to expect a catholic primary school for my catholic children?

[Mixedupmind]

No idea where to put this so I've put it here
We are moving to west sussex in a few months time, just in time for reception applications
Now there is only one catholic primary in the borough where we are moving to, compared to 3 where we currently are ( London )
Am I being unrealistic to think we will get the school place?
My sister in law today has made it very clear she thinks we are!
There are 2 intakes for each year so 60 children, we will live 0.4 miles away from it and are practising Catholics.
We want this primary as much as we want the catholic secondary college so it's important we get the primary as its a feeder school.
If for some reason it becomes over subscribed could we appeal for religious reasons?
And would this mean we may get offered a catholic school in a different borough miles away?

On a pedantic note, 400m is not 0.4 of a mile. It's closer to 0.25 of a mile.

Ikea,
The main reason for me relying on the catholic primary school is because in the whole area there are only 2 secondary schools, one non faith which has been given special measures to improve and the catholic one which is outstanding.
Manchestermummy,
As far as I'm aware no she isn't but she likes to think herself as a bloody know it all!

In seven years' time, both schools could have an entirely different Ofsted rating.

Why should I have to go private when we are Catholics who will live 400 metres away from a catholic school?!

Why should I pay taxes to educate your children in a school that teaches a set of values I do not believe in, I believe are damaging to the child and to society in general?

Why should you be able to move nest door to a child who is not RC and who may have had a place at that school if you had not moved?

You already get priority, I think that is enough. You are being VVU at wanting a school that saves you the job of educating your children in your faith.

Entitled of what?

But sashh, if you don't believe in the faith and think its damaging to the child and society etc etc, them why would you want your child to attend that school??

Charleybarley having worked in a RC secondary school, the difference in teaching is minimal (ime)

We had a chapel (classroom sized) where Mass was optional on a Friday. In RE they covered a variety of religions in KS3 and then KS4 covered Catholic Christianity.

Apart from a prayer in registration each morning (covering the legal requirement for collective worship that all state schools have) and crucifixes on various walls, I saw absolutely no difference between the RC school I worked in and the bog standard state school I attended as a teen.

No nuns, no brothers - just an optional trip to help at Lourdes for Sixth formers!

But why , just because you are Catholic, should the taxpayers fund more choice in schools for you?

Let's imagine we are neighbours and there are 2 possible schools one a faith school and one not. We're both paying taxes but I don't get a choice but you do. What makes you so special?

I'm not sure I get the obsession with wanting to send kids to faith schools.

It's usually about getting a good school rather than a religious one.

DD and nursery friends are going to four different local schools, despite every parent having the same order of preferences about which school they wanted to go to, based on how good they are perceived to be. The different outcomes are mostly to do with different parents abilities and dedication in playing the system of religious discrimnation. It makes me a bit sad to see friends being split up and potentially being sent on a different path in life by religious discrimination at the age of 4.

Friend 1 is the only one who got into the best school, an outstanding rated CoE with spending per year per child 50% higher than other local schools (partly due to an ancient charity supplementing government funding.) DW was angling for this school by attending the qualifying church, but didn't read the rules closely enough to understand that she would have had to start attending when DD was 1.5 for her attendance to make any difference.

Friend 2 was the only one to get into the second-choice school, a Catholic one where non-catholic Christians (and not looked-after etc.) were something like the 11th category that would be considered. (Muslims, who are the majority here, would be even further down.)

DD got into 3rd choice school, a CoE, but only because DW church attendance got her preference over others.

Friend 3 was a child of immigrant parents who I think didn't understand the system, only specified the same top three schools that everyone else was choosing, and did not get any of their choices initially. They eventually got allocated to a school that was not in anyone's top 6.

There was only one school on our list that didn't discriminate on religious grounds, it was our sixth choice. (Neither DW nor I are actually Christians, but DW was willing to pretend to be.)

The main reason for me relying on the catholic primary school is because in the whole area there are only 2 secondary schools, one non faith which has been given special measures to improve and the catholic one which is outstanding.

And again please explain what makes you so special to be entitled to make this choice at the taxpayers' expense?

Fraidy what you have described is obscene.

Our fifth choice school would have been the best one we might have got into if we hadn't pretended to be Christian. That one is CoE, and does discriminate on religion, but is close enough and crap enough that we'd probably have got in anyway.

If the school is oversubscribed (and presumably filled with Catholic children) how could you possibly appeal "on grounds of religion??

Just wanted to paraphrase Richard Dawkins and point out that there is no such thing as a Catholic child: just the child of Catholic parents.

Well this is what ive been confused about as keep hearing people / various threads on other sites saying they appealed on the grounds of religion but had no clue what they're talking about!
I think maybe they meant appealing to get given another faith school In a different borough perhaps

Well this is what ive been confused about as keep hearing people / various threads on other sites saying they appealed on the grounds of religion but had no clue what they're talking about!
I think maybe they meant appealing to get given another faith school In a different borough perhaps

To be fair, there are a huge number of primary schools within a reasonable distance of us, without positive religious discrimination three of the four friends would have got into worse schools than they did. So it's taking a glass-half-empty approach to complain about not getting into the best school because of religious discrimination, when in fact by faking religion 3 out of 4 parents got a better allocation than they would have done based on distance alone.

The main reason for me relying on the catholic primary school is because in the whole area there are only 2 secondary schools, one non faith which has been given special measures to improve and the catholic one which is outstanding.

So your main reason has nothing at all to do with your family's religion but you would still be willing to appeal on religious grounds if your child didn't get a place.

I'm not overly familiar with Catholicism but I'm pretty sure that lying and saying you "need" a faith school when infact what you want is a better education for your child than the non catholic child who lives next door and using your catholic faith to selfishly ensure a better education for your child is not really in keeping with Christian teaching, whatever happened to love thy neighbour, is it now love thy neighbour unless it is to dowith school places in which case feel free to tell lies to make sure you get the best for your child.

If you live 400m away from the school, I would have thought that you would get in. I'm not so sure about it if you live 0.4 miles away though as that's a bit further and your SIL is possibly right about people pretending to be Catholic so they can get it. It would have been a good idea to check the catchment area of the Catholic school for previous years before buying the house if it is so important to you.

Ikea,
It's swings and roundabouts really.
Of course we are catholic, I was raised catholic and at now nearly 30 hardly ever miss a week off of attending church.
We want our children to attend a school that reflect my beliefs however there's no point pretending that the school being a good one also comes into play surely

It's not a catholic dominant country and as per many threads on here it's about sometimes getting any place never mind the secular preference
Eg should you take a place over someone who lives next door because if your religion if they are happy to attend under that direction?
Sussex is not London

I am Christian but still do not like the faith school system. Everyone should have the same chances of getting into a school based on fair criteria (sen, siblings, distance etc) not based on your faith.

Strangely the "good" faith schools locally all have places, yet the "outstanding" community primary is very oversubscribed. Seems for some (not saying in the op case) faith and the 'right' to a faith school only applies when it fits you

OP, it's possible those people were appealing for places which weren't governed by infant class size rules and therefore the outcome is determined by a balance of prejudice; religion might then have been one of the things cited. It won't help you if the class is an infant one at 30 pupils already.

Everyone has the right to appeal. You can appeal on whatever grounds you like and the appeal panel have to hear your case. That doesn't mean to say you or any of the people posting threads are going to win an appeal.

The only way you are going to win an infant class size appeal is:

1. the LA made a mistake and that mistake meant you didn't get a place you would have got if the mistake hadn't been made.
2. the admissions criteria don't meet the admissions code and you would have got a place if thy did (very unlikely)
3. the decision to refuse a place is so unreasonable that no other person would have made that decision. (not being offered a catholic school is not even going to come close to being unreasonable enough)