Can someone help me choose primary school !

[Help14235]

I have to choose between 2 primary schools. The first one looks great we are in a village and its a 10 minute walk from my home/3 minute drive, it’s rated outstanding by OFSTED. The downside personally for me is that it’s a CEVC school, we are not religious and i feel uncomfortable about it I know they will be made to pray each day and taught that Jesus is real. My child would also have to go to breakfast club which would make the day longer as I start work at school time. Although my job may not be permanent so I don’t know wether to base my decision on this .

Primary school number 2 is in town and not CEVC. It’s rated good by OFSTED and is a 15 minute drive from my house also 4 minute drive from my job and my mums home which would make it easier for drop offs , as she’s going to help.

Would my child miss out making friends in the village if they attend school in the town ?
Has anyone felt uncomfortable like me about CEVC school ? (I’m not against religion)
Has anyone requested there child be removed from collective worship , or is this silly ?
Would it be easier to attend the village school as they get older so they can walk there rather than be drove in every day ? (probably overthinking)

I can’t decide and I only have two weeks to choose for my summer born which is probably why I’m so worried too.

Honestly? I would go for the village school which is closest to you. It's invaluable having friends locally. Makes playdates easier and means you can walk to school which is so much better. My children love the fact that they usually know someone from school at the local park. Also handy to have other children locally who go to the school just in case you have an emergency and need help with pick up or drop off.

With regard to the religious aspect, both my children go to a non-religious school. However they still have religious education (they don't sing hymns or pray in assembly) which includes being taught about Christianity and other religions. Both of my children have come home after having had a lesson from the local CofE vicar accepting that Jesus is real. So even if they don't go to a CofE school they'll still be educated on religion and generally the children accept it as fact. It's up to you as the parent on how you deal with it.

Would you get into a school 15 minutes away? Is it usually oversubscribed?

I agonised like you and in the end we went for the non CEVC school. We were not ready to have the conversations about our personal beliefs on whether Jesus is real with our 4 year old and did not want to be in a position of telling them that their teacher was ‘wrong’. As it turns out we have had conversations about how some people believe different things as they cover religion from yrR but it does mean we avoided the daily worship or any assertions that god has done something or other (as my friend faced when her child went to a CEVC school).

with regards to walking to school, well they wouldn’t be doing this alone until at the very earliest year 5 and in many schools it’s year 6 or never, so I wouldn’t base your decision on that.

given how close both schools are to you I wouldn’t worry about friendships as no doubt there’ll be other families like you, and even if there aren’t you’re close enough still that it won’t matter.

it sounds like the non CEVC school has added benefits of being close to work and your mum so for me sounds the winner.

Village school

I am a card-carrying Humanist, but my DC went to a CEVC primary school because it's a good school, it's across the road, it has excellent wrap around care. Yes, they had prayers in assembly, and yes they did RE, but it certainly wasn't pushy, in yer face stuff. Bear in mind, that all schools in England and Wales are required to teach RE* and the Department for Education specifies that all schools must hold a daily act of collective worship.

I really liked that my children went to a CE school. They learnt about religion, but it was kept out of our home. I consider it important for them to know about religion - I mean they are going to come across it at dome point! But this was very much compartmentalised as a school thing, not something we do at home. DS is 14 and about to take his GCSE options. He is considering RE because he really likes the ethics and philosophy associated with it, and tie in with history. We've had some interesting debates.

*RE is not National Curriculum because you can opt for your child to be removed.

Aside from the CE, I'd say village school for village children every time. It's a really good community thing, friends will be close enough to walk to as your dc get older, and you'll really appreciate it's proximity at 8.35 am!

Thank you so much for the replies very helpful. I’m not sure if il get in either schools untill I apply. I have worked in a CEVC school and I think it’s the forced prayers in assembley and talks about how god is very much real which makes me feel uncomfortable I do want my child to be able to make the own mind up and it feels abit forced upon them in this day and age. Could I request for my child to be removed from collective worship or will I be causing a lot of problems by singling them out and perhaps annoying the teachers ? Has anyone ever done this ?

Still undecided , great points from all of you though I will have to carry on weighing up the pros and cons.

Is the school really that religious? Most village schools are CofE schools simply because the church set up the schools (for all children) before the government starting funding state schools.
The schools are obviously state funded now but many kept the CofE link culturally - but are basically just the "local village school" and are there for everyone.

I would do the local school 100%, walking distance is so nice and easy.

Breakfast club is no biggie. You could opt your child out of RE if you want

We're doing primary school applications at the moment and I've reluctantly agreed to putting the faith school as first choice. It is a very good school and is very convenient for us (at the end of the road) but the focus on religion does not sit easy with me. Slightly different though because my DH is religious and takes DS to church and I knew it was a compromise I'd likely have to make. I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of the school like the strong sense of community, good pastoral care and the school's diversity.

There's more info here but you can opt your child out of collective worship too -faithschoolersanonymous.uk/the-law-and-your-rights/faqs-for-pupils-parents-and-teachers/

I would suggest you ask for more information or to sit in on assembly first though as it may be less religious than you think

Have you checked the online application information from your Local Authority which should show you last years application numbers for each school in your area. You can see which were oversubscribed and from what admissions category the children were admitted from. Then you will have a realistic idea of whether you are likely to get a place in either school.

For the CofE school (is that what a CEVC school is?), do you have to demonstrate church attendance as one of the admission criteria?

Breakfast club is fine, plenty of kids do it.

Our top two options are a religious school and a non religious.
I don't mind which he gets into. I was concerned I suppose at first regarding the religion as I didn't want it pushed on DC but tbh the most they do is a prayer and one mass a term for an hour.
Half the school isn't religious.

always local school unless a very compelling reason not to. Being able to walk and have local friends is such a huge benefit.

All schools will have some form of religious worship. You might want to check exactly how much is involved at your local school - praying every day seems unlikely.

The school is Church of England voluntary controlled so you don’t have to attend church to get a place. I had a look at admissions thank you didn’t know you could do that , village one seems to of been oversubscribed last year but I’ve been told living in the village will give you more of a chance of getting in. I did ask the reception teacher if anyone removes their children from RE but she looked confused and said no, she also told me she’s not religious herself. They do bible stories in the classroom and collective worship each day, there’s also a video on there website of a vicar blessing the building so it seems full on to me. I’d be happy to opt out of RE/collective worship but don’t think the school will like it.

The school I worked at which was also CEVC children prayed every collective worship and before lunch so I think it’s quite common.

The town school I have not even been given a chance to view before admissions close this week but did attend as a child so I’d have to apply without viewing ! I never knew choosing a school would be so stressful, well it is for me anyway!

@Areyouanutmeg

Thank you so much, you’ve cleared a couple of worries from my mind the walking to school and friendships ! I’m exactly like you I don’t want to have to explain about god yet or confuse my child when they’re so little still. Do you think it will be silly to apply for the town school without viewing ? (I did attend myself as a child many years ago) I’ve only got 3 days left to apply and I’m still fussing over my decision why am I like this ! X

@Susanthehappytrottingelf thank you for that link it’s very helpful, have you done this with your child? X

Do you think it will be silly to apply for the town school without viewing ? (I did attend myself as a child many years ago) I’ve only got 3 days left to apply and I’m still fussing over my decision why am I like this ! X

No, you can go and view if you get a place there.
What I would say is, put 3 options in otherwise you could end up anywhere.

My friend didn't do 3 thinking she'd get the school closest to her and ended up at a school 20 mins drive away. She viewed the school to see before appealing and ended up really liking it.

We have had a similar decision to make. Tiny village school that is more or less opposite our house. Good Ofsted rating, very involved with the church and village community Vs a much larger school 10 minutes drive away with amazing facilities, also a good Ofsted rating and no religious links.

We have reluctantly agreed on putting the village school as our 1st choice because of the ease of being able to walk to school plus hopefully being able to make close friends in the village but we won't be disappointed if we get second choice of the larger school.

Thank you , it’s so hard isn’t it , if I remove from collective worship how do I go about this ? Do I just phone the school once offered a place ? Is it definitely my legal right ? I wonder how they’ll react.

I would put it in writing.

It is your right under Section 55(2) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

In the first instance I would just write and say that you would like your child not to attend collective worship (or RE?) and ask them to confirm that they have received and will act on it. If they argue, I would then quote the legislation and see what happens. If they refuse then you would need to go through their complaints procedure

I haven't done this myself as I chose a secular school (which was also my local) but I do volunteer with Humanists UK so I know a bit about it

Sorry I didn’t get back to this thread before the application deadline.

what did you decide to do in the end?

RE and daily acts of collective worship are a requirement of non-church schools too. My DC went to our local primary and the vicar of their neighbouring church was in for more assemblies in that school than the local vicar is for the faith school I teach in. RE lessons cover more than one type of religion, not just the faith of the church of England (or Wales). You can request to withdraw your child from both no matter what type of school they go to, but it would be very unusual to choose to send your child to a faith school then to request that they don't have RE or go to assemblies. I've taught in mine for 25 years and can think of one pupil who was withdrawn in all that time.