Aibu going to church so my child goes to a Catholic school

[ThatEdgyBlueScroller]

I was raised a Catholic and found mass boring. School was high achieving but to be honest religious education wasn't that well respected by students.

I wish I could attend a church that could give my child and I a community... I just don't believe in the teachings, but morally I agree with some teachings.

Would I be unreasonable to attend church and get my child baptized/christned etc just to guarantee a school place?

100% agree. Tax payers pay for these religious schools and it’s not on. If a person wants a religious education for their children then do so privately or send them to Sunday school.

As long as you then don't start moaning that they're taught the Catholic faith or participate in Catholic ceremonies.
So, if they say that gay marriage or abortion is wrong, don't complain.
If you can't do that, then don't send your child there.

You know, in the same way that if you sent them to an Islamic school or a school like the one in Bradford in which a teacher had to flee for his life and is still in hiding for showing a cartoon of Mohammed.

If you send your child to that school, then accept that he can't bring in an image of Mohammad or say anything that questions that faith.

Simply, will you fit in? If not, fuck off.

It used to be called FIFO decades ago in business and it's still a very useful motto-FIFO (fit in or fuck off)

Me neither. The poster was writing about faith schools in general. Not catholic schools. Bizarre

Many Catholic schools are local authority maintained schools, so funded by every one through their hard earned money, through their taxes. Ultimately, the schools should be open to everyone, religious or not, until they stop being funded by all of us, and get the church to fully for this kind of education.

Our kids went to a wonderful Catholic primary - rated outstanding.

I’d say 9/10 of the parents we met were like us - one of the parents a lapsed Catholic, got kids baptised, started to go to mass at school admission time to get them in. Did the whole Catholic thing including sacraments throughout the primary years and haven’t been back once since.

Should tax payers be paying for children to be told that homesexuality is wrong? I'm not sure we should.

If its a state school, which is a strictly secular and non religious school- which all tax payers funded schools should be, then there definitely won’t be any kind of indoctrination either way because they are not teaching them about someone’s god. If I am paying tax, i definitely would want to rely on the state for this, and expect the state not to spend this tax towards exclusive and selective religious schools.

Religious schools, of any kind, of any religion or denomination, in this day and age should not be funded by the tax payer. It’s just not fair.

"There definitely won't be any indoctrination"

You don't understand my post.

There is no such thing

My view on this has changed so much over time. Old me would have cried hypocrite. Now I think @sprigatito has it right.

We were lucky never to have to consider a religious school because we had great secular options... until the day our child stopped going to school. Now I wouldn't blink at compromising on the secularism, because we no longer have the luxury of choice on that. I don't judge anyone for jumping through the right hoops. You do, however, have to give some thought into how you frame it to your child. Are they being let in on your plan for their weekend time being something you don't believe in, done for "community"? They might not be so keen. Or are you going to lie to them about why you're doing it and bring them up pretending to believe it yourself? Children can be extraordinarily bad at keeping secrets!

Apologies, can you elaborate?

They do teach science

Completely beside the point.

Faith schools exist and if you decide to send your child to a faith school, then abide by the tenets of that faith.

Don't enter a faith school and then complain about that faith being taught.

Secular schools are available-go there.

This is so silly. They don’t teach what’s not on their curriculum. And you’d be surprised to hear there’s no fire and brimstone these days.

My kids went to a catholic primary and both had the most wonderful, and openly gay, teacher in year 6.

For many people that’s not possible - faith schools are numerous and in some areas there’s literally no choice. I’ve had more than one friend have to move house to get into a secular school.

this is insane.

Faith schools should not be funded by taxpayers.

Delightful.

No schools funded by taxpayers should be run like that. If my kids had had the misfortune of being forced to attend a faith school due to geography you bet I would have objected to the religious indoctrination 🙄. You want indoctrination you pay it for yourself.

The school will have their Admissions Policy on their website.

Depending upon the particular school, whether or not it's run by the Diocese or by a religious organisation and whether or not it's generally oversubscribed, they'll largely have a policy which is either EHCP, Looked After Children, then 'good' Catholics (attendance at Mass, form completed by the Priest to confirm they attend), then other Catholics, then Catechumentate, Eastern Orthodox, other faiths/denominations and then none/no evidence/couldn't be faffed with completing the additional form) or EHCP, LACs, any Baptised Catholics, then other faiths/denominations with evidence and then everybody else.

When so many schools are undersubscribed and some are closing due to fall in birth rates, they don't particularly give a monkey's how good a Catholic you are as long as they can get as many bodies in classes as possible so they can pay their bills.

This is my local Jewish secondary to someone above who said Jewish schools accept zero non Jews

That's for your conscience, but going to church is a good way of tapping into a community. And church schools tend to be better academically etc. Go, See if you like it and also learn a bit about Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.
I attend my local CofE (I am recently widowed and I am a bell ringer, so go along regularly on another basis anyway). It has been greatly supportive and I have done some fun and interesting things. Many of the congregation are good and worthy people - or at least friendly and kind and welcoming.
NB I sent both my DC to a Catholic school - they must accept 10% not of their faith to receive state funding - and they were happy. I attended mass and a mass was given for my father - a Catholic, which I am not - when he died.

All the things you state that you want from a catholic school can be offered in a non faith school- without the focus on one religion. Have you been to have a look?

I think it's a good idea OP and lots of people do it. I'm a Catholic and was raised attending church weekly. I go sporadically now with my mum and take my little boy and I enjoy going to the Little Church and coffee mornings. I think many people pick and chose what they believe and Catholic churches can be more accepting then you think. My brother got married to his husband last week and my mum had a few cards and presents from her church going friends to pass on.

At my Catholic school teachers were sacked for getting divorced. No contraception advice just girls expelled if they got pregnant.

But hey, you do you.

And in the 21st century, all girls (the few that there are, the contraception lessons are pretty useful, really) get the opportunity to remain in education in an environment where they can also take their baby for care at a specialist unit and access high levels of support.

About the only person who is even expected to be Catholic in a Catholic school now is the Headteacher.