catholic schools question

[nailpolish]

my SIL is considering sending her ds to a catholic school, because she says its better, but they are not even catholic (or any church come to it)

can you do that?

Has she read the ofsted for the specific school she is thinking of? Otherwise it could be the bottom-of-the-league catholic school near us...

blu i have no idea

she lives near st andrews

Haven't read all of the thread so sorry if I'm repeating what others have said....

My boys are at a Catholic school. The Archdiocese suggests the admissions criteria which have near the top the requirement that the child is a catholic, and lives in a certain parish. They want to see a baptism certificate when you apply to the school. There is a head of RE who plays a big role in developing the syllabus, and the school has an RE inspection (which is a bit like the Ofsted inspection)

There is an RE syllabus for KS1 called "Here I am" which pervades most of their education. A lot of it is broadly Christian rather than specifically Catholic and the motto they really endorse at our school is "Everyone is different and everyone is special", which I like a lot.

They go on visits to the local RC church and the priest comes in for prayers quite a lot. The boys see a lot of children from school at Mass on a Sunday, so a non-Catholic child would miss out on that side of things. They also make a very big deal of 1st communion in year 3 and have Mass at school on holy days. They talk a lot about baptism as well and say prayers a few times a day. There are crucufixes in every classroom and statues dotted around the place too. I'd say that the school being RC has a significant effect on the overall tone of the school and the school day.

I think Mrsdarcy sums it all up really. Your SIL may be keen now but she must be prepared to accept the whole package. For instance, is she happy for her kids to sit alone whilst the rest of their class go up for a blessing or to receive Communion during school day mass?
Year 3 in particular is practically given over to the Sacramental Programme with most afternoons for most of the year being taken up with preparation.

I also agree that the meeting up at Sunday mass and afterwards plays a big part in developing social relationships between the parents and kids.

It's only a good school if it's good for her children.

Again, apologies if this is repeating what has already been said but .... both ds's are at the local Catholic primary. In the area of Surrey where we live, all the Catholic schools are over-subscribed so if you have not at least had your child baptised you haven't a hope of getting in. The application form also needs to be signed by the local priest and ours is a bit of an ogre and is likely to refuse to sign if he does not recognise you from church. However, of course not all areas have Church schools which are so over-subscribed so your SIL may have a good chance of getting her children in. Would echo what everyone else has said however about prayers, school mass etc. At our school, they pray every morning and evening and before and after lunch (yes, that's right, four times a day!) Of course, they're all little prayers. On ds2's introductory morning this year, the headmistress also made no bones about the fact that they expected all the children to be able to bless themselves when they start in Reception. Remember however, this is an over-subscribed school so they KNOW everyone is Catholic and that most are probably practising so in a less popular school they might adopt a more softly, softly approach.

Just seen Homemama's contribution and have to say that DS1 (in Yr3 and preparing for First Communion) gets NO specific preparation in school for this sacrament. It is all being done outside of school with the involvement of parents and cathecists so is not taking up any school time. Shame really, as it is taking up a hell of a lot of time out of school! So obviously not all schools are the same.

We are not catholic and our ds goes to a catholic school, before sending him on was on Mumsnet asking the same questions. He has been there almost a year now and loves it, the school is lovely. The communion part is done in your own time and he goes to any mass when its the whole school, they say prayers in the class first thing. It did concern me and still does a bit but we applied for a school out of normal dates so had to apply for what we could and it was by chance that a space was available at this school because a family had decided to move abroad. The school obviously takes catholic children first but if they still have space after these applications then they will take other faiths.

Annh, I've only taught in 1 RC school, despite being RC myself. So perhaps your situation is more the norm.

I think in England it is usual for First Communion preparation to be carried out by the parish rather than the school. There are plenty of Catholic children in non-Catholic schools; also, not all parishes have their own school, so there may be children from several parishes in one school. Another factor is to encourage parents to make the effort to have their child prepared for First Communion, rather than having them 'done' automatically by the school.

But in Ireland it seems to be more common for it all to be done through the school.

just for non-Catholics to know, anyone of any faith can go for a blessing during communion so there is no need for a child to be sitting on his own feeling 'left out'. I have also learnt - just last week - that it is not only catholics who can go for communion from a priest - I guess that may mean CofE can too? I

Alux, I am aware that members of the CoE can get dispensation to receive Holy Communion at RC mass
(As Tony Blair does) but I don't think people outside the faith(children or otherwise)should just go up for the sake of it.
With regards to the blessing, I meant if his mum didn't want him to participate.

I was raised Catholic and all my children are baptised, but I have made a positive decision not to send them to Catholic schools. It really pisses me off though when people send their kids to Catholic schools because they think they are "better" (I have known athiests to get their 10 year olds baptised to get them into Catholic secondary school) and then moan about all the stuff that goes with it. It will be interesting to see how your SIL gets on!

Am a bit surprised at the idea of non-Catholics taking communion - afaik (which isn't all that far, admittedly) only Catholics believe in transubstantiation (i.e. that the bread and wine is transformed into the body and blood of Christ) and if you don't believe that, you shouldn't be taking communion in a Catholic mass. That's what I was always told, anyway.

You can be blessed by the priest though - go up to the altar rail at communion with your hands crossed over your chest and he will bless you instead of offering you the host.

Carolina, I was a bit surprised too that non-C would want to take communion in a C service due to the theological aspect. I suppose then that it is the CofE dispensation bit as was said earlier. and I guess not many people get too hung up over the theology of it all.

its truly cynical of athiests to get their children baptised to get into a catholic school imo.

were in scotland so no CofE, not that it matters anyway

sunnyd, it totally pisses me off too

thanks you very much everyone! lots of very interesting posts

I got married at quite a strict Catholic church and they allowed my then husband to be to seve Holy Communion despite having no religious faith. I was very surprised this was allowed.

yes you can but tell her not to bitch about being taught religeon ( never got that) like its a surprise a church school will do that.

her kids willc ome home and ask questions about jesus and sing hymns and go to church on occasion. so if shes a moral objector on the grounds that its all indoctrinating shite then he should look elsewhere

amen sister

I was brought up Catholic and went to a Catholic primary school. It was a very good school, but not the nearest Catholic one, and we did not attend the parish church. That meant we didn't fit in and found it difficult to make friends at time (especially in junior school). We had a nun as headteacher, and a lot of catholic stuff for what seemed like most of the time. Lots of stuff about saints, a church service once a month, plus all of the holy days. The final year seemed to be mostly about communion and confession. Academically it was good, but I do remember when I was about 10 or so someone pooed during a swimming lesson, and the whole class had to be filed into the head teacher's office and be told that Mary would be very upset if we didn't tell the truth...

As I am now an atheist I made a very conscious decision not to apply to the local catholic school, although I am told it is good. But even when having a conversation with dd about evolution in the car the other day, ds told us that his teacher last year told him that God made everyone and we didn't come from monkeys. Needless to say we were not happy ds loves this particular teacher and wasn't having any of it when dh told him that what the teacher had said was "a load of fetid dingos".

So you never quite know what your child may be taught even when you do know what the school's ethos is!