On the EDF they are talking about Heber/Goodrich, John Donne in Peckham but also about St Francesca Cabrini: seems some parents were offered this school, it wasn't on their list of 6 and they aren't Catholic.

Good grief. My partner is half Jewish and Im an aetheist .Good job we weren't offered FC then for our kids then- they wouldn't have put up with us for long and we'd have wanted exclusions from all religious ceremonies etc. However how is a Catholic school expected to manage non catholic families/children who dont really want to be there and dont have a clue potentially about catholic traditions and rituals. It must make for an odd balance?

Unfortunately I think this is a good indicator of why all state subsidised schools should be secular in order to benefit the masses not small groups who can come from almost anywhere, and my understanding of FC is that their catchment area in practice is very wide hence the constant rows about the bad parking of the parents.

If it helps Jeanette Brumby ex year 6 teacher at Fairlawn is now head at Haseltine primary. She was a fantastic teacher at Fairlawn and as I am now told a fantastic head at Haseltine.

Apart from a weekly religious assembly (which all schools inflicted not that long ago) and a few strategically placed crosses, I doubt there is very much difference these days between the environments in a catholic school and a non faith school - primary or secondary.

Generally if St Francesca Cabrini had the top results locally then parents would not have such an issue and in fact would be actively participating in the rituals to get in.

Not all parents would wish to send their children to a Catholic school, even with outstanding results.

It is a strange situation that if you happen to belong to the correct church in a particular area you get priority over other local children, while no counter-policies exist to allow Atheists (or other religions) to receive priority in non-church schools.
Perhaps we could have a local Free School with an Atheist ethos, where parents have to demonstrate a lack of belief in supernatural beings or religious ritual, to get priority entry.

Breaking down barriers between communities is important for a diverse city like London. That, and inspired by Father Ted, is why my two year old daughter can already say 'ecumenical matter' (proof is now available on Facebook). It is important to indoctrinate them at a young age!

I quite agree michael.
Nothing wrong with parents wanting something different for their children, but the state should not be subsidising it.

I was just pointing out that in practice the children's day is full of the same old lessons as any other school. There is nothing radically different from what I've seen. And the nuns and priests are no longer allowed to thrash the children from within an inch of their lives. Which is nice.

I'm sure I read somewhere that, in order to retain their state funding, faith schools have to take in a (small) percentage of non-denominational pupils, hence the reason for, for example, non-catholics being offered places at a catholic school.

As previous posters have said, if the school has a good reputation, this would not be a problem, as parents would be clamouring for that small proportion of places.

Oh really? What if it were a Muslim school?

I would rather send my children to a poorly performing regular school than one associated with witches, fairies, gods or demons.

Well, people do seem to be able to find out they are religious after all if trying to get into high performing CofE or Catholic schools, why not Muslim, Jewish or other faith schools? As someone else said previously state faith schools are supposed to allocate some places to children of other faiths or none in the interests of intercommunal understanding.

I would rather my child got a decent education than worry about who's invisible friend is beter than anyone elses.

Does "decent education" include encouraging children to talk to an invisible friend for their whole life, instead of just the stage when it's a normal part of childhood development?

Sounds as if SE23 doesn't like the idea of faith-based schools very much.

Hello,
We live in Honor Oak and didn't get any of our 6 local choices of primary school for our son. We live 480m from Stillness and approx 530m from Dalmain. We were offered Adamsrill, which I hear is good, but is very hard to get to for us. We haven't got a car, so we'd need to take two buses, or the train and a long walk. We're on waiting lists and will appeal.

I'm hopeful we'll get a place at Stillness or Dalmain when the waiting lists settle. Anyone else in this area missed out on all 6 choices? I think that if a group of over 15 families join together to appeal, the Council may have to provide another bulge class in a local school.

I don't understand why people seem so against faith schools. My kids go to a non-faith school but they get taught all sorts about 'values'. It's just these 'values' seem to have been decided by the school itself rather than a religious book. I wonder why people are prepared to think these 'values' are good but Christian values etc are bad. Sounds like a form of discrimination of its own to me.

David Bent, do you know where you are on the list? It may be worth hanging on as sometimes a lot of people drop out/move away.

Hi Deano,
When I first rang School Admissions, a lady said we were 4th on the waiting list for Stillness. However, I rang again this week and another lady told me they could not tell me until June.

What's your experience of waiting lists?

I didn't realise you could apply for religious schools if you are not a church goer. I would have put St Francesca Cabrini down as a choice and been glad of a nearby place. I think we're about 460m away.

Do you know if we can be on the waiting list for this school?

I would say that 4th is really high up the list. I know that some people much further down the list than that got places at our school. probably worth asking admissions for a guide on previous years.

David,

We are in a similar position to you and, judging by the distances that you quoted, probably don't live too far away from you either.

You mention about the council having to put in another bulge class if more than 15 people band together. Do you know whether this is a statutory requirement as I couldn't find anything about this in the admissions code?

Feel free to PM if you prefer.

Just to reassure you there's lots of movement. We were 4th on the list for our school and got a place three weeks before the start of the school year! Then, at least three people in my son's year left in Reception. I think you'll get your Stillness place - if not at the start of the new year, then at least within the Reception year.