has anyone sent their child to a faith school when they are not of that faith?

[janettargaryen]

I am considering sending my ds to a specific (non-Christian) faith school that has a very good reputation and because all the other schools in my area are very oversubscribed and I don't think he will get in elsewhere. The school is not very orthodox but it is a faith school and they accept applications from people who are not of their faith.

I just wondered if anyone has experience of sending their dc to a faith school where they are not of that faith (eg. Jewish, Muslim, Christian) etc? If so, how have your dc got on with the other children and did they find it strange going to a school that they weren't the faith of? Did they feel included? Was the experience positive or negative overall? thanking in advance.

Yes, it's perfectly reasonable to expect people who don't want their children to be taught to be religious to home educate, when you are paying taxes to fund the fucking things.

Would you be willing to fund my household expenses while I give up my job to home educate my child for thirteen years, crashdoll? Only my rent is quite high.

Many private schools are of a specific faith too, so home education for all those parents who are so anti-religion.

Non sequitur much? Been on the tonight?

kim147, exactly. I actually think that religious stories and traditions are important in a cultural sense, that they enrich everyday life etc. I don't mind that at all. I do object to my DS being told to pray. If, when he grows up and comes to his own conclusions about the matter, and wants to pray as a result of that, then that would be fine.

I also don't think that faith schools should be publicly funded. If you want to tell your child what to think about religion, go for it, but do it in your own time and without state backing.

Some kids might thrive on being the odd one out ( or at least in the minority) but some might feel second class. If this is the school that recently had to change its admission policy to accept non-Jews because the numbers dropped after a new school was built elsewhere, then I know there was a lot of resentment about that among the existing kids and parents who didn't want the policy to change. I don't know if that bad feeling would be felt by the new intake though, because the school may have turned that around.

Cloverer "Personally, pretending to be religious is a step too far for me. I wouldn't think badly of anyone else doing so though."

That's a very interesting place to draw your line in the sand, which I have a lot of respect for. A lot of people I imagine would either be all for it, or all against !

Personally I feel I've been bending things a little (like Beckham, is that the phrase ?) but it's been OK for me and worth it, if a little bit of a strain at times.

DD is happy at her faith school, has made great friends, and is doing very well there. I think first few posters on thread were right that it all matters much less to the kids. eg. they don't even ask what sort of place they got in on, even after all that angst by their parents.

Hopefully on day one everyone is equal.

I think there is a general eye-rolling at the endless hymn singing just as there was when I was at school.

I would want to be confident challenging things DC come home from school with (just in a "some people believe in xyz, but I don't" kind of way) and think it would be hard for DC if we were going to church and giving the impression of believing too.

This is exactly what we have chosen (from very limited options) for DD. The Jewish children do Jewish Studies lessons while the other children follow a standard RE curiculum- very much multi faith with no apparent bias.
A few years down the line, the main disadvantages are - different holidays from other schools limiting holiday childcare options, vegetarian only packed lunches, and very few school trips.
No overnight trips are provided due to religious restrictions on food.

"Can I ask what the lure of the faith school is if you are not of that faith (or a non believer) - open question."

Not a lot of choice here. Our village primary is CofE, as are the primaries in all surrounding villages.

If we wanted a non-CofE we'd have to try to get a place in the nearest town, would not be in catchment, and if children did get a place they would have to be driven to school rather than walking. And given that there is no such thing as an atheist school I don't think they're getting a great deal more God where they are at the moment.

wallison and kim147 I absolutely agree with you that faith schools should not receive state funding, and I feel very strongly that the whole collective worship of a broadly Christian nature thing should be abolished. Unfortunately we have to choose from the schools which are on offer.

I am however very encouraged by the fact that both my DDS have managed to come through faith school without having been indoctrinated - they both went through a God stage when they were 5-6 and are now profoundly secular. DD1 fancies worshipping the Egyptian gods (having read Rick Riordan) and I'm perfectly happy with that, though I have drawn the line at having an obelisk in the back garden.

My DS went to a C of E primary. We're both lapsed Catholics. I think there's altogether too much worrying about the perceived effect of this kind of schooling on children. They come through it just fine and seem to manage not to sign up to the Moonies or leap headfirst into a lifetime of devotion to a God in which you do not believe. You should credit your kids with the wisdom to work this stuff out for themselves and if they do 'catch God' then chances are they always were going to with or without your intervention.
Stop fretting and put your energies into their all round education.

You can get your child into a faith school if it bothers you that much, just go to church or synagogue. The rules are no longer are as discriminatory as they were, so everyone has an equal change of going to X school if they fulfil the admission criteria.

Just to add - I don't know how it works in other religions but in many Jewish schools, parents are expected to pay for the Jewish education. It is not state funded.

"Non sequitur much? Been on the tonight?"

Patronising, much? :)

Having to baptise your child before 6 months and be an active church attender (which many faith schools have as their criteria) is pretty discriminatory. School admissions really shouldn't be decided on religious or ethnic grounds imo - every child should have an equal opportunity to attend their local school.

"every child should have an equal opportunity to attend their local school."

Unless it's a crap school and watch parents scrabble to get them in a better one.

TheseFoolishThings, if the best thing you can say about religious schools is that the children who go to them reject religion, then what is the point of the damn things? Why not just do away with them altogether, if they're so useless at doing what they say on the tin?

pointythings, yes, we do have to go with what's on offer. I just think it a shame that very often what is on offer is a school that is set up to specifically indoctrinate to a particular religion or even if you choose a non-faith school it will happen anyway. The Egyptian gods sound fun though! Why no schools that subscribe to that? I guess it's just not fashionable in religious circles these days.

There are other inequalities in the education system and I just can't get het up over faith schools when I see people desperately trying to get out of their child going to the local school.

For me, it's not about the inequality aspect; I just have a fundamental objection to religion - which should be a deeply personal philosophical decision - being foisted on children through organisations that are tax-payer funded.

Im the same as Endo, the school in my village if CofE so that is where my DD is going.

Did I say that Wallison. Goodness. I had no idea. Well. Thanks for putting me straight.

Well, I have a fundemental objection to people who are discriminatory to those who are believers in that they somehow brainwash their children.

*fundamental

Yes, I'm so all-powerful and discriminatory. I set up my own schools and tell the children in them what to think.

TheseFoolishThings - I thought the crux of your argument was that faith schools are fine because children don't believe what they are taught in them anyway. I could be wrong though.