how to find the right school ...

[Boblina]

... for your ds? I am now looking for a school for my ds (3 yrs) who is due to start school in September. All so scary. I am catholic but am outside the catchment area (so would fall under criteria 4 for the intake). Am looking at other schools. Visited one (others to look at) and quite like it. Think I would be just outside the catchment area again. How do you know which school to choose? What do you look for? Don't know if to try for the catholic school or not?

Go with your gut feelings about the schools after seeing them. Ask them about the application numbers vs places available and how far away the furthest offers were made last year and this may give you a better indication of where you might expect to be offered places. When you list your preferences include at least one school that you would be very likely get into and would be acceptable to you, but then you can use the other choices ahead of that to name schools that you maybe would prefer but know you might not succeed with - you just may get lucky and you can always put your name on their waiting list after allocations are made too. If you put down all schools that are likely to say no then you may just find you are allocated an undersubscribed school and will have far less choice then, though you might still be able to appeal and could still go onto waiting lists.

If your ds is RC and you want him to go to a catholic high school you will have to go to a Catholic primary school.

I would advise you to check the admissions criteria for your local catholic high first - and then find out which parish you are actually resident in as parish boundaries are the school catchment areas.

Go round to the school and you will need copies of baptism certificate and birth certificate and they will advise you re catchment and categories.

Shoshana - its not true here that if you are RC to get your child into a Catholic secondary they have to go to a Catholic primary.

I would say, you need to go and look at all possible schools. Find out about entry criteria, and also find out how many out of catchment children they take (if there is a catchment rather than a distance criteria). And good luck.

Mine are at a RC school and we are practising Catholics. Usually Catholic schools have as their first criteria baptised Catholics within their parish and then baptised Catholics from neighbouring parishes (after the usual criteria of 'looked-after' children etc).

If you are Catholic and your children are baptised you should definitely be in the 'catchment' for a Catholic school and should be able to get in - apart from places like London, many have places for non-Catholics too - ours is only about 60% Catholic - so you surely ought to be fine.

I suggest you phone the school, or the diocesan education office, and double check.

Or talk to you PP about where fellow parishioners children have gone for a Catholic education (or other Christian education?)

In the mean time, do some thinking about what you believe constitutes a good education. Academic rigour? School ethos? Size of school? Ease of school run (don't underestimate this)? Main curriculum or provision for art/drama/music? Local friends? Senior school destination? Uniform? Level of involvement of parents?

Then look at ALL schools that might fit. There may be more options than you realise.

Thanks for all your help. All very helpful. I like the catholic school (we are practicing catholics) however we don't go to the parish which we belong to as I don't particularly like the priest. We go to one that is actually closer and that I have been going on and off (apart from uni and when moved away for a little while). I like the school but dubious as we are not allowed to visit it during the day. I want DS to be brought up catholic however I also want him to be in a nice school, not too big. I must admit the catholic school would be bus ride and good walk. It's all so difficult. Going to see another school on Tuesday.