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?

I mean specifically C of E, as in has the vicar come in regularly and holds school services etc.

Surprisingly they don't always Adika. There are lots of parents who would consider a faith school not of their faith over a non-faith school. Because even if it isn't your faith, they still promote the idea of faith being a part of daily life even though it isn't their faith.

Th catholic school here only has about 50% of its intake from its Catholic criteria. The other 50% are mainly made up of CofE with a handful of Muslim children. It's the only school that doesn't have a designated catchment area, so those parents have chosen to put it above their non faith (in most cases) catchment school in order to get a place.

Adikia - CofE and Catholic are not different religions, they are different denominations of the same religion - Christianity. I'm not sure what teachings you worry your dd would be exposed to in a CofE school; I say that as a practising Catholic whose children attend a CofE school.

We moved into this Parish when my ds was at the end of Year 1, and there was no chance of a place at Catholic school for him - in fact, the Catholic schools locally were so unfriendly and exclusive that I no longer wanted him to go there once I'd spoken to them. I sent him to a CofE village school outside of the town we live in and found it a friendly, loving school which is run on Christian principles with Christian worship at the heart of the school.

OP, it sounds like you are moving into the new Parish before your children actually start school, and before it is time to apply, so you will have attended Mass within the Parish for a few months before you apply? One thing to be aware of is that our Parish required us to register as parishoners (I've never in my life heard of this before) rather than simply attending mass and taking part in the Sacraments. Check the parish requirements carefully. Make sure it is known that you are new to the parish rather than starting to attend mass a few months before admissions!

Our local catholic school puts practitioners of other faiths into a higher category than non-practitioners.

Thanks for the further replies
I'm wondering if in fact it would be better for my current priest to fill out the form and I can just include proof such as a council tax bill to confirm my new home address
I'm sure it's from September I can apply isn't it?
As we won't move until the 1st october so providing I apply ASAP my new priest won't know me at all

Different LAs will let you apply from different dates. You have to apply by 15th Jan though. All applications received before that date will be treated the same, so it doesn't matter whether you apply in October or on January 15th.

What does the admissions criteria say about what proof you need for the application. Is it just a letter from the priest/baptism certificate or do you need proof of attendance for a given period of time?

littlejohnny - I don't really want to get into a debate on theology here but basically I don't think it would be appropriate for my DC to be at a c of e school because of the different attitudes to communion and Mary and because under cannon law it is frowned upon for the faithful in any way to assist actively at, or to take part in, the worship of non-Catholics (although I know that point is much debated and generally only believed in very old fashioned parishes)

Sorry for derailing the thread a bit there OP, yes it would probably be best for your current priest to fill in the form as you wont have been in the new parish very long before applying.

Have just read through it as it doesn't ask for the length of time we have been attending, the priest needs to verify the child is baptised catholic and has been recieved into the catholic church.
The application doesn't specify which church you need to attend, just that the child LIVES within 3 certain parishes?

I know you said you didn't want a debate on it but, those things aren't going to come up in a primary school. Children aren't going to be worshipping in that way in a CofE primary school. Or not in any that I have experience of anyway.

I'm not even sure the older more traditional priests round here would see anything wrong with a child attending a C of E primary school. I don't think my own would and he's fussy about quite a lot of things.

X posts in that case, I think you would be fine. You can always get the letter fro the old priest and then talk to the new priest once you have moved and are attending the new church.

My local C of E school does not indoctrinate children into C of E beliefs. The head is a Baptist, lots of children are Catholics. As well as the local vicar, who also visits local community schools; they have Imans, Rabbis and lots of different flavours of Christians doing assemblies (and other faiths sometimes). On local C of E school is predominantly Muslim.

I like RE being taught in school as at its best it teaches tolerance and understanding for others beliefs. Which hopefully will enable our youngsters to know why not to disrespect the Korean etc.

I would have thought good parenting encompassed tolerance of the beliefs of others, religious or otherwise, mummy.

It's not the exclusive preserve of a school RE lesson

Adikia Faith schools can set their own criteria. There is one where I live where the criteria for the first level is so strict I wonder if the vicar's kids will make it in.

The school is also (presumably) not completely thick and so will realise that quite a lot of people "discover Jesus" exactly 7 months before admissions have to go in only to lose him again once they have the place.

Therefore they have obviously decided that they would prefer local children that are baptised Catholic but whose parents are not overly committed to further away children whose parents are very very committed. (I guess they either want to be part of the community or they feel that the children of uncommitted Catholics are those that need the most teaching from a Catholic school.)

You may not like this - I don't like this either although that's because I think all local children should get priority - but that is the choice the school has made.

Check with the school - the local Catholic schools here wouldn't accept a Priest from another Parish filling in the form, they required being a registered (!) member of this Parish for a certain number of months before application, for the form to be filled in by this Parish Priest and to attend this parish church weekly for a certain number of months. However, the last area we lived in were nothing liek this - Catholic schools are very oversubscribed here.

Sorry, just seen your other post re admission requirements, it sounds from that as though it should be fine for your current Parish Priest to fill in the form and to provide proof of address.

Yeah I hope so otherwise there's nothing more I can do!

So you expect that there will always be a Catholic school for every Catholic child?

As Tommy Cooper used to say: Just like that.