Practicing Catholics Thinking of Not SendinG DC To Catholic Schools

[zanzibarmum]

Are there any practicing catholics with doubts about sending their DC to catholic schools. What are your reasons, doubts, feelings etc

I haven't sent our DC's to Catholic school, they go to a Gaelic Medium School. We do it all at home and have some catechesis at school. Mass every week with the children's liturgy and sometimes during the week, prayers before bed time, seeing us going to confession, receiving communion etc, and mini 'examination' of conscience a couple of times a week and hopefully 'living' a Catholic way of life. Reading and discussing moral issues and stuff... They ask a lot of questions. Would have loved to have sent them but, hey-ho..

I?m a practising Catholic ? there is no school in our parish. Sending my dd to a catholic school was very high on my agenda but when I visited the nearest I found they had a relatively small proportion of catholics and didn?t go to Mass regularly because ?the parents think it?s a waste of time?? it wasn't a very catholic 'catholic school' - so I sent my dd to our local village school so she could be at school in her own community.

It?s probably easier in a parish where there isn?t a school because preparation for 1st communion, confirmation etc is done through the church by default. Currently none of the children in our parish go to a catholic school. It?s sometimes hard doing all the teaching without the support of school ? we have had to try a bit harder at home ? but perhaps that is not a bad thing. Dd is involved in the church, she went to childrens liturgy when she was little and is now an altar server and sings in our occasional choir.

I didn?t go to a catholic school either, and as a child felt like an outsider in a church that had a school attached, but dd feels completely at home in our parish community.

I am very concerned that our local oversubscribed Catholic school is carrying out selection by the back door with a poncy uniform etc., I don't think this is Christian to be honest.

I also hate the "on your knees for fees" thing, I feel it's rather moneylenders in the temple.

I would rather send DC to the local community school, ironically as far as I can see half the kids there are Catholic anyway (the other half appear to be Muslim).

DH is a practising catholic, and we wouldn't be above playing the faith card if it seemed the right thing to do. However, we decided just to send the DC to the local school.

I also think that the current faith school selection system encourages behaviours that Jesus says are a bad idea, like making a big show of yourself at church and being rewarded for making donations, the left hand definitely has to know what the right hand is doing!

I have not sent my children to a catholic school. Although I admit I do not attend church regularly. The reason they don't go is bacause the nearest school is 10 miles away. Much too far for a three or four year to travel.

I don't understand the admissions thing, I am in Scotland where you send your kids to the local RC/non-denom in your catchment or put in placing request for another school, but you have first dibs if you live in the area..in principle..generally the local school can't give up your place till the placing request is granted. All the RC schools around here and further afield are over-subscribed but the locals get in...

agree with you butadream

we sent dd intitially to a Catholic school (overseas) because dh thought it would be best. Didn't work out well for us so we changed school type.

For secondary though, we are still planning on sending her to a Catholic school. Really just want the "right" school.... whatever that is.

butadream how very true...

DD doesn't attend the parish school or the private RC options either. Our reasons are purely educational-neither would be the best fit for her. She made her 1st hc last year and fitted in fine, preparation is entirely outside the school (although obviously a significant number do attend the parish school) because the parish covers such a wide area, about 40% of the children came from other schools.

I do feel slightly regretful that faith isn't as incorporated into her daily life as it would be (the little rituals of prayers at the end of the school day etc.) but finding the best school for her was more important.

If maintained catholic schools are filled with people feigning faith as one might conclude from some MN threads and if the Church itself sees Catholic schools for non pracising Catholics and if few teenagers in Catholic schools appear to attend mass and if state school curriculum is leaden then non Catholic schools state or private begin to look attractive.

they do seem to vary enormously in terms of how much religious instruction is involved. It is a bit bewildering for me. The school my dd attended was overseas so once again a different kettle of fish. I would have estimated practically all of the families in our class were Catholic or had one Catholic parent. However whether they were church-going or not etc I don't know because we attended a different church anyway (diff language) and they don't demand this type of parish sanctioning of applicants.

That school had practically no religious instruction in year 1. The dc went to some kind of service together twice a year. So religious instruction at primary level there was really up to the dp. Beyond FC preparation and involving your dc in parish-run activities, there wasn't anything much happening at primary level.

At the time I withdrew dd, I asked MNers about their experiences with Catholic schools in the UK and they seemed very varied from religious instruction daily to "Catholic-light".

I do think it is nice for dc to experience the religious atmosphere at school too with qualified teachers, if possible. It is something different to discuss in a class some topic or other, as opposed to just you the dp discussing it at home with one or two dc. I think feeling part of a school body at the same time is a bit like feeling part of the church body and I can imagine dc appreciate it. Also I like the manner in which a lot of teachers of religion present their lessons. Things I wouldn't have necessarily thought of etc

We have decided against sending DD to our local RC school, instead sending her to the CofE one. Their learning style and emphasis on spending alot of the time outside suits DD better. In my mind they go to school to learn, they can do church with us. It is interesting though that the RC intake is only 25% catholic pupils, we live in an area with very fluid catchment areas.

Pre-dc never would have dreamt I would spend so much time thinking about schools. Looking into different types of schools etc.

Our Catholic school was extremely old fashioned and formal, didn't suit my dd in the least. I think after our experiences with dd that really as Dorset says if you do have any choice in the matter, (realise many don't), the main thing is that the type of school suits your dc

I believe that if you really want to be sure your DCs are being exposed to your religion, then you should be exposing them at home and by example in the community. There's nothing magical about any given Catholic school that will make a child 'get religion' without parallel input from home. Having said that, it's nice to have the cultural backup in school.

My children don't go to catholic schools. I am opposed to faith schools in general (although the ones I attended myself were fantastic), and my DC attend our local non-faith primary.