Appeals on 'religious' grounds?

[dolster]

I just found out that we got our third choice (we live outside London in a rural area), which is a CoE school, v. religious. As an atheist I'm really uncomfortable about it and I wonder if this could be grounds for an appeal? I know that technically all schools have a 'collective worship' element and none is completely 'secular' but I wonder whether I have a case for saying that the school I have been allocated is very forthright in its Christian ethos and that this is a real problem for us? Does anyone have any experience with this? I know the advice is to appeal to the school you want rather than against the school you have been allocated - but my argument is that I am much more comfortable with the way in which our first choice school teaches religious education.

Our first choice school has a stated maximum intake of 12 students per year but I can see from the council website that some years there are up to 16 students in each year so I don't imagine this would be an ICS appeal but maybe I'm wrong.

Any advice gratefully received!

I haven't done this, but a friend did and it was successful at a v popular central London primary. So good luck with it. The only thing is that you put down the CofE school... They may well argue 'why did you put it down if you don't want a place?'.
But it might help you on appeal to first choice school.

Thanks bluewisteria - very useful to hear that. You're right that we shouldn't have put the school down at all but I just so wasn't expecting that we'd be allocated it! Plus, we live a remote area and the nearest school, after that one, is over ten miles away. I did write on the application form that we were really uncomfortable about a CoE school but they clearly didn't take that into account (not that I'm surprised).

The key thing is that you don't appeal against the allocated school, you appeal for the one you want.

So the reasons you dislike school C will make no difference on whether you should have qualified for an offer at schools A and B or your chances of success at schoolsl D,E, F etc which you did not originally apply for but now like better than your original choice C.

"I did write on the application form that we were really uncomfortable about a CoE school but they clearly didn't take that into account (not that I'm surprised)."

That's because they are not allowed to take into account anything other than the published entry criteria. The only things that you can say in the 'comments' section that carry any weight are explanations of how you fit a particular category that might otherwise be overlooked.

Thanks very much tiggytape - there are lots of other reasons why we prefer our first choice, including social reasons and childcare reasons. I know the school well and I know that current ICS are below 30 ( it is a small school and R/Y1 are mixed; as are Y2+Y3). Do you think that it is better not to mention the religious grounds and instead to focus on social/childcare reasons? Also - I know this is not part of any official appeal criteria but our first choice school has a strange phenomenon going on at the moment where nearly all pupils are boys. It will be the same for this years intake. Can I point out that maybe having an extra girl around would be good for the school?! Or would that be rather frowned upon?

OP there's some info here that might help: humanism.org.uk/education/parents/frequently-asked-questions/

Thank-you tiggytape - that's such helpful advice. Thanks too everysizecrocs - v.useful!

Have friends who appealed unsuccessfully five years ago, however, at the beginning of every academic year, the school offers parents the chance of opting out from the religious curricular and non-curricular activities. The family is happy with the education received at the school by their DS, SAT's results great every year, so the two other siblings joined the school last year. All three children are doing really well, so I would say that best if you can check the school's policies and the curricular side of things too before panicking.

This happened to a friend of mine in London who has strong atheist views and they got backing from the British Humanist Society; the LEA eventually (! - they had to stand their ground) backed down and reallocated to a non-religious school. Though they hadn't chosen the religious school in the first place ( I think they got diverted there after missing out on their choices - is that the right phrase). Also, their main argument that they would accept other schools just not a religious one (i.e. they weren't trying to get their 1st, etc choices to be allocated to them)

I think it can be overwhelming to go to a religious school because the whole ethos is religious. There will be religious parents on the Governing Body and Representatives of the Church too. All religious festivals will be observed and it makes it quite hard to escape from it all. The Church Group (clique) of parents ran things for their own good at our school! It can, therefore, be quite a tribal experience! However, all that has been said about appealing for the school you do want is true. Concentrate very much on why the other school is best, educationally, for your child and do not mention convenience for you or your dislike of another school. I hope you succeed.