Applying For School

[happymummy12345]

My son was born September 2015, so we are currently in the process of applying for his place. There are 3 schools local to us, 1 of which is a Catholic school.
However with regards applying to a Catholic school. I am a Catholic and I went to a Catholic primary school myself. However my husband is Church of England. Due to conflicting opinions our son isn't christened or baptised anything.
I know that for this reason he is very unlikely to get a place in a Catholic school. But that is the school that we feel would best suit his needs (he has speech delay and is seeing a speech therapist. and is also on the waiting list for an autism assessment), and based on the latest ofsted report this school would be best to help with that.
So with that in mind i wondered if there is anything else I can do that may help him get a place there? Obviously we will be explaining why we feel it is the best school for his needs. But is there anything else? Like if we explain I went to a Catholic school and felt I benefitted from it? And explain why he isn't a Catholic but that we would both be happy for him to attend a Catholic school (which my dh would be if it's the best place for him, and I'd love him to go to a Catholic school). Or if I started taking him to mass every Sunday?
We will be asking the school about all this when we go and speak to them, and seeing if he would have any chance of getting a place. But if there's anything else I can mention that may help then it would be good to know before the visit.

Check the conditions under which you can apply on the basis of his SEN needs and the paperwork you’d need to produce.

On the Catholic aspect, I don’t know how popular the school is or how many actual Catholics there are so it’s difficult to tell. For popular schools, you often don’t have s chance unless you’re practising.

The school has to offer places in line with its published admissions criteria. So if attending mass for 3 months prior to applying will bump you up the list, then yes, you could try this. Similarly baptism might help. However faith schools generally expect you do have demonstrated your faith over a longer length of time. Saying "I just want the school" (which is basically your reasons) will not have any effect.

You do mention you are having your child assessed. The one thing that will bump you up the list if he has an EHCP which names the school.

The first thing is to look at this school's admission criteria. Admissions are decided by which category you fall into, nothing else. Anything you write about how much you want this school won't make any difference.

The school may only look at attendance at mass, in which case you need to start going. It may look at other factors. You need to know what they want. If you aren't sure, PM me the name of the school and the LA and I will be happy to take a look for you.

If the autism assessment results in your son getting an EHCP you can ask for this school to be named. If it is he will be admitted automatically.

Definitely look at the oversubscription criteria. Some catholic schools require the child to be baptised within 6 months from birth, some it doesn't matter when as long as it was before deadline for school applications. Some require church attendance, some don't. Sometimes the church attendance means the child must have attended, sometimes it is a parent who must be 'practising'. If you really want to increase your child's chances of getting a place, the first thing to do is to find out what exactly is required to get into that category!