Experiences of Catholic school as a non Catholic?

[mogkat]

As per the title, does anyone have experience of attending or sending their children to a catholic primary school when they are not catholic?

My son is due to start school next Sept 2022 so we're at the stage of needing to do the application.

In my town we have 2 primary schools.
The first one isn't very good, bad ofsted reports, negative feedback from local parents and when I went for a tour I just didn't like it.
The other school is a catholic primary which in contrast is well rated, good feedback about the school and when we went for a tour we real liked it. It had a nice feel about it.

I was told only 15% of the pupils are catholic. It's not a requirement to be a church goer or be baptised to be accepted.
They said of course religion is a big part of their day but they teach about all faiths etc.

My other school options would be a bit of a drive away so I have to seriously consider the catholic school.

However as a non catholic and non church going person I really have no idea what it might be like day to day.

Does any one have any feedback good or bad about going to or sending their children to a catholic school?
Any questions I should be asking the school i might not have considered?

I'm a bit of an over thinker and this is going round in my head whether i should send my son to a faith school?

Thanks in advance!

I have no direct experience (though I went to a faith primary and didn't really notice). The faith primaries I have visited for work/family just seemed like nice schools with a good ethos and a bit of praying. To me the school sounds ideal as you liked it and it's close.

I am not religious but sent my DC to the local catholic primary school for similar reasons. I also ended up being parent Governor for a while so got quite a good look at how things work. There is a big emphasis on 'Catholic life' and catholic religious education- so much that there is a separate inspection and rating for this. Something link 20% of the curriculum is required to be linked to RE (can be across areas). They do learn about other religions but there is a big emphasis on the catholic religion. There is a requirement to have 'collective worship' each week (eg. religious assemblies) and at our school the local priest visits frequently.

My DC were generally happy at the school but there were a few areas that I think anyone looking at a Catholic school should be aware of. Eg. Some of the teachers don't take kindly to expressing views contrary to the catholic teachings (eg. questioning whether God is everywhere/knows everything). The Catholic children take communion wafers at mass on school whilst the other children sit and watch (obviously other schools may do this differently) and there is a big deal made of preparation and celebration of first holy communion. One of my DC found this difficult as all her friends were Catholic so she was sitting on her own.

About 50% of pupils at this school are catholic so your school may be different if the % is much lower

Oh go with the good Catholic school for sure. I'm a recovered Catholic.
My two older kids went to Catholic school. My eldest's best friend was not Catholic/not at all religious. And since this friend practically lived with us and our Xbox for so many years, I can probably speak on his behalf and his parents and say that he had a fabulous time at the school. I don't think being the child who's not at Mass on Sundays will have ANY impact on a non-Catholic pupil. Not at all.
But also, reading the description of your local Catholic school, it doesn't sound hardcore at all. It sounds like it'll have all the lovely aspects of that Christian ethos without all of the pressure to be a Good Catholic. That's perfect! And, in this day and age, much more realistic and accommodating towards the local community. There are not many Catholics in the UK. The schools generally tend to be excellent. Offering that excellence to the whole community is important. That's what it should be about, not exclusivity.
There won't be an overwhelming amount of Catholicism dumped on the kids, I imagine. Basically, kids will learn to live by the Golden Rule. The parable of the Good Samaritan underpins the Catholic school ethos, to be honest. And it's a parable that preaches a universal message that people of all faiths and agnostics follow: Be kind!
And although there will be that Christian element to your DC's education, they will learn about other faiths and their celebrations/philosophies, just as they would in a secular school. If 15% of the children are Catholic, I wouldn't worry at all about your DC feeling like a minority or 'apart'. It won't be cliquey.

The Catholic children take communion wafers at mass on school whilst the other children sit and watch (obviously other schools may do this differently) and there is a big deal made of preparation and celebration of first holy communion. One of my DC found this difficult as all her friends were Catholic so she was sitting on her own.

I wanted to add to this comment: They can't receive the Eucharist until they are 7-8 years old (year 3), once they've received First Communion. And non-Catholics do not have to take part in the lessons. With a 15% Catholic intake, the school, I'm sure, will have a comfortable arrangement for all pupils and there will be many children not taking part in this rite, so it won't be so lonely for your DC. They certainly won't be making non-Catholics take part in the preparatory lessons for Holy/First Communion. Usually, those are done on Sundays anyway, not during school hours. But it's worth asking about this OP, to ensure that your DC doesn't feel excluded in the way number87's daughter did... which certainly can be the case if you're in a school that is predominantly Catholic. But as I said, 15% is a small number. If I am doing the math correctly, you have reception to year 6, 30 kids per class (single intake?), that's 210 kids in total and about 31 children who are Catholic? I wouldn't worry.

One of my kids is at a catholic school although we are not religious. Dp was brought up catholic as was my mum and all her family but i wasnt brought up religious and none of the children are baptised etc.
I sent him there because of their SEN provision. The size of the school. The clear moral framework that i felt he would benefit from. I liked the ethos of every child having dignity under God.
I think the religious bit is just what i expected. Be has to do 2 hours of religious studies a week and its compulsory, and theres a lot of God stuff. Theyre quite strict on behaviour but kind too. Mostly catholic kids obviously and this means a huge proportion of the kids are from other countries which I quite like.

My kids went to catholic school and we aren’t church goers. They never did communion in school and no fuss made of the (very few) pupils who did their first holy communion. They had RE every day but learned about all faiths. It was an extremely positive experience for my children and I.

Going to go against the grain and say that I hated every moment at my catholic school. Every lecture was "you are catholic children for goodness sake" as if being catholic made us somehow superior to everyone else. A GCSE in religion was mandatory which felt like a waste of a subject. Sex education had a very religious slant. The first time a nurse came in to talk about contraception we were 15/16 and it was done during a religious lesson. The teachers were frowning in the back until she mentioned the "natural method" of monitoring cycles and then frowned again when she said it was absolutely not recommended for young people because of the increased risk. This was only in 2006!