Is there a chance for a Buddhist child to get accepted in a Church of England primary school?

[mini998]

We live close to Broxbourne Church of England primary school, Which is a very good school and from what I hear parents almost kill each other to get a place for their little ones.

School has it's own admission criteria and it clearly says they give priority to Christian children, which is understandable and fair.

I was wondering if CofE schools have any allocated number of slots for children with other religions? or is this different form school to school?

Any input is appreciated.

Is your child a Buddhist, or are you?

I don't think publicly funded schools are allowed to select entirely on the religion of a child's parents, are they?

Thanks

Sorry I wasn't clear , yes me and my child are Buddhists.

It is a voluntary funded school not a publicly funded.

If your school has an admissions policy that states they need to accept 5%/10%/20% of local children who live close to school, they could get a place based on proximity criteria rather than religious ones. You need to check if this is the case for your local school.

there is a chance, most church schools have a certain percentage of non-christian children.

will you be happy with him being expected to celebrate God and other aspects of a church school though?

It's voluntary aided - it's still a state school. AFAIK, the voluntary aid is usually about 5% of the cost of running the school, and for that they get 50% of the control over the intake - so you could get in.

Not sure why a Buddhist would want to go to a school that takes the Christian God so seriously though?

They do not have to give a quota to any groups, but some choose to have a fixed allocation of faith places and then the rest to community criteria.

You need to check the entrance criteria to see whether this school does have non-faith places, and if so if you are close enough to be likely to receive and offer.

Under the faith criteria, check exactly what the criteria are: it's often specified CofE parishes, other CofE, other Christian, other faiths. If that is thencase, then you coukd still apply for a faith place, but you'd be in a low catgory. If the faith places (which of course might mean all places) have been filled in recent years by children who meet the CofE qualification, then it would be unlikely you'd receive an offer.

But depending on how many schools you can apply for, it might be worth putting it in as a preference even if it looks like a long shot. Just make sure your other choices include ones you are reasonable certain you'd be offered.

My daughter goes to a CofE primary and got her place under the 'other faiths' criteria. You would probably need a letter confirming your participation in your religion from your faith leader.

@bundaberg
Yes of course , I come from a family where I studied in a Buddhist school and my sister studied in a Convent (She is Buddhist too) , she practiced and worshipped Christianity and did all the aspects involved in church. Because of that I too got an understanding and respect to the religion.

I've just googled.

It's an intake of 30 (no separate allocation of community criteria places), so all 30 follow the criteria: SEN/LAC; siblings: residents of specified parishes attending any member Church of 'Churches Together in England' (not just CofE) regularly over at least 2 years; non parish residents with same church attendance (maximum 2 places); all other applicants.

So it looks as if those from other religions would be in the fifth category.

@SamPull

Buddhist or Christian , I believe all these religions are there to make us good people and show us the right path. All I need my kid is to be a good disciplined and good person. This school is renowned for that and all I wanted is best for my child.

my dcs primary school was CofE - more than half the parents were not church goers
in much of the country CofE is all there is so they take everybody.
Our local Catholic schools are full of Sikhs and pagans

mini - it's different from school to school. Assuming there's only one Broxbourne school, the reception admissions criteria are here.

So it appears there are no 'slots' for children of other religions (or none). Your child would be Category E, so if there are 30 children in A-D I'm afraid she won't get a place. And if its a school where 'parents almost kill' to get a place, chances are that whether they're really Christians or not they'll have been going to church for the requisite two years.

VA schools have buildings owned by the church but they receive all their running costs and 90% of capital costs from the government.

Fair? No, not really!

in much of the country CofE is all there is so they take everybody

The oversubscribed ones don't have to; so if you're not the right religion (or willing to pretend to be) then you get a place in a less-desirable faith school.

@ErrolTheDragon

Thanks for that info , so it seems like a very unlikely scenario.

Thanks everyone for your input.

You could put it down if you live very close as a gamble, and then put other more likely schools after.

But it is this particular school for which it seems pretty unlikely. I know one C of E school which has a pretty much 100% Muslim intake. And a Cathlic school which prioritises other faiths over those of no faith (but you'd be lucky to get in on those grounds, as even other Christians (one category up) frequently don't get in).

You have four places and its not the end of the world if you don't get your first choice. There is huge pressure on places in Herts so I imagine that an oversubscribed and outstanding school is more likely to be asked to expand/ take on a bulge year.

we only get three in Hampshire

We have 3 options in Herts I believe.

@tiggytape

I do have a very good second option which is an outstanding community school, religion should not be an issue for this hopefully. This school is also our nearest school so theoretically we should get selected.

I understand the policy of taking church goers and it's very fair since they clearly mention that on the admission criteria.

I was actually hoping whether they have at least on or two places allocated for other faiths , was not trying to snatch some church going child's opportunity.

At our local CoE school families with faith (any religious faith) who worship will get in over non practising Christians. I know of a Buddhist child who was offered a place on grounds of faith. The order is something like this:-

1. Looked after children
2. Children with special needs
3. Christians who worship at local church.
4. Other practising Christians.
5. All other religions who worship regularly.
6. Anyone else.

I think this is actually very unfair but there you go.

Last year you applied for 4 places in Hertfordshire. We made 4 choices for dd applying for reception last year and 4 choices for ds applying for secondary last year. I would be surprised if they reduced the number of preferences.

Thanks TheArticFunky

@ tiggytape

Yes I checked past intake stats for our second option school and it seems we should def qualify . they follow herts county intake procedure and according to that if 'school A' is the nearest school for a 'child A' then 'child A' has the priority over 'child B' who lives nearer to 'school A' than 'child A' but his nearest school is not 'school A'

Hope that makes sense

Thanks ReallyTired , I wasn't aware of this, I was only going by what i was told by other mums and nursery teachers.