Catholic schools

[Matildasmum13]

Is there anything that I need to be aware of when applying for a job in a Catholic school? TIA

You'll be asked how you intend to support the Catholic ethos in your interview.
You will have to carry out Collective Worship and accompany your class to church sometimes.

Sometimes they will have very niche requirements that you meet (or surpass) and yet, when you call to ask why you haven’t been shortlisted they will inform you that they managed to find and interview candidates that met all those rare niche requirements AND were practising catholics.

Sometimes this will happen to you multiple times across multiple schools and eventually you will become bitter about faith schools, and those teachers in them that have overstated their actual religious participation purely to get an interview, and decide that actually, you don’t want to be part of legally sanctioned discrimination after all.

Be ready for the question about how you will support the school’s Catholic ethos. In my school they would just be looking for you to show that you understand and will engage with the religious aspects of school life. I’m not a Catholic but understood when I took the job that religion is a central part of day to day life in a Catholic school.
You will need to be willing to facilitate prayer, accompany students to mass. liturgies and religious assemblies

You may be asked how a Catholic school differs from other schools. Your answer should include living out gospel values, link with church and priest, prayer, collective worship, attending Mass etc

Thank you to the two posters that followed me that sensibly ignored my bitter post. It was a shitty day. Onwards and upwards and all that!

Aye but you’re not far wrong @fourcorneredvehicle
Chin up

We all have bad days fourcornered. You’re perfectly entitled to object to the fact that Catholic schools discriminate on the basis of religion. In my experience it doesn’t affect recruitment decisions very much for most jobs but for some roles our HT would be very unlikely to consider a non-Catholic. All of our RE staff are Catholic and DHTs have to be Catholic, for example. I love the school I work in and accept this but it is, as you say, legally sanctioned discrimination and it’s ok for some people not to agree with that.

If it’s a deputy Headteacher role you normally must be a practising Catholic

I teach in a Catholic school and I love it! I'm not religious at all and have my objections but we have a wonderful chaplain and an incredibly caring ethos. At interview all I was asked was was I comfortable with leading prayer and supporting the Catholic ethos. I actually enjoy the form time prayer as a moment of reflection and silence. It definitely affects the overall atmosphere of the school.

Nothing extra as such to add to other posts but I would check just how Catholic they are.

I've known some friends work in schools where it was laid on quite thick and primaries where they cared more about their Catholic inspection than ofsted and actual curriculum teaching. Others it's a more calm, general pastoral ethos difference with the faith element being 'bible says be nice'.

Personally, i would put feelers out before going for a faith school job

I used to teach in a Catholic school many years ago. I’m an atheist and couldn’t understand the shoddy treatment of girls within the school, the judgemental nonesense and the frankly shocking attitude of some of the boys towards women. I was either a Madonna or a whore with no in between. The school was an anachronism.