Well actually I am not & that is the problem!
My daughter will start kindergarten next year when she turns 5. The kindergarten is part of the elementary/high school that could educate her up to the age of 18.
Our local school is beautiful, brand new, excellent facilities & we are really impressed by the level of discipline & teaching standards.
Only problem is it's a Catholic School & catholicism is everywhere you look.
I have never had an ounce of religion in me and have no intention of.
How can I send my daughter & further down the line son, through a system diametrically opposed to my beliefs?
Anyone here have/been in a similar dilemna?
The non-religious school is shocking here.
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Speaking a a confirmed atheist, I'd swallow those beliefs for the chance to get the best for my family. After all, if you don't believe, you can't be harming anyone by letting her go there, can you?
What worries me is the 'new school, excellent facilities', buildings that impress architects, and councils, and parents....are not always practical for students and teachers....did the architects consult with the classroom teachers? Is the building childproof (its amazing how quickly kids can damage/break/unscrew/find weaknesses in things that adults would leave alone!
I had doubts about sending our son their for the same reasons. I spoke to the Head about it and was reassured that he wouldn't have to do anything he didn't want to.
They take any children, regardless of religion, and while they do lots of Church things (they went to Eucharist just before Easter) it just seems to bounce off Joe. He asks questions sometimes which we answer and they study other religions which is no bad thing.
If it is a good school and she won't be punished or excluded for not being a beliver then go ahead.
I said the Lords Prayer and sang hymns everyday at Junior Sch and I guess you did do. Did it make any difference?
Go for it mate, both my kids went to a Church of England school and we had no regrets, if you look closely you have already answered your own question as you state the school is " beautiful, brand new, has excellent facilities & you are really impressed by the level of discipline & teaching standards"
You tend to find this in religious schools as they are not afraid to pump in money to improve the standards unlike some state schools where money is tight and monitored by the local council.
As Henry said we all sang the Lords Prayer and sang hymns when we were at school and it never made any difference to the kids I grew up with.
The benefits from a better education will outweigh the risk of religious indoctrination, when your daughter gets home and finds her parents atheist/agnostic she'll accept that state of affairs far more readily thn anything she's taught at school. The problem is when a child gets religious indoctrination at both school and at home.
I still think God's got a lot of the best buildings, tunes and paintings around today, even though I don't believe there's a God, so I'd crack on getting the best out of his (that'll be the Christopher Hitchens lowercase) schools on the same basis.
I have all this to go through soon.
Can't believe that it has come about so quickly.....doesn't seem too long ago that we were at the rear of the East Stand making announcements about forthcoming kiddies!!!.
Anyway, I am the consumate athiest and as such I agree with much of the sentiment on here. However, I think it is dangerous to compare C of E schools with Catholic schools. The way in which the religions are practised, in my experience, are very different.
The Catholic experience has always struck me as much more traditional and if I am honest a bit fire a brimstone.
I have friends who went through the schooling system at St Thomas Moore in Eltham. A Catholic school with a capital "c". You had to be confirmed, attend church regularly and submit to "A Catholic Education" - good album that.
Not sure how things work these days, or how things are in Canada but it it were me, the Catholic side of things would make me seek reassurances from the head that the religious ethos wasn't going to be pushed too much.
How can you seek reassurances from the head of a religious school that they won't push the religious ethos too much? I would have thought that was the point, the Catholic school promotes Catholicism, how much would be 'too much'? There are loads of non church schools out there if you're worried about the chance of brainwashing or indoctrination into a religion. It may be that Church schools are 'better' than non church schools.....I wonder why? If you're not into the religious side of things wouldn't it be an idea to make the secular schools 'better' too?
Personally I think a child stands the greatest chance of educational success if they enjoy the real and sustained interest of their parents, and interest that goes beyond a ritual enquiry 'have you got/done your homework?'
It's a good point Seth - but they do seem to build things differently out here - becuase of the harsh climate I guess. I wish i had a better picture cos this doesn't do it justice....
Send the child to the school which offers the best educational opportunities.
Good luck whatever way you choose to go Oakster.