Faith Schools: Are you choosing a religious primary school for your child in order to obtain the best local state education?

[rcc16]

1. Are you in a situation where you have chosen a religious primary school for your child in order to get the best state education for them? (regardless of whether you are religious or not)
2. Are you attending church and/or baptizing your children in order to get a place at a faith school when you wouldn't have done so otherwise (regardless of whether you are religious or not)

I'd like to know how many other people are in a situation where the best local state education is available through faith schools.

1. Yes
2. No

If the best school in the area was completely outstanding and a faith school then I would definitely pretend to be religious to get them in - I quite enjoy flower arranging and I can always keep my fingers crossed behind my back during the prayers. It would be a complete PITA having to trot along to church x times a year but worth it and I wouldn't feel the slightest tinge of guilt whatsoever. With any luck DH being Jewish might get us past having to baptise...

Once my child had the place then I can just stop. I've paid for the school through my taxes so I feel fully entitled to benefit from it. State-funded schools should be secular. If you want to have faith schools then either the churches (have you seen the CofE's property portfolio in London) or the parents should fund them completely not the ridiculous 10% that they do at the moment.

As it is I've got a nursery place at the not great CofE school 300 yards down the road for my daughter in September. I see it as free full-time childcare for 5 days a week so I can cope with their attempts at indoctrination for a year but I will not be signing their statement that I will support my child's development in something in which I have no belief.

I did check well in advance of DD's birth in case I needed to get x years of attendance in, but none of the faith schools round here were good enough to be worth the effort.

I know a fair number of parents who are attending potential primary schools on Sunday mornings...

While I admit that I live in an area with a lot of schools to choose from, and I'm even aware and mildly impressed that the local church school offers places to the kids who live nearest and doesn't insist on church attendance or even the most feeble pretence of Christianity on the part of the parents in order to admit their DC (I know this because several of the neighbours are openly atheist and their DC go there)... I didn't even apply to send DS there. I don't like church schools. I went to one. Educationally it was shit. I'm not overly impressed with Ofsted ratings, either - the school DS attends is absolutely wonderful despite being a) secular and b) low-scoring WRT Ofsted. Because it's hugely multicultural with loads of kids from differing backgrounds, quite a few arriving traumatized and unable to speak English - they may not have the best exam results overall but every kid who goes to DS' school comes out having made a lot of progress.

People who make a big deal about church schools ie those who fight to get their DC a place there (rather than people who have no choice because there's only one school in the area) are generally Daily Mail-reading bucketheads who think that a church school will be a) mostly white b) have a naice uniform and c) keep the peasants out.

I have to travel, but didn't have to fight, to get my children to their (Catholic) primary.

I did it / do it to ensure they go to a good Secondary School. The primary school, imho, is shit. Oh it scores well with Ofsted, but its still shit.

I don't read the daily mail, couldn't give two hoots about the colour of a persons skin, am a complete peasant myself, but do rather like the uniform

No the nearest 3 schools to us are all secular

I really don't know how people get the idea that the UK has secular schools! They do not. They all have collective worship of a broadly Christian nature.

Many people don't have any choice-their catchment area school is a church school.

I live in London. DD is an only. Going by distance criteria alone DD would not get a school place.

I do not want my daughter to be taught in a church hall with the other children who didn't get a school place, with all her new friends shipped out at intervals during the year to places across the Borough.

Luckily I don't need to do this as if I go to Church DD can go to her nearest church school, which also happens to be an Outstanding Ofsted school. So no I don't want her to go to an outstanding faith school specifically (and if I had a choice it wouldn't be first on my list) but their is no choice.

there. argh

No and No.

I'd like to know how many other people are in a situation where the best local state education is available through faith schools.

Where I live, all the nearby state schools are faith. So if we'd not been able to pay for private, we'd have either had to hypocritically go to church to get DD into an oversubscribed 'good' faith school in the village or else be stuck with a poorer undersubscribed one (and had to drive to it).

Most people don't have the luxury of just saying No to this ridiculous state of affairs.

Would like to point out that I don't "pretend" anything, the admissions criteria just say a parent has to attend church for a certain amount of time.

No and no.

Wish I had the choice.Church school or nothing.

Totally wrong.