Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

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muvvalac
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: slough

Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by muvvalac »

I have very little knowledge about cathelics and other categories of Christians.

There is a st. bernards catholic grammar school in slough, it takes only catholic students first and if places available then they consider rest of the faith students.

my question is, is it ok if a hindu child joins into catholic school. what are the problems and impact on the child

one of my close christian friend told me that he would not put his child into catholic school

please can you all educate me about this

also , does anyone have more info on if st.bernards catholic slough school is going to become non-selective and if so when

am going to school today for their open eve, if i gather some info and will share with you all

hope i did not upset anyone with my questions, am sure admin of this forum will censor if i have written something that i should not have

PS: I need all your opinions in terms of non-catholic/hindu child joining into a catholic grammar/secondary school. Not just about Slough catholic grammar school
Last edited by muvvalac on Thu Sep 16, 2010 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Etienne
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Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by Etienne »

Seems a very reasonable question to me, muvvalac.

I can't comment on this particular school, but what I can tell you is that at appeals I used to come across many non-catholic Christians, and occasionally Muslims and parents of other faiths, who were quite keen to get a place at a catholic school. If the allocated school was a state school with no religious affiliation, then they would rather their child attended a faith school - even if it wasn't of their own faith.
Etienne
muvvalac
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: slough

Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by muvvalac »

Etienne wrote:Seems a very reasonable question to me, muvvalac.

I can't comment on this particular school, but what I can tell you is that at appeals I used to come across many non-catholic Christians, and occasionally Muslims and parents of other faiths, who were quite keen to get a place at a catholic school. If the allocated school was a state school with no religious affiliation, then they would rather their child attended a faith school - even if it wasn't of their own faith.
yes, you are right, catholic primary and secondary schools are better than non selective state schools in terms of discipline/academics.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by Etienne »

In terms of the case they presented, however, their starting point was religious. It may be that other things, such as discipline and quality of education, flowed from that. (It was difficult sometimes to distinguish between the case being presented, and what people were really thinking! :))

To take a completely different example from outside education, I've heard that some other faiths approve of Church of England bishops sitting in the House of Lords. They may not share the same faith, but they like the idea of religion in general being represented and having a voice.
Etienne
muvvalac
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: slough

Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by muvvalac »

I had been to this slough school yesterday, discussed with many staff on non-catholic joining a catholic school. Feedback I have is positive.

I don't see any issues/problems if i have to send my ds to this school, so this school will be on our CAF

I met one of my ds's frend parent and she decided that she would put this school as first choice in her ds's CAF. Same with another parent as well but they live close by hence they are choosing this school as first choice.

Infact we also live close by , so it is not a bad idea if i put this as 1st or 2nd choice but let me think

There are less non-white pupils in the school, just my observation which is a fact as well.

Last two years everyone who qualified were given seat here irrespective of thier religion , which meant less catholics are qualifying recently than places

Schools results/grades are very good, ofsted report says this school is outstanding.
Looking for help
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Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by Looking for help »

My older three have been through this school, as you say there are many children of varied backgrounds, definitely all faiths and none are welcomed here. It is simply down to passing the test.

It is not however an outstanding school, ofsted report says it is grade 2 -good, with some outstanding features, there's a copy on the website.
muvvalac
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: slough

Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by muvvalac »

Looking for help wrote:My older three have been through this school, as you say there are many children of varied backgrounds, definitely all faiths and none are welcomed here. It is simply down to passing the test.

It is not however an outstanding school, ofsted report says it is grade 2 -good, with some outstanding features, there's a copy on the website.
thanks for correcting my mistake about ofsted report, u r right.

you must be the expert then to talk about this school as your elder three attended, please can you comment about this school by comparing with slough grammar and langley grammar. any ideas/suggestions.
Looking for help
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Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by Looking for help »

I have no information about Slough Grammar or Langley Grammar, so cannot compare - the only thing to say is that while St Bernard's takes down to 111 and the others often don't, their position in league tables is not usually below either, I don't think.

St Bernard's is a Humanities school, and I believe the teaching in these areas is very good, I have however been very disappointed in the Science teaching as they only study the dual award for Science for GCSE (certainly up till now, that may change), and both my older children took some Sciences to A Level and struggled very much with them. The oldest one did well as he was able to drop the Science (Biology) after AS level, and carry on with three other subjects, but this backfired dreadfully for my daughter, who despite 2A*s in the GCSE in Science carried on with Chemistry and Biology to A Level and could not cope with the demands, unfortunately.

My third has now just entered 6th form, and happily is not studying any Science subjects, so I'm relieved about that.

A final point is that the proposed merger with St Joseph's appears to be on a backburner for now, as there doesn't appear to be the money available from the government, however this could come up again in the future.

Good luck with your decision making, it's a horrible time, and I hope it all works out for you.
muvvalac
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: slough

Re: Non catholic joining a catholic grammar school in slough

Post by muvvalac »

Looking for help wrote:I have no information about Slough Grammar or Langley Grammar, so cannot compare - the only thing to say is that while St Bernard's takes down to 111 and the others often don't, their position in league tables is not usually below either, I don't think.

St Bernard's is a Humanities school, and I believe the teaching in these areas is very good, I have however been very disappointed in the Science teaching as they only study the dual award for Science for GCSE (certainly up till now, that may change), and both my older children took some Sciences to A Level and struggled very much with them. The oldest one did well as he was able to drop the Science (Biology) after AS level, and carry on with three other subjects, but this backfired dreadfully for my daughter, who despite 2A*s in the GCSE in Science carried on with Chemistry and Biology to A Level and could not cope with the demands, unfortunately.

My third has now just entered 6th form, and happily is not studying any Science subjects, so I'm relieved about that.

A final point is that the proposed merger with St Joseph's appears to be on a backburner for now, as there doesn't appear to be the money available from the government, however this could come up again in the future.

Good luck with your decision making, it's a horrible time, and I hope it all works out for you.
thanks for the detailed feedback on this school.

another point: headteacher in yesterday's speech mentioned that the plan of merging st.bernanrds with st.joseph school is not happening for now due to cost cutting. good for now atleast
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