admission to catholic school if one parent is non-catholic

[a4apple]

hi,

this is my first time on mumsnet !

i need some guidance about admission to catholic primary schools. we are looking at whetstone area to move to in the barnet borough and have been looking at finalising the location based on proximity to outstanding/good schools. we have a 2.5 yr old son . my husband as well as son are catholics but i m a non-cristian. we are quite keen on admission for our child in Sacred Heart Catholic primary school in Whetstone. but i m not too sure of his chances of getting into a catholic school as one of his parents is not a catholic.it would be great if i can recieve some guidance about what our chances are in this school or if someone has had a similar case as ours...
also it would be great if anyone can share their experiences about the
All saints and St. John COE schools in whetstone area, as we are also considering these as options. Thanks !

You need to go onto the website of the individual schools and look at the admissions criteria carefully. Depending on whether you live in the parish in which Sacred Heart is located, you will be in admissions category 4,5 or 6. For the CofE schools you will be further down the list as you come after CofE applicants. It does not matter in the case of the Catholic school that one parent is non-Catholic, that is very common. However, they do (in common with most faith schools) require evidence of regular attendance at the Catholic church so you/your partner do need to attend with your child.

Once you have established which category you are likely to fit into for the schools, you need to ask the school (or sometimes the information is on their website) how many offers, if any, were made in that category in the past couple of years. This will not definitively confirm if you will get a place when you apply but will give you a good idea of the chance of admission. Beware however years where there are e.g. a large number of children who are siblings as they will usually have priority and will means fewer places available in all other categories.

I am very tired so only managed to have a very quick look at the criteria for these specific schools but it is easily available so you should take the time to look and work out for yourself what your chances are.

hi annh,

thank you so much for the prompt reply & sharing the information !

I am feeling a little relieved to know that one parent being non- catholic is not very uncommon. I read thru admission criteria of these schools and am also visiting them to get a good idea about each school. we are ok to attend church regularly with our child . but i was not sure what impact will my being a non-cristian have on the category we would fall in.

As you said for the CofE schools we will be further down in the list ( though i have heard that it is much easier to get a place in a Cof E school, even for non- christians as compared to catholic school probably b'cause catholic schools are fewer in number). i have heard that children who do not get a place in the school which is their first preference, usually don't get into their second choice as well & land up in schools which are not good ( grade 3 or 4) which are obviously not over-subscribed. there is one such school in the area called queenswell and we r worried that if we don't get a place in sacred heart then mostly we will land up in queenswell which is definitely not what we want !

We are torn between the idea of whether to risk our chances for the catholic school or instead focus on moving into a nearby area which has outstanding/ good community schools instead.

As you suggested, it will help to ask the individual schools how many applications in our category made it in the last couple of years and if they get any cases similar to ours and if any similar applications have been successful in the past.

Thanks again !

OP I would contact the school directly and have a chat with the admissions person. Your situation isn't so unusual. But if your husband is Catholic and your son is being raised a Catholic and you support that, then I don't see a problem. Is your DS baptised?

Don't know that particular school, but the partner thing shouldn't be a problem. My Catholic mate's husband is Hindu and the (v strict and oversubscribed) Catholic school her DC went to were more keen to have them rather than risk their souls being taken down the wrong path by their dad! But she also had to attend the church practically every week since her first was born, so definitely check out the rules on attendance. You may need letters from priests, early baptisms and all sorts. Investigate thoroughly! Good luck...

thank you all for sharing all the info ! i m glad i joined this forum & it is helping me understand a lot of important aspects of primary school admissions !

whistleahappytune - thanks for sharing all the info.yes my DS was baptised when he was a few months old.
pinkdelight - thanks for sharing your friend's experience. our case seems to be quite similar to theirs. as u said, will definitely check out the church attendance rules before we decide on which school to go for.

tiggytape - thanks for sharing your knowledge about the admissions system. will definitely help us work out which is our best option.

If you look at the admission criteria for Sacred Heart, then in priority order it is looked after catholic children, baptised catholic children with a sibling at the school and then baptised catholic children living in the parish of St Mary Magdelen. In all the categories it talks about of practising families which is defined as ?Practising Catholic? means a Catholic child from a practicing Catholic family where this practice is verified by a reference from a Catholic priest in the standard format laid down by the Diocese. The supplementary form asks for level of attendance for both father and mother.
In other words you will need to attend services and make yourself known to the priest, so that they are happy to sign the form, confirming you are a practicing catholic family. Without getting the form signed, given that it is an outstanding school, the chances of getting a place offered are probably very low and my guess would be that if you say you do not attend church, no matter how much your partner and child attend it could count against getting that all important priest's signature.

Doesn't that discriminate against one parent families admission?

I am a bit scared to disagree with the knowledge of Admission but here goes anyway! I am a Governor at a Catholic primary and, given lots of difficulties which we have experienced over the past few years with the Supplementary Admission Form, am rather more closely acquainted with the ins and outs of the signing of these forms than I might wish! For us, it makes absolutely no difference whether one partner is not Catholic or indeed is athiest. The important thing is that someone (usually the Catholic parent, although I often see non-Catholic parents at church as well) are attending with the childand fulfilling whatever the requirements are for practise.

thanks all for your guidance ! it definitely is helping me learn the finer points related to primary school admissions ...

I'm a Catholic, my husband is not. Our eldest goes to a Catholic primary school. As long as one patent is a practicing Catholic and the child is Baptised, then you should not have a problem. Having said that, places at Catholic schools are often hugely over-subscribed. We needed to provide proof of Baptism and a reference from our Parish Priest when we applied for his place.

thanks xigris ! as you rightly said cahtolic schools are generally over subscribed... that is why we are concerned whether one parent being non- catholic might reduce our childs chances of getting a place in a catholic school..

DD1 is in reception in a very popular Catholic primary, entrance to which depended on weekly church attendance. I am Catholic, DH isn't. However, he often took DD1 to mass on his own during that period as I was very ill at one point, then pregnant etc. He's probably better known at the church than I am!

Hmm I still think requiring both parents to be Catholic goes against the Admissions code as it gives priority to two-parent families.

For clarity, the question about the level of attendance of the mother and father is on a form from the Diocese of Westminster that goes to the priest and is not passed on to the school. The school only gets Part B of the form on which the priest confirms that the child is a baptised Catholic and that the child is a member of a practising Catholic family.

Discrimination against single parent families will only happen if the priest refuses to tick the "practising Catholic family" box. As long as the priest ticks the box a single parent family will be treated equally with a two parent family.

In the OP's situation, the question is whether the priest will tick the box on the basis of attendance by only one parent in a two parent family.

This is the school's admission criteria as taken from their website:-

1. Catholic looked after children and Catholic children who have been adopted (or made subject to residence

orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after.

1. Baptised Catholic children from practising Catholic families with a sibling attending the school at the time

of admission.

1. Baptised Catholic children from practising Catholic families resident in the parish of: St Mary Magdalen - Whetstone
2. Baptised Catholic children from practising Catholic families resident in the parishes of: St.Albans, North Finchley, or Mary Immaculate and St.Peter, New Barnet
3. Baptised Catholic children from practising Catholic families resident in all other parishes.

1. Other baptised Catholic children.
2. Other looked after children and children who have been adopted (or made subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after
3. Catechumens and members of an Eastern Christian Church
4. Christian children of other denominations whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education and

whose application is supported by a minister of religion. 10. Children of other faiths whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education and whose application is supported by a religious leader. 11. Any other applicants

Which category will your son be in by the time of the application? As long as your DH and your son go to mass regularly, it won't matter if you are there too.
You can find out (from the school office usually if you ask nicely) which % of each category got in last year.
You may well find its something like all of categories 1,2,3 and half of four depending on how far from the school they live.

I think that as the form asks for the level of attendance at church by both mother and father that one has to assume that the priest may well take the attendance of both into consideration. OP you could try asking the priest what their attitude is this, but it only needs a change of priest to get a whole new ballgame on getting the forms signed.

Annh I would hope that you are right and that the priest is going to sign the form if one of the parents is a regular church attender but too many school appeals where arbitrary decisions have been made by faith schools over such matters dulls my capacity for believing!

Seen today's news?

Nick Clegg, who has said in published interview that he does not believe in God, and his Catholic wife have secure a place at The Oratory for their DC. So one non-Catholic, indeed avowed atheist, parent cannot be an absolute barrier. And admissions to The Oratory are fierce.

I'm doing applications right now. I'm Catholic, DH is not. It has absolutely not been an issue, and my priest is very old skool! They want the children to go to Catholic school. As long as one parent attends I can't imagine it would be an issue. I wrote that DH has no religion on the form, priest already knew anyhow from our marriage prep. The admissions criteria always says 'families' but in practice I've never heard of any issue with one parent non practising.

hi, sorry for the late reply.. have been down with viral fever last couple of days...anyways..

the experiences shared by all of you have been very helpful for me and going by what most of you said in your posts, i can now say that it is indeed not uncommon for a child to get a place in a catholic school even if one parent is non-catholic, as long as the child is baptised and the family is attending church regularly. thanks again !

hi all,

continuing with the topic of primary school admissions, we are also in process of knowing more about the community schools in the whetstone, woodside park & finchley areas... in particular were are looking at these schools :
Northside Primary School
Frith manor Primary School
Wood ridge Primary School

Northside and Frith Manor have an outstanding ofsted rating and wood ridge has a good ofsted rating.

It would be great if any of you cud share any reviews/ experiences regarding these schools... especially northside primary.

Thanks !