deliver to the standards it wants to deliver to if it did expand. It's irrelevant that's a faith school. Anumber of schools in the area were asked to expand - some faith schools, some not - some expanded, some did not. Your complaint is with Merton not BG.

northernrock who said anything about it being the fault of smelly immigrants?

That is the problem with this country, as soon as you point out the fact that our population is growing largely due to the fact that we have open boarders with the rest of the EU and that due to this increase our infrastructure is failing to cope you get called a racist.

Lilies, I think that class linked to All Saints is going ahead which sounds pretty awful to me. Means a radically reduced Community Centre too. As I understand it, this is the (very short-term) alternative offered by the Labour council in place of the obviously desperately needed new school that the previous council proposed for Gap Road.

Holy Trinity (faith school) has already expanded, as will St Marys (faith school). I think Wimbledon Chase has already too.