Grammars vs catholic schools

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Alice73
Posts: 163
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:15 pm

Grammars vs catholic schools

Post by Alice73 »

Hello, everybody,
I would like to know what others think about catholic secondary schools. Our next choice after grammars are very good catholic schools. My DD stands a good chance of getting a place there as we satisfy their admission criteria. Still, grammars were our priority choice. What do others think about grammars vs catholic schools, please?
Alice
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

Difficult to say, it will depend on the individual schools and whether it is important to you to have a faith based education.
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Grammars vs catholic schools

Post by capers123 »

Alice73 wrote:Hello, everybody,
I would like to know what others think about catholic secondary schools. Our next choice after grammars are very good catholic schools. My DD stands a good chance of getting a place there as we satisfy their admission criteria. Still, grammars were our priority choice. What do others think about grammars vs catholic schools, please?
I'm sure there are poor quality catholic schools as well as good ones. They are in a totally ball park to grammars.

Personally I would be as reluctant to send my children to one as a catholic would be if I conducted a humanist funeral service for them!

Faith schools do get extra money from their faith, and this can be used to improve the teaching. However, because of the attraction of a faith school to immigrants, there can also be a much higher ratio of non-native english speakers - I understand this is a problem in some schools in Gloucestershire where there are a large number of highly devout catholic incomers. I'm sure that state schools in the south of France have the same problem with the large number of English families moving there who don't speak french!

As an aside, I prefer the French school system where no religion is taught in schools, but the children do get time each week to attend RE classes at the church / establishment of their choice. We had some children at my school opt out of RE with the reason that "They get plenty at home & at church and the time at school would be better spent studying" - that said, the RE teacher was a truly bigoted former C of E priest and was a very nasty piece of work; we felt that 75% of the class opting out of his lessons was a better way to treat him than having blackboard rubbers thrown at us when he refused to ask 'difficult' questions.
Capers
ealingmum
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:27 pm

Post by ealingmum »

The question you are asking suggests that you are not sufficiently committed to a Catholic education for you child. Take the Grammar place and let another family who might have such a committment to get the place at the Catholic school.
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by capers123 »

ealingmum wrote:Take the Grammar place and let another family who might have such a committment to get the place at the Catholic school.
Or if you feel genuinely that you want a Christian, Catholic education (and surely faith - love of God - is the most important thing to a Christian) take the Catholic school place and leave a Grammar place open for someone else!

One local primary to us is C of E aided. Many parents suddenly go to church just to get in (then stop going once the places are allocated). I just couldn't do that. It's not so much my lack of beliefs, more that I would be upset if a child from a truly Christian family had failed to get a place because we were hypercritical and scammed a place. Lovely head teacher - totally understood my feelings, unlike a local vicar who told me she preferred to have the extra bums on seats!
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tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Post by tense »

As faith schools can no longer insist that you either rank them first - or only put faith schools above them - (at least round here, not sure about everywhere?) - you can put the grammar schools first & then the catholic school. It's a win win situation for catholics in my area (Herts). There is an excellent girls catholic school which is totally non-selective but gets fantastic results, right up there with the selective schools. It recently had an outstanding ofsted report & has a great atmosphere.

To have the choice of both grammars & a good faith school is a lucky position indeed.

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