HAS anyone ever read their vicar's/priests support statement...?

[LittlePushka]

..and if so how did you feel about what was in it?

..anyone?

Do they have to write individual statements? Around here, it is just a supplementary form which they sign, without comment. I can't imagine that anything they might write would be very personalised if they have to do one for every child applying for a particular school. Our Catholic primary school has 130+ applications for 45 places. Obviously, not all of those applications will have a supporting statement but it's still a heck of a lot of writing.

Were you not happy with what was in yours?

similar here, ours was just a tick box list & the priests signature, so nothing to like/dislike about it as it was very factual.

I take it your was more personal & you didn't like it for some reason?

Oh no Betsy!, its not been done done yet (and I would be happy for my minister to say whatever she thinks of us, warts and all as presumably her subjective opinion isprecisely what a school is after).

It is a form with a couple of basic questions about parents baptism/confirmation then almost a whole side of A4 asking for any comment in support of the application.

I just wondered what aspects ministers write about - like annh, I thought goodness, thats a lot of personalised commentry potentially. I think it is quite a responsibility/undertaking for ministers...

Dh writes them when requested for local RC school. He is just very honest. So if a child's family are the mainstay and stalwarts of the church community and they attend every single Sunday, he says so. If actually the only contact with church is Christmas Eve crib service and child attending brownies, he says so.

Everything is phrased positively, but he always just gives facts rather than opinions or personal judgments.

Is it always all about church attendance rather than a measure of faith then?

I think it would be very presumtuous of anyone to believe they could measure and comment on someone else's "faith". I'm not sure what you mean by this.

for school admissions it should be all about objective measures, not subjective ones (not sure how you "measure" someone else's faith anyway) - ie it should be clear to parents what counts towards being in each category on the oversubscription criteria.

Most are about attendance at church and criteria can be anything from "has attended church at least 5 times a week for the past 20 years" to "has attended church at least once a month for the past six months" so long as it is clear

A few schools also have a convoluted "points" system for involvement in church activities too

The priest may have space to write a few words too, but it should be all down to measurable "facts" as to which criteria you are placed in.

LOL Betsy boop - 5x week for 20 years

Roisin, I was only wondering what support ministers give really...seems a bit shallow if the only measure relevant is church attendance, otherwise why would there be the extra bit for minister to complete, IYSWIM. But I see that there has to be objective clarity as Betsy boop says.

Dh doesn't have to fill in a 'ticky boxes' form, he has to write a personal letter. He makes general comments about church attendance - after all we don't keep a register or anything! But would also mention other involvements with and commitments to the church community as a whole, if relevant.

Our local faith schools give 'points' on top of attendance for things like, helping out at sunday school, singing in the choir, being part of the dinner group, bell ringing etc.

So the person who attends every Sunday for the morning service would be lower than the person who attends every other Sunday, but does the Sunday school and bell ringing for example.

Thank you all for your kind input, very helpful