WWYD - am Catholic and want DS to go to a Catholic School but don't go to church 'enough'

[LadyOfWaffle]

I am Catholic, went to Catholic schools, DSs are Baptised and I do go to Church but this school says you must go at least two times a month for the past year. I have depression and find it hard to go - and I go because I want and not just to get into a school. Applications are Sept or Nov (can't find definate info) and it has a tick box for criteria - you have to tick if you meet this. What can I do? I am a practising Catholic and it means alot to me that he goes to this school, but I haven't "shown my face" enough Shall I include a little note? Just not tick it? If I don't tick it, he is 'just' a Baptised child from a non practising family - far down the list. I am so worried about this - I don't want to have to write a note saying that I'm ill etc.

Don't know what the process is for you, however, for our school any information one gives the priest remains confidential with him; on the basis of your meeting with him be then signs a form that you're a practicing catholic. I would be honest with the priest - don't be ashamed, it's a real and debilitating condition, I can't imagine he won't be sympathetic. If you've been going for several years averaging twice a week which it sounds you have, you do in any case fit the criteria - and he'll recognize you as a regular too. On our forms there was also a place to put any other contributions to the parish/church eg helping out with parish toddler group, cafod, making cakes for parish Christmas fête etc ie any other evidence you're active in the parish can also help your case. Good luck!

Re stating how strong your committment is to the admissions people - I noticed on our forms one of the bits the priest had to tick was whether or not the parents are known to him, and whether or not the child is known to him...I guess if you get ticks for both, that would do it!

Tick the box. Please dont not. Everyone will be ticking it, regardless, really they will.

It sounds very unlikely that's the trouble. Do you manage to make it to the shops? Do you take your child to school? If you can do those thigns you can make it to mass. If you never leave the house then that's a different matter. I just don't think the disability excuse is going to work in those circumstances.

but will the priest know you are not there every week>? Surely he'll just agree you regularly attend mass. Masses are usualyl so crowded there is no way of knowing who is there and whetehr they arrived at Sat night mass, 8am on Sunday (when we used to go), 9am, 10am 11am 12 noon etc etc. Very very hard to be sure who has gone there and when.

I'm sure the priest will sign your form without any problem - as you say he will recognise you. There are lots of reasons why someone might not attend their local church every single week anyway - e.g. they might go away a lot at weekends to visit family and as Xenia says, there are lots of masses in most parishes so a priest isn't going to see the same people all the time. (However I was slightly perturbed to find out recently that our local ones know me by name so obviously I'm not as inconspicious as I had thought!)

Xenia - I tend to agree with you. It's one thing to get the priest to buy your story ( it tends to be face to face) but quite another to pull a fast one over the admissions panel - the latter not the former being the body with the accountability for admissions decisions to a range of external bodies. The admissions panel only has the hard cold facts in front of it and make judgements on the balance of that evidence. Besides admissions panels are usually made up of mums and dads who see threads of the kind here on mumsnet and elsewhere.

Xenia - I tend to agree with you. It's one thing to get the priest to buy your story ( it tends to be face to face) but quite another to pull a fast one over the admissions panel - the latter not the former being the body with the accountability for admissions decisions to a range of external bodies. The admissions panel only has the hard cold facts in front of it and make judgements on the balance of that evidence. Besides admissions panels are usually made up of mums and dads who see threads of the kind here on mumsnet and elsewhere.

If our first daughter hadn't got into Haberdashers at 4 she would have gone to the local catholic school and this was back in about 1988. Not only did we have to show we went to mass every week - we did both before and after having children hut also a contribution to the life of the parish - attending was not enough (the children's father is a church organist so we ticked the right box).