Catholic primary schools

[pacinofan]

Dd1 will start primary September 2007 so we are currently looking at our options. We are keen for her to attend a catholic primary, mainly because the associated secondary school is particularly good, always oversubscribed and this seems the only way of getting in.

However - it is quite a journey, there is no before/after school club and it is not possible to visit the primary before making a selection. Apparently, they just don't do it and you visit the school next May, after the selection has taken place.

Am quite disappointed, just wondering is this the norm with catholic primaries? I thought this government was encouraging women to return to the workplace by providing 'wraparound' care -without it, I can't return to the workplace (dh works unpredictable hours).

Can't you get a childminder to do the before/after hours?

depends on the school and where it is pacinofan.
Our Cathlic primary welcomes prospective parents to look round before they apply and has a before school HW club and an after school club.

Does it have a small intake or is oversubscribed? It could be that they don't need to be bothered about making a good impression on new parents as they know they will get a full roll without having to.

Yes, oversubscribed, so you are probably right they will get a full roll anyway.

Childminder is a possibility I hadn't considered. So many schools have before/after clubs I suppose I just expected it to be there. Will visit two or three schools and weigh it all up.

I find it strange that you can't visit the school.
The school my DC attend seem to show parents around on a regular basis. My DD also teaches and her school also welcomes would be pupils and parents at very short notice....she teaches in a RC primary.

It seems very strange that they won't let you look around; I certainly wouldn't say that was the norm. However, before you set your heart on it, ask for a copy of their admission policy and think realistically of how likely you are to get a place for your child. You say it quite a journey away; around here the oversubscribed Catholic schools give preference to people who live and worship within the local parish. In theory you can get in if you worship in a different parish but the reality is the places are always filled before they get that far down the list. That is of course assuming that you are Catholic and a regular churchgoer, but there are plenty of threads about that

I don't think I would consider sending my kids somewhere I hadn't seen first, how odd.

I looked around our catholic primary before I chose it because i had 2 choices. They dont provide an afterschool club but the local council run a good one and they collect from about 5 local schools including dd's.