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

"Schools belong to communities"

But the land and buildings belong to the Church. Perhaps the communities should get together any buy out the Church's property interests?

I think that people who say that just expect the church to give up their assets!

It misses the whole point anyway that OP isn't in the community-she wants to be because she sees the school as better-and they will take her as a special case. If she was in the community they would just take her.

The op was just asking. I think that should be ok. Maybe she has decided it isn't for her now. Maybe not. She is perfectly entitled to attend church etc. for a place at the school. Just as others are entitled to move house or pay.

I don't blame her for wanting to know what the requirements are.

But if you do buy out the church interest, it wouldn't be a church school and the things about it that make it a good school are likely to change as well.
Then it would probably become just like the others, including the OP's local primary.

reastie, I will try and be constructive which others appear to not want to be.
If you PM me with the name of the school and the LA, I will look it up and see if I can find out any more information but at the end of the day, the governing body of the school are responsible for the admission criteria and putting all applications in order, so it they who will have the initial say on the matter. Whether the admission criteria is actually appropriate is another matter all together.

What ouryve said in the previous page.

Honestly OP, it really isn't that hard to understand.

When we needed a letter of confirmation from our minister for my dd to get a place at our local Church school (we don't attend the parish church - where they do keep a register as so many poeple start attending to the minimum level they can get away with to 'say they attend' - we attend another local church of another denomination)... the minister jokingly asked me if I wanted them to write "BfG not only attends this Church to get into the school but has actually attended for 30+ years, and her children have all attended almost weekly since birth. They all contribute hugely to the life of this church and are committed to the Church, not to meeting some school admission criteria"..... I was very tempted to say 'Go on then'

You (and probably many others) are trying to 'work the system' - why shouldn't the Church get some benefit from that ?

I sort of agree exotic, except that round here no amount of being in the community would get my children admitted to our 2 nearest schools which place faith high up the list of criteria.

You must live in a town,lopsided. OP is in a village and it will be the only school so if she is in the catchment area she comes first.
She is trying to get into a non catchment area school and finding that parental choice is a myth-it is parental choice if room. They are over subscribed so to get a good chance she has to jump through the hoops.

True exotic, no catchments here, just nearest the school. It is annoying when friends ask us why my kids go further afield for a school. It's them that don't want us, not the other way round :) We don't all have a Christian background that I want to discuss with casual acquaintances.

She said that it was one of nearest schools. Catchments don't really exist its distance.

the church does NOT own the school, they were taken over moons ago by the lea. The church don't pay the upkeep of the school, the staff costs...etc etc

If you live in a community....the school is the heart of it!!

It would spoil my weekend to need to go to chirch when really we want to swim, walk, play. I'm lucky my faith school is lea contolled. ( no church involvment with admissions)

Can you imagine for a moment that all your local schools are muslim and your out. Its discrimination, its horrific!!!!

Reastie I hope I didn't come across as too grumpy with my earlier question, sorry for asking and running, been busy since!
I am a governor at a church school. By the sounds of it your admissions criteria are fairly similar to ours in that church attendance is fairly low down the list. This is because we want children from our local community to be able to attend their local school, any remaining places are then given out to people who are committed to our church. This is because being a village community, people still come back to worship at the church even though they have technically moved away to neighbouring villages. They therefore have a link with the village and school. Yes people from further afield could also come and start attending our church regularly to get their child into the school, but given the number of church schools in the area I would consider it unlikely (we haven't actually had to turn children away for a few years so it isn't exactly an issue at the moment) and obviously these children would be equally welcome as 'locals' if they were contributing to the community through the church.

Rainydayagain, umm, the church do indeed own our school. They also pay for work that needs doing e.g. new boilers etc as they own it. Along with contributing extra money for TAs etc.

I feel a bit sorry for OP. All she's asked for is some advice and info. However, church schools have to measure somehow and the easiest is mass attendance. I don't agree with the admission policies that ask for families to do extras unless they want to. I read at my parish but have done so for about 15 years - a friend of mine said that would be something that she would dread doing and that's fine. Agree with what someone else has said - the supplementary form should explain the criteria.

RainyDay - I have done supply teaching in lots of village schools, church and not. They have catchment areas. OP does not live in the village - she is not in the catchment area. If she was, her DC would get a place, regardless of church involvement.
The supplementary form will give more detail, but you can get the general idea from OP. If there are 2 places for non catchment DCs it will go to the one who is doing activities in the church rather than the one who doesn't.

Can't believe the hard time you have been given. Not very Christian!
I don't think that 'Children whose parents are committed for over a year to the life and work of local church' is clear. School admission criteria needs to ensure that oversubscription is applied fairly. It therefore needs to be absolutely clear and be able to be evidenced (possibly by signing a register for example) and not open to different interpretations. One persons 'commitment' might be attendance at church once a month while for another only weekly attendance shows 'commitment'.

She hasn't had a hard time! She asked what it meant and she has been told. If she wants cosy answers that she can get a place with once a month attendance we can say that but it won't be true! She would manage it if there were plenty of places but she will lose out if the competition is a DC who turns up every week.

It is supply and demand- like any criteria.

DD is only 1, so we haven't decided if we would want her to attend the Catholic school that is our nearest school and I don't know what the criteria would be to get into it. I am a practising Catholic but also a shift worker, who regularly has to work 7.30am-8.30pm on Sundays. DH is an atheist, who has only ever set foot in the church for our wedding and DD's baptism (which he almost didn't come to). These criteria quoted above, which state weekly attendance with "four weeks off allowed a year for holidays", in some cases stating that the whole family must attend, and that families must take on roles within the church, would be impossible for me to fulfill with the best will in the world. Are faith schools allowed to discriminate against parents who have to work on Sundays and parents who cannot force the other parent to attend church against their will? I will take DD to church with me as often as I can, but there is no way DH would ever take her when I am at work.

My DCs schools admission policies state at least one parent and child to attend mass on a weekly basis - I don't think policies can state both parents as it disadvantages the single parent. My DH has only come to mass on 'special' occasions so I do all the church stuff. Regarding shift working, you can attend mass on a Saturday evening.

It is supply and demand happypotamus. If they have one family who have been regulars at church for 5 years, help at the fete, give old people a lift or one of the many ways of helping and one family where only one parent attends infrequently and can't be called on to help- they will both get a place if there are spaces BUT if there is one space you only need one guess who will get it.

Probably if you can't get there every week you need to find out what you can do to help at other times e.g a fund raising committee.

I don't agree - policies are not allowed to disadvantage the single parent or the the 1 committed RC parent (as in mine and happy's case). If a criteria is over subscribed it would come down to distance.

How does a policy of one parent attending with the child disadvantage single parents?

If they are outside the catchment area it will come down to their criteria. I don't think the fact that it is only one parent involved matters but it does if they they are not actually involved.