Non CofE/Catholic faith school in London

[PineCones]

Hi- my DC will neither be CofE nor Catholic. Whilst I am perfectly happy for them to go to either of the above, obviously places are limited.
This issue will obviously determine the next house move we make.
Can anyone guide me on their experience with admissions when their DC was neither CofE nor Catholic. Was it terribly difficult?
Any recommendations re areas where there are non faith schools or faith schools that have a decent track record of non-faith admission?
I can't afford to go private.
I am keen to avoid inner city areas as far as possible but definitely don't want to go further than the M25, ideally somewhere in SW.
Please help!

{Suspects question was too muddled and slinks off}

I suspect most faith schools in London, if they are good, will be oversubscribed so baptism and regular church attendance would be critical for a good reference from the priest. Aside from that, there are outstanding state primaries all over London so why not research OFSTED reports in your preperred locations then read the local council stats on catchment areas?

Thanks Bshhh.

You've got no chance of getting your child into reception if you're not religious. Saying that, you might be successful later on in the child's school career, places sometimes open up in Year 4/5.

If you're not religious, why do you want to send your child to a faith school? Is it the perception that they are better? There are a lot of good community schools, although my experience is that discipline and standards are often better in faith schools.

My local (outstanding) London borough RC primary is so oversubscribed you have to attend Mass every Sat eve or Sunday plus all Holy Days of Obligation.

Oh no I think I framed my question very badly. I don't particularly want to go for a faith school. It doesn't really matter so long as a school is decent.
However, not being Christian in the first place the options open to me are:

• getting in on the non faith intake in a faith school ( I know chances are non existent)- no ideological objection as I've gone to both Catholic and Protestant church schools myself though not hereabouts
• a non faith school- but obviously this narrows the options considerably
• public school, which I can't afford.

Was trying to assess what other non Christians/ non practising Christians/ people of other faiths who don't want to go for their corresponding faith school, do. Especially in SW London. For instance I read today that there is only one non faith primary in Kingston on Thames ( if true). Which worries me immensely. it seems my odds of getting a halfway decent state school are halved already.

When I was in London, a nearby and much sought after CofE VA school had one third of its places on (non-faith) community criteria, so yes, such places do exist but you have to live very, very close to the school. This is probably true however of all the well-established excellent schools.

I recommend you look at the published admissions criteria for all the local schools in the areas you are interested in, plus their admission footprint (much of London does not have a formal catchment system) ie how close you have to be to the school to be in with a chance.

Thanks Edith.

Roughly 2/3 of schools nationwide are non-faith and some of those which are do not select by faith (though almost all do in London) and most C of E (though not Catholic) schools reserve places for local children regardless of religion, so whilst atheism restricts your choice noticeably (which is iniquitous IMO) it's not too disastrous. (I'm assuming you're atheist/agnostic - if you were a practising member of another religion you would get priority on the list over atheists in some C of E schools).

I'd pick a general area you fancy living in, then check out the schools and see whether they'd work for your DC, (if they don't then start again with a new area), then read the small print on entry restrictions (admittedly these may change over time, as may the quality of the school - that's a punt you have to take, so ideally you're looking for an area with seversl acceptable schools) then look for a house as close as possible to the schools of your choice.

It is a problem in many areas - there are 6 primary schools within 2km of my house of which 3 are faith schools which we haven't got a hope of getting into (including the nearest school to me which I can see from where I am sitting). Two of the others I'm outside the furthest distance taken which leaves a big choice of 1 school that I don't like.

Personally I wish they'd get rid of the faith schools - or at any rate the churches should fund them themselves rather than expecting the state to pay 90% of their costs.

Anyway, I would assume that you haven't got a snowflakes chance and plan accordingly!

Thanks Pyrrah and Dylis!
DC (when I have one that is) will be of mixed descent (there's Hindu, Muslim and Christian ancestors in the mix!) but at the end of it Hindu on paper at least. honestly I couldn't be less bothered with religion, organised or otherwise.
Would that honestly give DC a better chance at some CofE faith schools? Must check fine print of admissions criteria then.

In some C of E schools, if there aren't enough practising Christians with a letter from their vicar then yes a practising Hindu with a letter from their priest to confirm regular attendance would trump an atheist, or indeed a family with strong Christian beliefs who didn't attend church and couldn't produce the vicar's letter. It's all in the small print.

I suspect the devil is in the details of "practising".
think I'll have to take my chances with the irreligious non religious lot !

Yes, "practicing" is key for all oversubscribed faith schools I think. You need to assume a (Hindu, Christian, etc) priest's reference will be required.