What does 'Children whose parents are committed for over a year to the life and work of local church' mean?

[reastie]

Looking at prospectuses for local schools, this school is in the village next to ours and will most likely be our top choice. As we don't live in the village itself the only way to be higher in the pecking order of admissions is for us to meet this point (it would get us to admission point 6 of 8 where admission point 1 is the most important, so not exactly securing a place in any case). DH and I have been married in our local church and DD has been baptised there too, and we've donated money to the church when they've needed new heating system etc, but we never go to church.

Does this sentence just mean go regularly to church or does it mean get involved with churchy activities/organise things within the church? If it just means regularly go to church - how regularly is regular?

It also says there must be documented proof that we have been committed to our local church - what form does this take? It's not like there's a register like school to prove we've been at the church

You don't want to go to church, but want your dd to attend a church school.
Well, that's called having your cake and eating it, unfortunately.
In your position, fulfilling very little of the criteria to secure a place anyway; you really need to be a little bit more realistic than that.

Do you know what a pharisee is?

Yes thanks. Possibly that was sloppy shorthand for people who make a show of religion as opposed to those who prefer to pray quietly in their rooms.

If the OP talks to the vicar she may find there is a solution which suits her better than sunday services. I had a friend who couldn't go to sunday services at the church required for school entry because she was extremely committed to a different church. So she and her DH took turns to go to the weekly midweek prayer meeting.

Jean - yes, that's what I meant.

As with the 'upset at the Easter Story' et al threads, can I ask everyone who finds this ridiculous to at least consider lobbying for the separation of Church and State.

Just saying.

If you attend church fairly regularly and you're seen as part of the church community, you'll probably be asked to go onto the electoral register for the church. That sounds like it will fulfil the criteria.

Actually, a Pharisee was a member of a political group just before and during Roman occupation, who believed the oral/traditional/rabbinical laws was just as binding as the written (similar to today's Orthodox Jews, but more politically motivated), unlike the Sadducees, connected with the brutal elite, who tended to dismiss oral tradition when it suited them. While individual members may have been obsessed with outward appearance (some being badly mentioned in the Christian texts which has given them a bad reputation), the group as a whole was very much loved and connected with the common people of Judea, writings of their last Queen, Salome Alexandra, are extremely positive even by her enemies.

I'm loving not how Christianly you are all being to me

Oh this subject is always like this.

Hide the thread and ring the school / council

sound advice there sardine . I didn't mean or want it to turn out like this - just an innocent question

By not giving you the answers that you want, but trying to be truthful?
Asking you why you want that school and what makes it 'good' in your eyes?
Sometimes thinking about your motives isn't comfortable, is it?

It means someone who hasn't just recently started to attend the odd service at a church in the hope of getting their children into a particular school.

fallen my conscience is clear but I'm not sure why trying to make someone feel bad seems to be so important to you. If I'm not back on this thread it's nothing personal to anyone who spared the time to reply, I'm just not sure we're achieving anything here now.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, or attacking you personally. You haven't answered any of my questions either, and misinterpreted my comments.

Why are you feeling bad, Reastie?

It seems parents who may not be wanting to run the PTA and the like aren't allowed to be interested in wanting the best for their children by sending them to a good school
No, you are not required to run the PTA to get your child into a church school. You are required to go to church. What part of that are you having difficulty with?

Quite simply-going to church isn't enough-as people have said-you have to be actively involved. Your DCs need to be in Sunday School and at activities and you need to be doing flowers, newsletters, taking Sunday school, attending a discussion group etc etc etc. If you don't want to do it I can't see why you want the church school.

Well none of this is necessarily true.

The OP needs to find out what the specific criteria are for the school she is interested in are.

Others guessing is no use at all.

Children whose parents are committed for over a year to the life and work of local church' mean?

I think that sentence is fairly specific! You have to be in church regularly and you have to get involved i.e. do the work.
OP doesn't fulfil it by being married and christened and making a donation! They don't want people to just throw money at it-they want them to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in e.g. fund raise.

We are not guessing!

I think she is struggling with her children not being able to go to the local school!!

Being cut of from the community they live in.
Being discriminated against due to religion.
Having other parents drive miles to cheat the system and lie.
Loosing all her weekends worshipping when she would rarther be with her family.

I agree with you OP!!,

faith school that have any baring on admissions should be illegal unless they fund themselves entirely.

Schools belong to communities.

And for what its worth join the others for the year that you need to, clean the church etc.

She needs to get the forms.
She could do the flower arranging and sunday school and then find out they all needed to be on the electoral roll
She could be on the electoral roll and do fundraising and then find out her children needed to be baptised before a certain age
She needs to find out for sure.
Apart from anything else, if the church attendance thing is only point 6 of 8 then she needs to work out whether there is any chance of her getting in even if she becomes the vicar there

Losing all her weekends worshipping when she would rather be with her family!!. .
On a scale of 1 to 10 of things to feel indignant about when trying to get a place at a faith school, this must rank at minus 25.

If you read the post RainydayAgain you will see that it is not her catchment area school-if it was she would be able to send her child even if she was an atheist. She is way down the list.
She will come after those who live in the catchment, looked after children, those with a sibling, those with SN.
Way down the list the involved church goers will come above the ones who just turn up at church, who will come above the once in a blue moon churchgoers who come above the never go.

Perhaps the school governors will be impressed with 'we really want a church school but we don't go because it would spoil our weekends'!