non-catholic child to a catholic high school

[annie0000]

Does anyone have any experience of sending their non-catholic child to a catholic high school?

Obviously I will go and find out all the practical details from the school/education authority, but just wondered if anyone on here had done that and what their experience was like. I am in Scotland btw so that will make a difference (Scottish people will know what I mean!) although I am not in Glasgow.

Thanks

[ummmm]

The great divide eh... :-)

We had a few 'non' Catholics in our school. Made no difference to us. Religion only seems to matter to the Adults...

[wolf63]

I think that the 'problem' only exists in the east coast of Scotland.

[annie0000]

That's what I thought Ummmm - as a family we have no religion at all and according to their prospectus the school happily caters for non catholics. I know that a lot of other religions prefer their kids to go to Catholic schools because of the discipline and structure, but was just looking for some first hand experience. My younger son's best friend is the Baptist minister's son which is proving quite interesting despite my faux pas about dinosaurs.....!

[annie0000]

I think you'll find that is the west wolf - was born and brought up in Edinburgh and never had any religous issues - now we are neither East or West so not sure what the score is.

[karenmac60]

I'm Scottish and more than aware of the 'issue', but I'm also an athiest and I wouldn't have been happy going to any kind of religious school. As far as I'm aware there is still a fair amount of religious education in Catholic Schools which is completely different from the religious education given in non denominational schools (where they study all religions and their belief systems) and if your child has not had a religious upbringing this could cause some conflict.

[wolf63]

You are right annie - I am sitting in Perth which is on the errrr east side of Scotland. So - Glasgow must be on the west!

Doh!

[annie0000]

Hi Karen - that's whats niggling at me really - I wouldn't go as far as to say that I am an athiest as that sounds like I have made a conscious effort to not believe, i would say I more ambivalent and I guess reasonably tolerant. I don't have a problem with the kids getting religion in school, the same way as I have no problem with them being taught any other subject, however we have no faith.

Having said all that, when looking at the available high schools - I am ignoring here academic performance as that is not so much an issue (my kids are bright and will do well enough anywhere) - the high school with the philosphy and structure that seems most fitted to my son's nature is the catholic one. My husbands family back a few generations were catholic, but just went to the Church of Scotland when they moved to a village and that was the local church.

Hmmm - lot's to think about.

Wolf, don't worry about it, you just need to remember "Never, Eat, Shredded, Wheat" and that'll keep you right ;o)

[karenmac60]

I suppose it also depends on where you expect them to go in life (that's not meant to sound in any way derogatory). What I mean is, if they are going to live and work somewhere very nice and civilised then maybe the school you are looking at is perfect for them, but if you think they may have to mix with all sorts then maybe a little experience of less disciplined individuals would be character building for them. My husband went to a very small, good, well disciplined primary school and he was very popular and outgoing - but when he went to secondary it was a different story. There were a lot of gangs and hard cases there and he was terrified. But, it stood him in good stead for dealing with these kinds of people in real life, something that might not have been the case if he'd gone to a nicer secondary. Maybe it would have been once he got into the real world he'd have been terrified :). Good kids will do well wherever they are, as long as they're not too easily swayed by their peers.

[annie0000]

Hi Karen, you have hit the nail on the head. They already go to a school with a very rough element and I don't have a problem with that for precisely the reasons you give. My eldest has been bullied (not by the rougher kids!) and although some of the worst troublemakers have already moved up to high school they occaisionally come through the estate looking for trouble. The problem is really that because of the reputation of these boys and some of the incididents he has seen, my son is terrified of them, as a consequence, he "skulks" about when ever they are around, he is trying to make himself invisible, but actually all he is doing is drawing attention to himself. My thoughts are that if he goes to a different High school and he doesn't know who the rough kids are, he wont set himself up as a target right from the start and it will allow him to settle down. Obviously I don't know what the future holds, but I would expect that he will go to university and that we will remain living in a nice environment, so his requirement to learn to deal with the toerags should be minimal. in case this sounds like snobbery, i should add that i grew up in a rough council estate and my husband grew up in a mill village, we were the toerags! However we have worked hard and have a very different lifestyle now. There are a lot of good kids in the school from all backgrounds and I have always given them free reign to have whatever friends they choose. However, their friends are very much like them.
They also go to Out of School care in an area that is quite rough and haven't had any problems. I could probably put the whole problem down to a couple of boys, one in particular is well known to the police - it is only a matter of time before this boy is locked up as he has already put more than one boy in hospital and he is only 12!

Anyway, lots to think about. Thanks for your input.