Priests just handing out School Admissions letters

[Marypoppins19]

I’m prickly about this, but friends who live closer to a school of our choice, but only go to church at Christmas, have still managed to get a church support form. We go weekly, always have. AIBU to think this is unfair and breaking the rules?
AIBU to consider saying this in an appeal?

really unfair.

No, what is really unfair is that religion plays any part in whether you child gets a school place.

And for the people who complain about Church schools still existing...

They were set up in a bygone age when most people were Christian and went to church. It is not what 21st century with a diverse society covering all religions and those with none. This sort of discrimination should be consigned to the history books.

I have done one of these forms, although my dd didn't go to the school out of choice.

In ours there was a tick box that allowed you to put 'church attendance at Christmas/Easter'.

There is usually a threshold and it's unclear they haven't met it.

Lots of people only attend church on high days and holidays, this doesn't always disqualify them and it's not up to you to 'tell' on other parents.

The same is true of many hospitals BalloonSlayer but I’ve never had an ambulance driver ask for a letter from my priest before deciding where to take me.

I would complain through the church - whoever is higher up than the priest

Spring if fraud has been committed it absolutely is her job.

You are not a good person if you stand by and watch a wrong being committed and do nothing

Giant - yes we have to sign a register when we go

Wow. You really can't trust priests. Who knew....?

I think you could query this with the admissions people at the borough/county council. Just ask them to clarify how it works. Although they will not control admissions for a school that is church controlled, they must surely know the rules in detail as they will be the ones needing to take action if they are breached?

No it would be the church not the council taking action hence she needs to complain through the church

Wow. You really can't trust priests. Who knew....?

Mate

Our system is pretty good. We have a form with various boxes for attendance weekly, monthly, special occasions, etc. So you can be truthful and still get your form signed, and if you go weekly and I go at Xmas, you go ahead of me in the queue (unless there are siblings, history of care, etc), but we probably both get in. There are still non- Catholics getting into our school.

Could you suggest a form? If the priest has to write letters, he'll be doing a copy/paste job to save on admin time. Not ideal.
However, do non- Catholics get into your school, OP? You should be able to see on your CC website. If there is space for non-Catholics, then it's largely irrelevant, as you would both get in regardless. The unfairness will come when the school is oversubscribed by Catholics alone.

would you really want your child to attend school there? I mean there might be children in class with your DC who go once a year to church!

@BalloonSlayer - doesn't make it right though. The church is so corrupt, full of self serving, bible spouting pied-pipers.

You may have noticed that economically better countries have less religious people are more atheists ... well educated countries/economies have higher numbers of atheist:religious the church needs to gracefully back away from our schools and children

Imagine how quiet that church must be the week after the forms are in ! I bet it's just the priest and op!

The churches probably don't still own all the land and buildings for those hospitals and aren't still needing to drum up 10% of the funding findprimalorca.

I do understand the opposition to faith schools, certainly if one were designing an education system from scratch this wouldn't be the preferred model. But I've no idea where the money to acquire the premises for one third of the schools in the UK would come from. The extra contribution to top them up to the same level of state funding as other schools looks doable in comparison!

When DCs were at nursery, there were a spate of christenings in the summer holidays. I naively thought nothing of it, until the time came to apply for schools. Then it clicked. They all went to church schools, obviously, even though there were other schools in the town we lived in.

We've moved to a tiny little village now, DS is in a church school (it's the only school within 5 miles) but the admission form didn't even ask about church attendance. Their admissions criteria is LAC, SN, siblings, then distance. Church attendance isn't even on the list.

All the people wailing "not fair!" - has your place been stolen by these once-a-year attenders? If not, so what

They prevent people from even applying to them. Why should attendance at a state-funded school depend on what religion your parents are? It is completely unfair and unjustified.

We were horrified when dh’s priest (he and dd attended weekly) offered a letter of support, as we knew it should not factor in the decision as we had read the admission criteria. He gave them to lots of other people. I don’t think they got in.

It's ridiculous that these religious loons have their fingers in the education pie.

I agree that religious schools shouldn’t exist (I’m a Christian) but since they do, there should be a fair playing field for getting in. This doesn’t seem fair.

AIBU to think this is unfair and breaking the rules?

YANBU to think it's breaking the rules, but YABU for thinking it's unfair because the rules are unfair in the first place. Why on earth should children from Christian families get priority over children from non-Christian families at a school which receives funding from the taxpayer? Perhaps the priest realises that the system is deeply unfair and he's doing his little bit to help set it straight?

I have no objection to privately funded schools prioritising children of a particular faith, though I believe they are an inappropriate and unsatisfactory way of educating the next generation. I absolutely cannot support such discrimination in schools that receive state funding.

Have you already applied and are worried that you might not get a place? If so you would need evidence to back this up at appeal. If you are applying this year you have time to speak to LEA and the church about the forms.

It's a crazy system. Our local church requires you to sign a slip which is posted in a box at the back of the church each week. I've seen parents come in, sign multiple slips and then walk straight out again. It's just so wrong on every level.
It's a sad reflection of the state of the world. Church schools generally perform well and are desirable, coupled with the fragmentation of the church community. Priests now don't seem connected to their congregation and need a system so they know whether children are members of their church or not. It results in a system open to abuse. The solution is to improve standard state schools so they perform just as well as faith schools. That could be achieved by matching the additional funding that church schools get from their diocese. Then parents will only be interested in sending their children to a faith school if they truly are practicing members of that faith.

@ChoccyBiccyTastic - you can't see that there's unfairness already?!
What about those children who want to go to school and not be continually told about sky fairy bollocks that God is fact , those who perhaps just want a decent education at their local school that doesn't have these frankly dodgy, unchecked narcissists central lining into our school system spouting nonsense ... thats the unfairness