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Philosophy/religion

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Original poster

church schools and their fascist admissions policy

194 replies

slinkstar · 26/09/2007 16:39

i am currently choosing a secondary school for my son, i have not bought him up with any religion, he knows i am pagan though.
the only good schools in the area are c of e or catholic schools, it seems like unless you can go private or convert to a christian religion you cannot get a good education for your kids.
after a conversation with one of the schools this afternoon i understand that they do have places for non christian children but you have to be a "world faith" and proof from your place of worship is necessary. world faiths are jew, muslim, sikh, hindu. thats it!
so there are NO non-denom places available at any church schools.

can anyone else see the complete fascism in this ??
i don't exactly want my kids bought up christian but i want a good education for them. it seems like they will be shoved in the local non denom school which according to league tables means theres a good 70% chance they will fail their gcses!
has anyone had this issue before.

do you think they would have to consider my son for a world faith school place if i had some pagan priest write a reference for me.

OP posts:
harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 17:09

yes I agree unquietdad, but it is rampant discrimination to fund religious schools 100% and atheist schools 0%.
where's the choice?

UnquietDad · 26/09/2007 17:09

I just think that, in this day and age - the Enlightenment happened a few centuries back, people - the variety of sky-being which a child's parents happen to believe in is about the least relevant criterion I can think of for getting a child a place at school. You might as well divide people by blond hair and brown hair.

If you want to have a faith-based culture at school, go to a private one.

mosschops30 · 26/09/2007 17:10

you all have schools so why do you all bloody whinge about not being able to send them to faith schools, just send them to the other schools in your area

Bundle · 26/09/2007 17:10

our church is v much a community and this is reflected in the school. so i think they can mix. this doesn't mean my children don't mix with children from other faiths/no faith.

UnquietDad · 26/09/2007 17:11

It's not whingeing. Would it be whingeing if HOSPITALS and BUSES discriminated on grounds of faith?

Kaz33 · 26/09/2007 17:11

To be fair our C of E school selects mostly on catchement area and the local feeder primary however there are some kids who get in on faith.

The catholic schools selects initially only on faith, personally I would cut my right arm rather than send my children their.

The letter from the priest things becomes selection as how do they quantify who is the most religious family and therefore the more deserving?

Also if they are religious then surely they get their religious education in the home/church/mosque etc.. I thought we sent our children to school to learn to read, think and mix with different creeds and cultures?

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 17:11

mosschops we are not whinging and anyway who says I can't send my child to a faith school????
we are making a valid point about the fact that it is deeply unethical (not to say Unchristian) to exclude children on the grounds of their parents' religions.
imo.

Original poster
slinkstar · 26/09/2007 17:12

just seems crazy to me that they will let in 50 muslims, jews, hindus and sikhs but my kid can't not even apply, as according to them we have no faith.

OP posts:
harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 17:12

bundle - children don't have a faith. their parents have a faith. if you are seriously saying that a 4 year old child has a faith in any sense then I am afraid I will just go . they are not capable of making up their minds about what they believe, surely?

Blu · 26/09/2007 17:13

MartianBishop - exactly! I think I once posted that if I were Chair of governors at a faith school I would insist on places going to non-believers so that i could enlighten them.

And with church rolls falling...

But people were sceptical (scornful, even!)of my chances of being appointed as a faith school governor.

Bundle · 26/09/2007 17:14

harpsi, i said children from other faiths/no faith

UnquietDad · 26/09/2007 17:14

Quite. My DD says she believes in God, but then she also believes in Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy.

Mercy · 26/09/2007 17:14

"Church is for religion, school is for education - why should the state pay to uphold religious practice?"

Blu, I think(!) I agree with you. Ime though faith schools don't really uphold religious practice anyway (well in very small way they do but it's pretty much lip service imo)

I'm talking about CofE and Catholic schools btw, have no experience of any other.

Kaz33 · 26/09/2007 17:15

But why oh why - when the majority of the country is against faith schools are we giving them more autonomy and increasing them?

mosschops30 · 26/09/2007 17:15

Its whinging when people post 'we just want schools' as if there are no other options other than faith schools!
No-one says you cant send your child to a faith school as long as its not denying a child of that faith a place, because to those families the faith and its teaching is important, and the school encompasses that with its teaching, ethos and mission statements.

Unquietdad, your rationale of hospitals and buses makes no sense sorry. Education encompasses the importance of faith and religion and community, IMHO hospitals and buses do not!

UnquietDad · 26/09/2007 17:16

kaz33 - because the church is powerful economically and politically, sadly. It's always been the case.

Theclosetpagan · 26/09/2007 17:16

Okay - I am Pagan but my DS attends the local CofE school simply because it's the nearest school to us.
I don't have a problem with him being exposed to Christianity as I've always said he will be free to explore other beliefs.

southeastastra · 26/09/2007 17:16

we had two high school 'options' here, one has now been turned into a faith school. the did take away our choice.

UnquietDad · 26/09/2007 17:17

Rationale of hospitals and buses makes perfect sense. They are paid for out of local authority funding, paid by all of us through general taxation. They are paid for by all of us and should be available equally to all of us. Same with schools.

Bundle · 26/09/2007 17:18

buses paid by local taxation

UnquietDad · 26/09/2007 17:19

I'm just trying to find examples of things which come out of our Council Tax. The bin-collection is another.

Bundle · 26/09/2007 17:20

buses don't come out of mine

mosschops30 · 26/09/2007 17:20

oh fgs we pay for lots of things through taxation and never get to see the benefit. Some people will never have an operation or claim benefits, should those people get to have a year off work to claim income support just because theyve paid for it, or a knee op because theyve paid into the NHS. What a ridiculous argument.

We all pay tax, for oodles of different things, I pay for state schools my dd will never attend and then have to pay again for catholic school upkeep, should I be taxed less because dd will never benefit from the state system.

Bundle · 26/09/2007 17:20

but do buses come out of yours unquietdad?

Niecie · 26/09/2007 17:22

Do you not think that it is the ethos that you don't agree with that has made the school what it is? You can't reject the ethos of the school but use it to get the results that you want. That would be hypocritical.

I wouldn't argue that they are better because they are selective either. If they select only on the basis of religion how does that affect the results. Are all christian children brighter, more able or more hard working than any other child. I doubt it. And if that is really what religion does for your child then why doesn't everybody become a Christian?