Would You Send Your Child To A Faith School......

[oscarose]

Yes, as long as there is no other 'funny business' going off and the lessons don't all revolve around God. Hopefully, Buddha gets a mention too.

[Dallas]

Brother and I went from Private Catholic Primary to a CofE Secondary.

Going into secondary school we were about 3 years ahead, starting languages having those posh calculators at 7.

[unixman]

Admission criteria isn't based on interest. Its based on sibling links, religion and distance...

Yes. I rolled up sibling links, religion and distance and other factors into "interest".

[original PM]

I went to a catholic school.

They held about 2 masses a year in school -but your parents could opt you out if they wished

The was limited religious influence on lessons with the exception of RE - which was incredible biased towards RC surprisingly enough - e.g. we spent 30 minutes on why abortion is acceptable and 3 weeks on why it is not.

But if it is the best school in the area then go for it - mostly they just get taught decent Christian values.

[d000hg]

The question is, would the school accept your child if you have no interest in the relevant faith. The answer is no, they would not.

Admission criteria isn't based on interest. Its based on sibling links, religion and distance...

If they have competition for places then they may ask you more than just "are you a Catholic", you get parents start going to church so they can get their kids into their preferred school, I think?

[vwdan]

Yes, without a shadow of a doubt. I'm downright atheist, but I used to work for an educational services company and spent 5 years dealing with schools. There's no doubt in my mind that, in general, the faith schools were friendlier, calmer and generally seemed to have a better class of education.

Plus, I went to a proper Catholic school and it never really bothered me. The occasional mass and having to do the sign of the cross etc and that was that. As it happened, I absolutely hated my school - but I don't think I'd have got on with any school.

[BrilloPad]

Yes, as long as there is no other 'funny business' going off and the lessons don't all revolve around God. Hopefully, Buddha gets a mention too.

At my kids Catholic school, the only difference is that RE is mandatory to GCSE.

They are strict. Most of the best performing schools are.

Who is this Buddha guy? Is he another of these so called "Scientists" that guess at what is happening and present it as fact?

[mudskipper]

Youngest went to a C of E primary.

They had a couple of services a year at the local church, and Christmas etc had the religious story. I don't think he was ever told "This is what is true", more that "This is what our belief is". RC may vary.

He seems to get more religion at his secondary which is not a faith school, but has Christian clubs (including optional confirmation classes), a chapel onsite which they attend weekly, as well as a very high proportion of Asian kids (who I'm guessing mostly aren't Christian). He tells me that no-one opts out of the services, so I guess it's not seen as a problem. So a non-faith school doesn't necessarily mean no religion.

[meridian]

In our experience of looking at schools, there is a big difference between "satisfactory" and "outstanding", so even as an atheist we would lean towards the faith school, but not before additional research. What proportion of their day is spent on RE? For RC, what proportion of Y1/2 is spent memorising for communion? What's the curriculum like for science?

[eek]

At my kids Catholic school, the only difference is that RE is mandatory to GCSE.

They are strict. Most of the best performing schools are.

+1. Same with us. That means that while its suitable for many children it may not be suitable for all. Our neighbours are sending their children to the other good local school. Which is a shame for the boy as he really would be better looked after at the smaller more personal but not quite as good* nearest secondary.

* It used to be awful but is actually quite good. Downside is the really bright children don't go there as their parents play the games required to get them into the schools that have been known to be good for decades..