To feel extremely worried and rather ticked off about this?......

[EmiliaJ]

Basically my daughter who is age 10 (11 in September) is due to go into year 6 at an outstanding catholic school. She previously attended a non Catholic primary due to us losing our appeal, but a place became available when she was two weeks into starting year 3, and as we had always wanted her at this school, which just so happens to be the feeder school to the only outstanding Catholic secondary in our borough we decided to move her there. She's since never looked back, has an amazing friendship group, has come on in her education more than we could have ever expected etc and we are all really happy.

Like I said we hoped she will go onto the feeder secondary school and up until now she has been considered top priority along with most of her other classmates ie baptised Catholic who lives within one of the named parishes AND has attended a Catholic primary school. But we have now been informed (2 weeks ago!) that the secondary school has changed it's criteria frok 2016 onwards and they are no longer stipulating that for a child to be high up the criteria they must have attended Catholic primary. So basically now as long as a child is baptiseD Catholic and they live within one of the six parishes (ours is 3rd closest to the school) then they will likely gain a place. I can't help but worry now as this means my dd will be fighting for a place whereas before they changed the criteria she would have got in no problem. So Aibu to br worried and am I overreacting? I mean realistically how many children who have not attended Catholic primary will actually want to go to a Catholic secondary?......

I don't think you're being unreasonable to be disappointed and I definitely don't think you're being unreasonable for wanting your Catholic child to go to a Catholic school over non-Catholics. HOWEVER, my opinion on that entitlement changes drastically when the education offered at the faith school is better than the alternatives, in this case I think everyone should have equal footing. I find admissions criteria very cloudy for faith schools, as you say, lots of people lie to get into the "best" school.

FWIW, not only does baptism not make you a believer, church attendance doesn't either. The only qualifier would be a personal relationship with Jesus, surely? But that's much more difficult to prove than an hour a week and/or a ceremony.

Well yes if I'm being honest, sending my dd to Catholic primary and indeed, attempting to get her into there in the first place in my opinion, does show commitment. I mean I didn't have to chose Catholic school in the first place, and I certainly didn't have to uproot my dd from her community primary to send her to Catholic primary but my faith reassured me that this was the best thing for my dd. It would have been "easier" to chose to the local failing community school down the road from the beginning and not go through all of this but this is not what I wanted

Oh and it was all going so well.

So you want a commitment test, but don't want it done on attendance at church?

I'd also jump through whatever silly hoops were needed to get my DC into a good nearby school.

Any reasonable parent would do that and PLAY play the ridiculous faith system at its own game.

No idea why PLAY appeared in my post!

"Faith schools tend to have better morals"
I actually cannot get over that statement OP.
You are actually brainwashed.

Let's not talk about the scandals concerning the Catholic Church and its morals concerning little children

I'm not sure I understand the admission criteria of the primary. If there are 14 'non Catholic' children in your daughters class, yet Catholic children are given a higher admission priority, why did your daughter not get a place initially?

Am I to assume that those 14 children will not be 'allowed' to move onto the Catholic secondary with their classmates......you know, that thing that you can't do for your own daughter ?

I'm just being honest about how I feel, so there's no need for "an explosion". I mean come on, ininitially wanted my dd at her now primary school for a reason, she didn't get in and settled into her mediocre community school fairly well, I decided to move her when an opportunity arose but due to the new criteria I actually didn't need to move her at all, as she now stands the same chance of getting into the secondary as all her baptised friends at her old school, can you not comprehend why I'd feel slightly ticked off?

Quite, Oneday.

You best start praying then OP

Yet you are really happy about how she's done at this new school. You're looking for reasons to be annoyed now.

No! I've already said I'd love for the criteria to include church attendance, as me and my family attend weekly so my dd would no doubt secure a place.

Better morals?

Faith schools (of any hue) are divisive, and unfair. They operate discriminatory admissions practices.
How on earth can you justify spending tax-payers money on them?

Obviously God doesn't want your DD to be prioritised for this school, otherwise He wouldn't have arranged for the admissions criteria to change, would He?

YABVU.
Which is also what the last poster was told, when she complained that the admissions process changing to make it less discriminatory was 'unfair'.
If you want a faith-based education, you should have to pay for it. The state has no business funding indoctrination IMO.
And I am sick to death of people of faith thinking they are morally superior to those that do not share their faith, or indeed have no faith at all.

You don't want the other children to have the same opportunity as yours - tsk, tsk, that's not very Christian, is it?

"'I'd happily pay for my dd to attend Catholic school, we aren't well off but I'd find the money somehow. "

Sorted then. There's your plan. Your daughter will be offered a state school place. If it's not a faith school and you want a faith school then you need to find a fee paying one of which there are probably a gazillion.

My dd didn't get a place at the Catholic primary initially as at the time many of the Catholic schools in the area gave priority to children who lived within catchment whether they we're Catholic or not and at the time we lived 2 miles away, not the 1.5 miles we live now so we missed out on distance.

You missed out on distance, and rightly so.

Actually there are no private faith schools in my area, not one. I really do not know why you are all being so nasty. I habe faith, it's quite clear the majority of you do not, but why be so bitter and judgemental.

If you missed out because of distance but you're near to the secondary school then surely that demonstrates why it's not right to use attending that primary school as part of the criteria?

It's not OK to slander other people's morals and try and excuse it by saying you were "just being honest".

And by the way, there is a great deal of research that suggests catholic (and other faith) schools don't get better results because they're inherently better but because they effectively select pupils from more middle-class, conscientious and education-valuing families.

You're coming across entitled and unable to see this from any other parent's point of view. No one cares if you have faith that's personal to you. You're getting a hard time over all this foot stamping. Jesus has nothing to do with it.

and on the bitter and judgemental thing, I would recommend you read back your own posts. He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone .... and all that.

I am a Christian (not Catholic), but I won't be sending my DS to the local faith school (Catholic/CofE) when the time comes. I find my religious beliefs differ as much with RC and High CofE as much as entirely different religions. (I have also chosen not to have him baptised and will let him make that commitment if/when he decides. God's grace saves children anyway.)
He will continue to enjoy fellowship with Christians if that is what he chooses and I'm 100% confident that his faith (if he has one at 11) will not be impacted by my decision.

Your DD will be ok either way, OP.

Saying 'catholics have better morals' isn't judgemental?