Catholic secondary schools -how do you get in?

[allok]

OK, my ds is only 3.5 but we're applying for schools at the moment.

I'd like the option of ds to go to a catholic secondary should he not get into grammar school. dh is catholic and I'm not a christian. DS not baptised as I strongly feel that we should do itwhen he says he's ready and he's had no tuition from his catholic side as yet. But in any case I reckon he'd be between 6-9 years old before he gets it.

I though that secondary catholic schools want baptised kids and that's all - but I'm now really worried as lots of catholic kids at ds's nursery are applying for catholic infant/junior school in preparation of getting their little ones into catholic secondary school.

I was planning to sending ds to the infant/junior opposite my house which has the best reputation in our area.

What should I be doing? Does a kid need ot have gone to a catholic junior school in order to be considered by a catholic senior school?

when applying for secondary RC school you need to write down 4 things you and your daughter does for your church. Any idea?

Each catholic school should publish their admissions policy on their website.
My dd has been offered a place at our local catholic school (best school in the area).
She is not catholic and not christened in any faith.
Her grandparents are CofE and their vicar wrote a very supportive letter to back up our application.
However, 5 of dd friends have also been offered places with no religious back up.
We are all really happy as local comp is terrible.

The Catholic secondary schools is our area are over suscribed, so they have become very strict with their admittance policy.
Children need a letter from their priest stating that, they, and their families must have attended church every week for the last two years, with only occasional absences.
Must have been baptised and recieved their first Holy Communion.
The more involved the childs family is in the church, the more likely it is that they will 'get in'.
My DC is in a Catholic primary and has to have a signed letter from the priest every new school year, say ing that they are still involved in the church. Too many people 'do their bit' to get their child into the school, then they are never seen in the church again!
Go on to your choosen school website and check their admittance policy.

What happens if you don't get your yearly letter Swan78? Do they throw kids out?

My DCs school went over to needing a priests letter a couple of years ago - DD1(18) got in on a baptism certificate but as the number of Catholics/people wanting a catholic school has gone up they have had to make the admissions policy stricter.

I wouldn't be happy with having to do stuff at church to get my kids into a school - it just seems completely the wrong criteria to judge on. Not very catholic either all that joining in. Its wrong, like clapping in church

I've not actually known of anyone not getting their letter as it's a new policy that has been brought in by the new (and not very popular) priest. He's very 'old school' as they say, he would not like clapping in church haha! He has said children would be asked to leave the school, but I believe that the head teacher would just give out a 'warning'
We have a lot of good schools in my area, and it's only the parents that actually go to church anyway that apply to the school.
There is also a Muslim school and C of E school. We are lucky to live in such a diverse area with so much choice available.

Advice:
start going to church immed. talk to priest and get him baptised asap. put catholic school down as first choice. go to school. visit. get name on list. give them baptism certificate.
DO IT NOW. IMMED.
agree, better chance of getting into catholic secondary if been in catholic primary.
and by 8 he will have been confirmed.
but why does your dh not want this ?
i am not catholic, originate from pentecostal. but all dh's family is. and i love taking him to church, although don't go every week, thats for sure !!

sorry didn't realise that this was an old thread. that i had posted on originally !!!!

Swan78,
The priest obviously has absolutely no comprehension of the school admission regulations.
Yes the admission criteria at reception year can involve a requirement for the priest to confirm that parents / pupil attend the church but as soon as a place is offered it cannot be removed. This idea that they will get chucked out of they do not attend church is a complete figment of the priest's imagination. As for needing a letter every year, again its just a threat to get people to go to church.

The bottom line is, it is part of the Catholic religion that you baptise any children into the Catholic faith as soon as possible but before 3 months. Some people leave it later but lots of schools specify by the age of 12 months, some 3 months. The child will be expected to have taken the sacraments by the correct age - and provide proof by the way of certificates/copies of register - I will not state what they all are as anyone who is Catholic will know. They will also need to attend mass weekly for a certain number of years and be known to the priest. Some schools will ask for more participation in the catholic community, some will ask the child to take a religion exam. The point being these will nto be difficult for a child who has been raised in a Catholic family but it may be harder for someone who wants their child to become Catholic to get a school place, to tick all the boxes for. I disagree with people joining the faith simply to join a school. That is just wrong and is not a comfortable situation for the child. Once in school the teachers (at ours anyway) regularly ask children about their mass attendance and observance and it is not good to put children into a position where they feel uncomfortable as they may not be able to give the correct answer and will then be frowned upon. Every year schools are putting in more checks as these schools are so oversubscribed so don't be surprised if all catholic schools ask for baptism under 3 months in a few years time.

The schools admissions code is a statute in law. I would check the schools admissions code for the school that you wish to apply against the govenment's and dioses' admissions code once the policy is issued by the school (usually the end of May). Many faith schools are applying the admissions code incorrectly but you can not use this as the basis of an appeal against the school if your child does not secure a place. You must check the admissions policy as soon as the school issues it and then appeal to the dioses if it is not valid.

The catholic school near us takes kids from the feeder schools first and that is nearly 3/4 of all places so probably best to go to a catholic primary school first if you want to go that route. They will probably need to be baptised but you do not need to be although a priest may not baptise the child if you are not also considering converting. This is a big step though so you need to be sure!