Are catholic school best than normal ones?

[matro87]

Hello to everyone my daughter will start reception next September and we are looking for a right school to her! Our choice is to send her in a catholic school as we know are the best but they are really the best??? I mean, why we suppose the faith school are best than normal?what are the different? What we have to look at when we will choose a school??
Thank you

I’m not sure what you mean C8H10?

On diversity or conservatism? The RC primaries locally have a much more diverse intake in terms of social, racial, economic intake than average. Family structure was equally varied. The communities are not "conservative with a small c" they are more welcoming and open to all comers than the local secular schools. So are the parents and pupils.

I find the idea that these parents live in some sort of 1950s social values bubble laughable.

Oh, I see! Yes, that’s my experience too.

My experience echoes that of C8H10N4O2 - the amount of misapprehension in that area that doesn't seem to fade with the years is a shame

Yes my experience is that the Catholic schools are more racially and socially mixed than surrounding schools. Yes absolutely everyone is welcomed and valued but.....statistically Catholics are still conservatives with a small c. That’s not an insult, by the way.

They are more likely to be married (but single parents are welcomed), more likely to be committed to education and require children to achieve their potential and more likely to be respectful of authority.

Within that, of course there’s a mixture but if you’ve been to church three Sundays out of four since the birth of your first child, you’re going to be on the conservative side of the spectrum. That impacts on the effectiveness of the school.

Interesting thread. I teach at a regular primary school (non-Catholic). My son attends a Catholic school. I teach the same age group as my son. Expectations and the quality of work academically is a lot higher at my school. Academically I think my son would be doing better where I work.The catchment areas are similar in terms of socio-economic factors. Both schools received good from Ofsted.
My son's school has a tighter and more cohesive feel mostly I suspect because of church attendance of some parents and fund raising within the school community which tends to be related the parish community.
I am certainly not conservative in my views and single parents and those with less conservative views do not seem to be treated differently.

If you are from a majority Catholic country it is worth considering that your children may meet more other children from that country in a Catholic school than a non-Catholic school, which might be nice for them. If you are a practising faith family of any kind it is also worth considering that not all children and teachers in non-faith schools are particularly supportive of that, I went to non-faith schools and always felt in a very small minority and occasionally experienced bullying on that basis. I am not a Catholic but intend to send my son to a Catholic School for that reason (I now live in Canada and Catholic schools are the most available “faith” option for us).

I mean this in a nice way but the best thing you can do for your child’s schooling is work on your English as it is clear it’s not your first language. Children need effective support at home to learn best and if your English is poor it will hamper their learning as you’ll not be able to support them very well.

@Redskyandrainbows67 - totally get your point about the op's written English but I would point out two things:

1. Writing in a foreign language is the most difficult task for non-native speakers ( I know this from personal experience)
2. Many English speaking posters on MN are strangers to grammar, spelling and punctuation.

So, @matro87 , yes, your own written English is a "work in progress ". But don't let that stop you or your children. Speaking as a Catholic , I would say that Catholic schools are no guarantee of excellence. I live in a very Catholic area and this is very much the case.

And 3. It's more important for OP to speak her mother tongue with her child and ensure they grow up bilingual.

One of my non-native speaking friends (also Catholic like me) generally has English TV on at home with subtitles active. She generally speaks her native language with the kids at home but sometimes English.

Agree with the points above and honestly I was trying to help not be nasty. I see many mums (and dads) getting worked up about homework because they feel ill equipped to help. Op can learn at the same time as her child.