to put sons name down for catholic school when we are not catholic?

[doublethetrouble]

Its convenient, has better results than other local schools and part of me thinks its a bit prejudice that only pupils of certain religion be allowed to a particular school. Catholic friend gave me funny look when i said we had put sons name down for school. His son is already at the school and he knows we arent catholic.

they make you go up and get a blessing in school mass - even heathens have to.

your kid might get hit by flying holy water at any time.

your kid will get ashes on his head come ash wednesday

you should really get your kid baptised....y'know edge yer bets like

Lots of non catholics are in the catholic secondary where I work. students and teachers. surprising amt of non catholics are on the staff actually! voluntary aided schools have to take a proportion of students who are not from that faith. It is optional to attend Ash Wednesday service there. We have a mass-type assembly about 2x a year, unlike the C of E one I interviewed once which had one everyday!

best thing to do is to visit and ask questions. i can't see why you shouldn't put your name down.

I haven't read all of this thread but I'd say your chances of getting him into this school would be limited anyway. The admissions criteria are very strict in Catholic schools and your application would probably need to be backed up by a letter of recommendation by a priest who knows your child. Some schools request a certificate of baptism at a Catholic church.

The 'choices' system sucks anyway. Strictly speaking, parents can apply to any school they like but the choice remains as limited by catchment criteria as ever before.

Good luck with finding a good school - I'm startig the process for secondary now and it's a minefield.

I am not catholic but went to a catholic school. It was, however, a private school, and only about one third of the pupils were catholic, so this was nothing out of the ordinary.

If the school you are looking at only takes catholics then yes, YABU, and it will be a waste of a school choice as he won't get in.

Why would you want your child to join in Catholic worship if you are not Catholics? And what about preparation for First Communion and Confirmation? These are usually a big deal in Catholic schools.

Another word of caution - don't necessarily believe the propaganda about faith schools being better. I know it's the received wisdom and they tend to do better in League tables. But any school that has an element of selection, whatever the criteron for selection, tends to do better. Have a good look at the value added.

Our dds are Catholic in a Catholic school, and the school will take whoever, regardless of their religion. However, the last few years there have been some appeals by parents who couldn't get their children in.

The school's position on the religion bit? If you don't like it, don't send your children here.

i have never once said i dont like the religous aspect of school. That has been assumed because im not catholic. I am quite happy son participating in religous aspects of school does this change my unreasonableness. Incidently my partner(childrens dad) went to nursery school ran by nuns although he wasnt catholic. This was fee paying nursery. Was this unreasonable or does it make the difference that it was paid for? Although subject was never brought up i believe like myself his mother sent him there because it was best nursery in area irrelevant or religous aspect.

I would advise against it. Not on moral grounds ('How could you do it?' etc) - I'm not judgey at all about parents doing whatever they can to gte their kids a good education in the current climate. We very nearly considered it, although DH is a very lax catholic and I am an atheist. However, what you have to understand is that:

1. You are extremely unlikely to get into a Catholic school if you aren't Catholic - especially if it's a good school
2. Even if you do get in, your child will be receiving a Catholic education. Catholicism isn't some part time, dippy-hippy, take it or leave it religion either. It is orthodox. It is strict. They take their belief extremely seriously. And they will be indoctrinating your child with those beliefs.
3. The religious bit of a Catholic school education is a huge part of the school life - even outside of school. Easter and Christmas and and First Holy Communion and all the networking that goes on at Sunday mass - it's all a huge deal. If your child isn't part of that, they will be missing out on huge chunks of school life.

If you are happy to go along with that, do it. Think carefully, though.

The catholic school local to me has no problem with taking non catholics, but it isnt over subscribed (the local non faith school is more popular).
It sounds like your chances of getting into the catholic school near to you are going to be limited, especially if it has a reputation for being a good school, but I personally wouldnt see anything wrong with you sending your child to the school regardless of your religion.
Though I agree with the others who dont think that there should be faith schools.

I think YABU, yes

I always think it unfair that catholics get the choice of more schools than non-catholics. (I'm talking oversubscribed state schools here)

If there were two schools and catholics could apply to one and non-catholics to the other that would be fair. Until that day YANBU.

it depends on the school and their admissions criteria and whether they are over subscribed or not. If they are, you probably won't get a place anyway. If they are not and you are offered a place, I assume you are sensible enough to know that if you send them to a Catholic school, they will take part in Catholic services and have their RE taught from that perspective (although they will learn about other religions as well). The head would probably not let you withdraw from that part of school life.

We have quite a few children who are nor Catholics (including lots of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs etc at our Catholic school) - they all seem to have survived

Yes, put your name down -- doubt you'll get in though. And you would be unreasonable to complain about what happens there if you did.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, unless you plan to remove your child from all of the religious activities.

My dc's attend a Catholic school, the one I would have gone to myself if our family circumstances hadn't changed. The nearest Catholic relative we have was my Mum, which counts for nothing (I was never baptised). I had similar funny looks when I said I was applying to that school because my friends know that I'm not particularly religious.

The entrance criteria for this school was similar to what Scottishmummy posted above, so no Catholic family would have missed out on a place because I chose to send my dc's there. I am fairly sure that most Catholic schools use the same selection process.

The only uproar here has been from Greek Orthodox and non-religious families that applied unsuccessfully that live outside of the catchment area. We live a 5 min walk away. I know of parents that have lied about where their child lives to secure a place though.

I don't think you are being unreasonable for wanting to send him there, but if he does get in don't start moaning about the fact that it is a religious school and guess what, they teach religion from a Catholic point of view!

mrsmattie, have to disagree about children missing out on stuff because of Sunday Mass networking. I'm a Catholic, dd2 is coming up for her First Holy Communion soon, Fr McNab has 'phoned to ask me if she wants her second holy communion there. H is a Protestant, and I certaintly don't take the girls there every week.

Slur, you don't necessarily have to 'cheat' your way in to a Catholic school. dd has just been accepted at our 2nd choice which is catholic. it is just our closest school.

i would also rather my dd went to a different school but this is what we were allocated. my first choice was also a faith school, all our local schools are faith based in some way. I am not religious but my child has to go to school!

I think you are mad to consider this if you don't follow the catholic faith yourself.

I would feel that there would be far too much religion in a catholic school, for me - but I am complete non-believer. Why be so results driven? Are all the other schools so bad?

To OP - Why should you want to?

she said that its convenient and has better results UQD - have i miss understood?

I think as long as you're not being dishonest in any way on the application, then you have as much right to apply as any other family, though the school's admission criteria may make it unlikely you'd get a place - but you should be able to see the criteria they use and get a fair idea whether they are so oversubscribed you wouldn't have much chance.

But the religious part of some faith schools (not just RC) can be quite all-pervasive, so it would be worth finding out just how much it will affect what your child is doing on a day-to-day basis and whether you'd be comfortable with that - church visits, prayers in school, lots of teaching about sin. If he starts coming home every day telling you all about it, will you be putting one of you in an awkward position, either having to bite your tongue or telling him his teachers have got it wrong?

And will he be unable to take full part in things which the others take for granted because he's not RC? How will he feel about that? Will he want to be baptised and then take communion with the others? You might have to take him to services regularly to support him with that - how would you feel about that?

I'm not sure how much you can separate out the RC part from the rest of school, unless they have a large intake of non-RC families, and you might find it puts you in a difficult position - but think these things through and decide what works for you - at least you believe in God!

Just don't pop back in years to come and complain that your children have been asked to take part in Catholic religious practices (and yes, this has happened on mn before )

Hang on, guys.

I went to a junior AND senior school. I am CofE. I have to say, that NEITHER school was as in-your-face as some people are making out.

The junior school was the more 'hardcore' of the two, although, I really don't remember it being that bad. Sure, we said prayers in the morning and before going home, and we went to church for most of the church celebrations, but other than that, it was no more 'religious' to the previous junior school that I had attended (non religious, but had 're' based lessons a couple of times a week).

The senior school was MUCH less so. We NEVER had prayers, and were only shipped off to the cathedral for services, I think, twice a year at the most. We were taught about ALL religions and we accepted that everyone has different beliefs. I DO remember trying to get out of going to Cathedral once, giving the excuse of my CofE faith (when in reality I was just trying to skive!), but to no avail. Was told that I don't need to be in a CofE church to practise my beliefs (when the religions aren't that far apart, anyway).

Anyway, if it is right for YOU, DS and YOUR family, then I wish you all the best.

Why don't you try going to local Catholic church on Sunday to see how you get on and how you feel?

YANBU-You do want you can to get your children a good education.
If that is your preferred school than good luck you.
The religion isn't as strict in schools as many here are making out.
They aren't run by nuns anymore and it isn't all fire and brimstone.
They say a prayer before lunch to be thankful for their food and it's a jolly nice ethos.
Don't be put off by these people who have no experience of it either.
I know many people who went tp RC primary school and they do not have the fear of God in them, they are just normal people

Also, i suppose it is east for people who have a fantastic state school nearby/can afford to move for good schools but if that is the only option you have then don't let anyone make you feel bad