To feel so unsure about primary school

[Feelinghawt]

Our closest schools are on the same road as us. One Catholic one church of England.

I was brought up Catholic.

The nearest secular school is a good 15 min drive.

The catholic school is best Ofsted rated in area.

I am so unsure of of a young child being confused about god even though traditionally I was brought up this way. I struggle with imposing this ideologically without their consent. But going to the catholic school for location and for standard of education has it merits.

Has anyone faced this dilemma and what choice did you make? Did you regret it?

Why would being baptised help with admission? I think if it is included in the admissions criteria for these schools, it's a strong indicator that religion features highly in the running and daily life of the school.

Our closest school was Catholic and on that basis we chose not to send our children.
I have no problem with children being taught about Religion, beliefs, respects for other's beliefs and practices etc. However I did not want Religion practiced as fact.
Myself and DH are Athiest and I have a degree in Religious Studies so clearly happy to learn about it.

Visit at the school. I personally wouldn’t get too hung up on religious aspect every state school has a collective act of worship.
Dd went to a catholic primary. 40% of children were Muslim. General ethos was kind and family oriented.
Preparation for communion done in parish not school.
I’m not catholic and I liked the school. Strong on manners, discipline and academics.

This. These threads are so tiresome.

So you've promised to bring them up as a practising Christian, but you're undecided whether you want to send them to a school that might reflect that.
Or perhaps you didn't mean the promises, which is not really the best example to set them.

I’m not religious. My kids go to a Catholic primary. It’s lovely, kids love it there. It’s a great school with great teachers and good behaviour. I don’t feel the religion is a big deal at all although I’m sure they have boxes to tick on that front. I’m very happy with the school - you should go and see it and decide based on how you like the school.

Also look re secondary admissions. In town I used to look in catholic secondary was by far best option and they prioritised feeder catholic primaries.
Only 4 children did their holy communion in my DCs catholic primary class. In other schools all class will.

Plenty of ("so-called") Protestants see Catholicism as Christianity.

To be fair to both schools, you need to visit them and get a feeling for the vibe. Take your questions about how much RE, assemblies, coverage of other religions etc they offer. Some of this might be gleaned from the school website. There should be a curriculum map for each subject.

Why would she want coverage of other religions when she doesn’t believe in ‘indoctrinating children’?

OP, it’s a Catholic school. So there will be prayers, assemblies, some religious teaching and probably end of term Mass. Why take a ‘list of questions’ when the clue is in the name and entirely foreseeable. I suspect you knew that though. And this is really just to stir the hornets nest a bit and bring out the ‘I hated Catholic school’ posters.

Because there's a difference between teaching about religions and promoting them. I suspect you knew that though.

But if you disagree with religion because you see it as brainwashing, imposing ideology on kids, and a waste of time (all direct quotes from this thread) why have them learn about it at all?

There’s nothing to be confused about here, it’s just a way of some posters posturing about being such a cool and progressive parent, before sending their kid to the school anyway as they’re fully aware the risk of them being ‘brainwashed’ is small compared to that of a crap start to education holding them back

All schools practise religion though

Because religion exists, it has an impact on society and it's important to have at least a basic understanding of the most popular religions.

Can you really not comprehend the difference between "some people believe x" and "x is true"? And why some people might be okay with the former and not the latter?

I used to think it was good for developing their morality. My son went to a Christian school (I don’t know if it was catholic or Protestant) for 6 months and they had to do worship activities in the morning. It just made him firmer in his atheism. I have to say though that the children at this school were lovely and really included my son from the start. Now he’s a teenager and I think he had good morals and values, and didn’t need to practice a religion to have that. But I worry about him not believing in god. He thinks I’m naive.

Learning about world religions is a useful exercise. It helps children to understand others better and it opens an understanding of art and music that require a basic grasp of what is behind the pieces/paintings etc. So it is broad and necessary cultural education.

That is vastly different from being told that one religion is truth; from being told that god is real; from being engaged in a particular religious practice. These are beliefs and not facts - children should be taught facts.

This is not Christian bashing - I have the same objections about state-funded schools of any religion.

And I say again - in rural areas parents often have no choice as to where they send their children at primary level. It can be a 30 - 40 minute drive to the next primary school.

I didn’t mean to sneer 🤷‍♀️ I’m guessing it’s the fact I consider 2.5 hours of RE a waste of time which upset you, well I’m sorry I do feel that’s overkill. I teach 45 mins of RE per week and feel that’s plenty. I’d prefer my kids learned other things (reading, maths, history, music etc). Plus I prefer RE to be learning about lots of religions and the catholic school made it clear it was almost entirely focused on Catholicism.

anyway, as you say, we wouldn’t have fitted in there as the Catholicism was too much of a big part of the school for us non catholics, and i wouldn’t want to be the parent that withdraws my child from RE/worship having selected that school. We just weren’t a match. A shame, because as I say, I really liked a lot about the school.

Totally get your worry. Our catchment school is CofE, it’s the only place DD would have got into so she had to go. She comes home talking about how God made the world. Which makes me very cross. If we had another choice I would have taken it.

So exactly how old is this new human you are starting afresh with? I have a feeling you have several years to get better acquainted with both schools before you face the awesome responsibility of filling in a Reception Application Form!

Lots can happen before them, including OFSTED revisiting outstanding schools that haven’t been inspected for a number of years, as many people are finding out.

If he has good morals and values then why are you worried?

@NoPazuzu i just feel a bit sad for him that he has no belief in life after death or a higher loving power to make sense of things

Why would you feel sad for him? That makes no sense at all.

You don't need either of those things to make sense of things.

He thinks about death a lot and it scares him to think that’s it at the end of this life

Both my children went to a Catholic primary school and one went to a Catholic secondary school too. Neither is remotely religious, so they certainly weren't brainwashed. I think what happens at home is far more important.