To be sick of people slating Faith schools

[Jenga123]

Don't get me wrong I understand why some people may be against them but the negativity I've come across recently is, quite frankly ridiculous. I've been told by friends of friends, family etc that they pay for my dd's to attend their catholic primary and secondary schools and that tax payers that are paying towards these schools should not have to do so if their children can't attend these schools. Well let me just say the average amount of income tax each individual pays, that actually goes towards the upkeep of schools is minuscule, so they aren't in fact paying for them. Myself and the other parents of my dd's schools pay a considerable sum each year to the upkeep of the school and the school contributes 10% towards the costs of running their school and repairs etc.

I also come across animosity at the fact my children are getting a good education and people putting that down to them simply being baptised. But my point is if they feel that their own children are missing out by going to a less desirable school then I'm sure they could have them baptised therefor giving them a higher chance of securing a place at a faith school, and whilst I'm not advocating people pretending to be of the faith, I'm simply saying there are options.

As for my dd's schools like I said they are Catholic and are obviously places were parents of the same faith opt to send their children as they want them to be educated within that faith, and I can't see any problem with this to be honest so why am I hearing nothing but negativity from people?

Is it unusual?

Yes, according to both the Govt and the Catholic Education Service, both of whom use the 'max 10%' figure. When the 1944 Act was passed, it was up to 50%, but has gone down significantly since. Given that the state has been chipping in the majority of the capital spend for the past 70 years, the 'it's the church's buildings' is a stretch.

I could just about get my head around schools getting faith places relative to the annual proportion they contribute to the running of the school, both capital and admin. The 'we chip in a little bit, so fuck off heathens' attitude is not logical, let alone sensible or moral.

Interesting what you say about state funding. Why is it when our Church of England school needed a new hall, the church paid half and the other half had to be raised by parents and the local community. Also interesting that everyone completely ignored that faith is NOT a criteria to get into the school. It's admissions are the same as the other local primaries.

HS- your school is very unusual indeed. That's why it can't be used as an example.

However it would certainly be worth considering how much the prospect of having to make substantial financial contributions to the school influences the intake......

The intake is influenced by the council schools application system which applies to everyone. I suspect that many Christians put this school as their first choice and people who don't want their children singing grace before lunch may not put it on their list.

It's also unlikely that people concerned about their ability to make financial contributions are going to put it on their list.....

What are the over subscription criteria?

My children are in private school. They are only there because the catchment school available to us was failing and in special measures. The other schools which would have been fine were faith schools and we did not get in on appeal. How is that fair, our taxes funding schools my children are excluded from, but it's ok for me to be completely slated for going private, where no public money is spent.

I don't believe in faith schools at all. School is for learning. Religion has no place in school. You don't need to mix Catholicism/Islam/Sikhism to learn maths or French or whatever. It has no bearing on that kind of learning. Your place of worship is where religion should be taught.

Lots of parents didn't make financial contributions. Many from low income families as well as the stereotypical middle class Christians. Over subscription is managed by the council in the same way as the other local schools. I am just making the point that faith schools do not have to discriminate and I think if they carry on doing so, they will lose state support. Then we will only have private faith schools. Maybe this is what people want, but it seems to work in our area.

HS- if you really think the prospect of even being asked to make a financial contribution isn't going to put some people off then I am afraid you are a little naive. Out of interest, how does the FSM figure at your school compare to other local schools?

Bertrand, HSMMaCM's school is not unusual. Four posters now have now told you that a faith school they know does not have a faith-based admissions procedure.
The respective Churches own the land and have an active interest in the school: of course they contribute financially!

Dismissing posters's evidence because it doesn't fit in with your agenda doesn't do your argument any good.

The two CofE aided schools I mentioned: it's the local one that is undersubscribed that has the faith criteria in its admissions policy.
The one without it is usually oversubscribed by 2 or 3 applications to every available place.

From what I've seen all do the children love it and really get involved especially around Christmas, they aren't scarred for life or leave for secondary school brainwashed.

I was born and raised in a very Catholic community. School, church and home. I can absolutely promise you that brainwashing is quite a big thing. If you are constantly exposed to one thing, told it is the way, with little exposure or teaching of others you will be brainwashed. Out of 6 of us 1 attends church now. We were brainwashed.

No child should receive preferable treatment based on their religion, culture or anything else. That is no way to enfiece equality.

Also mythical characters have not part on education unless taught under classical literature.

Enforce *

Religion is a personal choice made by someone when they are personally old enough to make the choice. School as in academia, has no place to teach that. Just my personal opinion.

Children shouldn't have to sing hymns when they don't even yet know if they beleive in 'god'. Children shouldn't be segregated if they don't. They can make up their own mind when they have decided themselves.

The church own the buildings and therefore capital projects have to be funded by the parents and fundraising to the tune of 10% IME the church relies on parents to do it.

The rest, like pupil premium, is exactly the same as a non indoctrination school.

I don't have half as much of an issue with faith schools if they have admission policies that are the same as other secular schools.

It's the discriminary admission policies that I have a massive issue with.

There are faith schools where I live. I teach in a private academy for after-school students (and adults). Hand on heart the thickest most precious demanding snowflakes I teach are those from faith schools. They don't know how to study independently or think for themselves, they want to be spoon-fed.

Needless to say we haven't sent our son to one.

All schools ask for financial contributions from parents. DD's non faith secondary school was always appealing for money. FSM rules apply in the same way as for all the other schools.

Lots of parents didn't make financial contributions. Many from low income families as well as the stereotypical middle class Christians. Over subscription is managed by the council in the same way as the other local schools. I am just making the point that faith schools do not have to discriminate and I think if they carry on doing so, they will lose state support.

It's praiseworthy where faith schools remove faith based oversubscription criteria.

However I don't see much sign of state support waning for faith selection.

Yes the discriminatory admissions policy is certainly the biggest issue for me ( where it exists).

But tbh i would also have a massive problem with my children attending a faith school if they werent of that faith. You would always wonder if 'those in charge' were looking at your children as unequals somehow. You only have to look at admission criteria in the schools that do discriminate to see where the faith-based priorities and preferences lie (ie not with the heathens).

Hand on heart the thickest most precious demanding snowflakes I teach are those from faith schools. They don't know how to study independently or think for themselves, they want to be spoon-fed

Well for a start you don't sound like you should be working anywhere near kids tbh 'thickest most precious demanding snowflakes' - nice.

Hand on heart the thickest most precious demanding snowflakes I teach are those from faith schools.

Thick? Really? What a nasty thing to say.

Gnome, it should of course be absolutely fine for your children to attend a faith school...even if they were not of the faith. My son went to a Catholic school as a non Catholic and was never marked out as different. He was free to join in or not any extra faith stuff. He joined a lunchtime Rosary group (over art or other clubs) and came home proudly clutching his beads which he wore as a necklace. It did him no harm and he enjoyed the quietness of the sessions (he is autistic so quiet activities are perfect for him).

He is 13 now and needless to say that ship has long snice sailed but I will always be grateful to his junior school for how well they made sure all children could be included in both faith and non faith stuff as the children wanted. They had a fair number of non-Catholic children though.

It really should not make a difference.

Saying that pupils haven't learnt to learn independently is a valid criticism to make but you absolutely lost me when you started using insults based on their intelligence.