Religious discrimination in CE schools admissions criteria - how to explain it to 7 year old?

[random12]

How do you explain to an 7 year old that they can't go to the same local village CE school as their friends because their parent (me) doesn't go to the right church?

It's a good introduction to the world of religious discrimination.

It's made me militantly opposed to the Church of England and pro-secularism.

The school's admissions criteria prioritises the children whose parents go to particular Churches. The other schools nearby are also CE :-/

Why is it and issue for you? Why do you feel the need to explain "religious discrimination" to a four year old?

My DD went to a nursery in a different county (we are on the border). She then went to an over subscribed catholic school. I knew that there was no way any of her friends would be attending the school she would be going to and I just explained to her that her friends would be going to different schools but we could see them during holidays if she wanted to.

Why the big drama?

I don't think religious discrimination where it is discrimination in law makes any distinction between whether the person discriminated against actually believes in a god or is just perceived to. So I find that an odd distinction to make. I don't think in the general way of things if say the NHS discriminated on church attended that it would be considered okay either.

You could just as well have a school for black people only but say it's not discrimination because it's a publicised criteria and if a white person paints their face black every second sunday for two years in advance they would qualify too.

Now, if there was a non-religious state funded school next door to every religious one and admissions were equally handled between the two, it could be argued that there was no loss suffered. But particularly in rural areas there can be a very material disadvantage to a child who does not qualify for their local school or indeed any school within a reasonable radius - except of course the "Requires Improvement" CofE school where for some reason Christians don't feel so inclined to want a religious education for their children so there are plenty of places open to heathens.

We only escaped by a few 100m being forced to send DS to failing religious school, the successful religious school across the road from it being full of children qualifying on the religious criteria. I find it hard to see how a situation like that could be anything but discrimination, morally speaking.

I suppose the explanation (which a child would understand) is that state schooling was first rolled out, less than a century ago. But children had to be educated, by law, dog many years before that. So there were lots of schools already.

Some stayed independent, some joined the state sector completely (including lots of church schools, the Ines now called VC). In the middle was a group of some church schools (and some trust/foundation ones) which did not want to join the state sector, but were prepared to co-operate with it. The arrangements made have continued right up to the present day, which means that some church schools do participate in the state school system.

Perhaps one day those arrangements will change, but no government has been able to replace those church schools with ordinary state schools.

Voluntary Aided schools tend to have Church attendance as an admission criteria but not all. Some use standard catchment rules so they do accommodate all local children. I find this a more Christian attitude! My children attended a VC school (and so did I) and that also had a catchment area and expected to take all local children. I think the Church schools are divisive when they are too religious in their admissions criteria because we all know it is the disadvantaged poorer families who miss out. We all know this means the C of E and other religious schools select out the most disadvantaged and then crow about their great results. The Church started the schools to educate poorer children and they should be open to all from that village. They did not open Church schools just for Church goers. This is a modern interpretation to keep out the great unwashed and unwanted, travellers, forces children etc.

The sheer number of CofE schools makes them formative of the norm of school demographics. They are, within that limitation, typical - looked at as a whole - in terms of proxy markers for disadvantage (even if your local one is leafy).

Last I've I looked at RC schools it was pretty much the same, though they are more ethnically diverse than typical.

Yes, I think church going was for a while perceived as a middle class activity.

Whereas nowadays it is much more likely to be those recently arrived in UK.

The C of E started schools in the 17th century to educate 'the poor of the parish'. They didn't have a religious criterion. Roman Catholics were able to start their own schools after the 1829 Emancipation Act. Schooling became compulsory from the age of 5 in 1870. I went to a girls' grammar school which was founded in 1699, and though it have strong connections to the mother church, it had no religious entry criterion until the 1970s.
Because of the historic background I think that C of E schools should be available to all in the community, so long as parents realise that it is a faith school, and by accepting a place they will let their children take part in the faith activities of the school.

and by accepting a place they will let their children take part in the faith activities of the school.

Where there are shortages of school places, some people have no choice about sending their child to a religious school. (Or not unless they're rich enough to go private or home ed.) Only difference is, they currently only have the choice of the crappy religious schools that religious people don't want. So on top of being forced to send children to a religious school, you would also force them to let their children take part in the faith activities? I don't think that's really on.