Secondary School Admissions for September
 

Well today is the day the letters SHOULD of arrived, havent got mine yet though :( i know Romps and Slinky have had them today, i'm HOPING Reece gets into Our Lady & St Johns Catholic Arts College in Blackburn, we arent catholic but hey he may stand a chance...fingers crossed

anyone else got a letter today? did your child get the place they wanted?

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

Yes Zack did get his, he is off to Moorhead in september.

You could be lucky. Ginger went to mount Carmel and he wasn't Catholic. he did have to sit an exam to get in though...... but you could be lucky.

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

bloody hope so, i'm a nervous wreck at the moment just thinking about where he could end up

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my fella went to that school:rolleyes:, are ya sure ya want to send him there?....LOL;)
only joking:p

when i filled out the form i only put one school for my daughter!

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

was it called our ladys when he went there?

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think so...why did you go there?

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No, ask him if he knows any of the Hannans

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how old are they?
me fellas 34

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there's loads of them, he'll know some of them

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Hey, he should have chance of getting in.. the laws changed and single faith schools have to admit a certain amount of ppl from the other faith... If they say no then appeal, sometimes extra spaces come up, ppl moving etc...

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i know hun, they let 5 non faith kids in, not a lot hey

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Its something to do with the class sizes, Ty's first school only had 12 in a year so they would of taken less non-catholics. Its still worth appealing if they say no..

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If his chavette mother attends church on a regular basis and has a letter signed by her parish priest to confirm this he should have no trouble. Otherwise I hope he does not get in.

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ya cheeky sod.....why not?

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i wanted him baptised when he was a baby but seen as i'm not catholic i couldnt get him baptised, my mum was catholic before she died though as was her mother

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

Different authorites have different dates, Blackburn is March 3rd according to their site.

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cheers Dave, its not a council(sp?) run school either, so it may still be sometime before i hear

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None of your business!

Catholic schools are the best.. they have extra funding, smaller class sizes and better help with the children... I am catholic, my son is catholic and my family is catholic. Iam all for non-catholics going to catholic schools as it gives the children a chance to mix with other faiths and learn about them....

Closing words after my ramble..... None of your business!

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

That's not always true. Mount carmel is a catholic school, right across the road from me but I WOULD NOT send mine there.

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You should still be able to, try a different church, its at the discretion of the priest.. you could get baptised at the same time if you wanted?

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they won't do it, i've tried St Albans and St Theresa's, they arent interested whatsoever

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I heard that sacred heart is rubbish... the head teacher of the last school i worked at was 'borrowed' to help them out...

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Thats something that makes me laugh. Is religion really taken seriously any more?? or is it just something you do to get your kids into a school??

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Hmmm.... thats annoying! complaining about congregation sizes and then not baptising children!!!

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Mel i tried when Reece was born, i dont mind going to church, used to go to Sacred Heart with my Gran when i was ickle

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Differs from person to person........

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Father Jude at St Albans is a lovely man (although he's a dingle ;)) he was really nice to me but the Father at St Anthonys (he was filling in for Father Francis) at St Theresa's was really nasty with me, they say that the faith has to come from the parents

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

That depends on how you measure a school. It's certainly not the case when attaining exam results.

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

Which is all good and well. But what happens when you don't go until a year before you want your kid in a CERTAIN school?? or when they are one religion but you decide to change religions because of school??

It's all very silly to me.

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oops double post

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yeah i know what you mean, all Kellys kids are catholic but our Tom is catholic so they have a head start so to speak

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You still wanna get him done?

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yeah ive wanted to get him 'done' since the day he was born, even if he doesnt get into our ladys i'd still love him to be done, if only to give his children the chance of being catholic if he ever has any

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yeah thats about right, ive always wanted Reece to be catholic though

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you need to be getting yourself a catholic god parent( not that i am volenteering lol) to go to the meeting with you or get your self baptised??

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if only it worked like that Em, i had three catholic god parents lined up but the church was having none of it

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Oh believe me, I know a few people that have done it. I'm not religious at all.... wouldn't even get my kids christened because, I think people should be able to choose what religion THEY want to be. Who am I to make assumptions that my babies would want to be C/E, catholic etc..?? they can decide all that when they're ready.

But I think it is very wrong for people to use a religion just for their own gain into a school.

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Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

true, i bet thats been going on for donkeys years though, i went to primary school with a girl who got christened when she was 11 so she could go to st christophers, she ended up going to moorhead even though she'd been christened

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Why not Slinks? We had it down as 3rd choice.

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From experience Neil. Exactly..... 3rd choice lol..... why not 1st if its so clever?? :p

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what did you have as second choice after chrisy's Neil?

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What a load of twaddle on what basis do Catholic schools get extra funding, have smaller classes and get better help for pupils!!

I've spent most of my working life for the Education Department and the funding for schools is primarilly based on numbers on roll (bums on seats)with other adjustments for small schools, split site schools, number of free school meals etc but there is no additional monies for any aided school over community schools

Class sizes are determind by the funding available and by the headteacher in consultation with the Governing Body it is nothing to do with them being an aided school similarly they do not get better help with children.

It's debatable if aided schools are more caring than community schools I know lots of very caring talented staff who work in community schools who are no lesser people than their aided school counterparts.

In aided schools the Governing Body seek to maintain the ethos and Christian chacter of the school therefore in making appointments some schools would appoint a "good christian" leader over a more experienced and capable applicant because the faith commitment is the first priority

I look forward to learning were this additional funding comes from for aided schools

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I suggest that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and you should read the Secondary School Admissions information sent to all parents and read the bit about evidence of faith commitment

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yep, i'll second that. My younger brother goes to St.Christopher's. he got in there because he goes to church with his gran every Sunday. My mum DID have to prove that he attended church regularly.

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It is not down to the child attending church but the parents. He probably got away with it because his gran took him.

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Probably. I know he attends regular and he went to Sunday school.

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That quote was in regards to getting reece baptised and nothing to do with getting him into a catholic school..........


I was refering to the extra money that comes from the church and the extra help comes from catholic agencies, such as catholic rescue

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yep your right there Em

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St Wilfreds.

From what we saw there was a vast difference in the Church schools.

Beside those 3 Church schools we visited Moorhead and Rhyddings.

What can I say about Rhyddings. Just look at the presentation of many ofthe children for a start. I assume they have uniform rules, it is a shame they don't enforce them. Teaching kids to follow rules is one of the most important things they can learn. I think the school lets the kids down on this point.

Beside that you could tell a difference between the kids at Rhyddings and say St Chris's or Mount Carmel. At the former the kids pushed past you to get through the door, at the latter two the kids opened the door and waited for you to go through first. In other words they acted like I do and how I want my children to act.

We were impressed by St Wilfreds, if it had been closer it would have been 1st choice I think. We really could not decide between the two and almost put it as first a few times.

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

Most of the kids from Reece's school are going to Rhyddings, i didnt put that down at all, my worst fears are that they will offer him a place at Blakewater,the worst school EVER.... that would be my own fault though because i only put Our Ladys down for all three choices, if he doesnt get in i will be appealing

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Being Catholic was the only thing that put me off Mount Carmel. He would have got in if we had put it as first place even though he goes to a C of E church ;).

I am not religious but the Catholic religion makes even less sense than C of E to me. What is all this praying to Mary nonsense. Do you Catholic's not do the story of Moses at school, you know the false effigies thing.

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I understand what you're saying but, there are Ignorant kids in every school.

Zack's choices ( I said Zack's choice, because it was his choice ) was 1st Moorhead, 2nd Hollins, 3rd Rhyddings.

We were always given the chance to choose which secondary school we wanted to go to and I respected my parents for that. So thats what I did with Zack. Luckily he picked the one I wanted him to go to anyway, and luckily he got in. That school has come on leaps and bounds since I was there anyway.

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My advice when looking at schools is don't just look at the teachers and the facilities. They are important of course. Look at the pupils at the school. Also look at the other parents at the open evening. That will give you an idea of the type of children your kids will be mixing with.

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That makes 2 of us.

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I bloody hope that wasn't aimed at me!!!!! :eek: :rolleyes: ;)

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I think Moorhead is a good school, it has excellent facilitates and staff. Yes it used to be a little on the iffy side but the staff have turning it around it quite a short time. I think it is improving all the time as well.

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Only sort of, I would put you down as a good parent (ginger is just a tart :rolleyes:).

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LMAO ...... at least I'm not on my own in saying it :D:D:D

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Aided schools also have additional areas of expenditure in respect of capital expenditure ie for CE schools contibutions to Blackburn Diocese to the Barchester Fund, many aided schools also purchase services from their Diocese ie Property, Insurance, RE support which doesn't apply to community schools.

Many schools source additional income ie New iopportunities Fund, Lottery etc and of course funds raised by their PTA. The implication from your original posting was that aided schools were funded significantly more than other schools this is not the case regarding funding from LCC and I doubt that the "additional income" you mention would have any impact on staffing levels within a school

Re: Secondary School Admissions for September
 

Neil

I agree with you on that point, I'm a Governor of a non aided High School and it's a good guide.

The point I was makig in my original post was that some aided schools percieve that they give a better all rounded caring education than non church schools however there are community schools that offer excellent education and are no less caring with their pupils.

We chose to send our daughters to the local CE primary school that was partially to do with its smaller size than other local schools but we also felt the Christian ethos of the school was in accordance with our views at that time. We had no regrets about our decision and similarly no regrets about our choice of High School

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Oh how the policy has changed, Im 16 in my last year at Moorhead and my choices were, 1st - St.Christopher's 2nd - Hollins 3rd - Mount Carmel and i was refused at all 3 schools and offered, Moorhead and Rhydings.I too went to church with my nan from the age of 1 and i was christened and confirmed and needless to say i was refused a place.We was going to appeal however we went to a welcome evening at Moorhead and i ended up going there.Personal experiance Moorhead is a good school and with the likelyhood of it becoming an academy for the next academic year things will only be improved.

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my mates son got his thrid choice, he had down hollins, st christophers and moorhead, his mum is mad as hell and is appealing

NOT because moorhead is a bad school but because the kids that bullied him at primary school are going there

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Hollins has been oversubscribed for the past few years, we had to live in the heart of Woodnook to get through the selection period :(

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postcode lottery again hey? is your daughter at Hollins now then?

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I put Our Lady's down as my first choice for my daughter. She attends St Albans at the moment.

When I get my letter I'll let you know :)

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ah my niece goes to St Albans, you should get her in automatically

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I am still waiting to hear which school my son will get into, we only put down for 2 schools, the nearest is 3 1/2 miles from us and is only a small high school and they have alot of parents applying from quite far out of the town, but the school is a good one so fingers crossed. i think the letters get sent out today but not quite sure

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we SHOULD get the letters today Jack, i keep peering out the window for the postie...that poor bloke on the scaffolding outside my window must be thinking i'm perving on him ;)

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well i waited for the postman all morning and he sailed past my house without bringing me a letter, so i rang the education department up in Blackburn and Reece has been refused for Our Ladys :( i'm totally gutted and i actually feel sick :(

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Awwww sorry to hear about that:(

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yeah so am i, i'm gonna go kick some arse me thinks :)

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Yeah, I'd certainly appeal
Thankfully I got a couple of yrs before I go through this
Saying that, I gotta wait and c if little en got in his sisters primary school yet:confused:
Hope ya manage to get it sorted:)

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Sorry about that Flashy .. it's a rotten feeling, and so important too.

Don't give up .. have another go. xx

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If i dont chelle i aint sending him to a school in Blackburn, he has been offered one of the worst schools in Lancashire, i'd rather keep him off and teach him myself than send him to that hell hole

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Which 1 is it? Does he only get offered 1?

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like i said before i made the stupid mistake of only putting our ladys down, they have offered him Blakewater (queens park...Shad...as it was)

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ohhh n if i remember rightly, that was ur last choice ever

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it wasnt even a choice cos i didnt write it down, when i get the appeal form i'm gonna go shout at some people at the town hall till they listen to me

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Yeah I would definitely express that you definitely do not want him going to that school

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Ohh thats not good news shaz :mad:

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i'd rather send him on a bus all the way to Moorhead than send him to that dive

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I went to Wilfrid's while living in Accy, so it's do-able

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yeah i know its do-able and i'd of loved him to go to moorhead, i went there, its only one bus ride away, so its a possibility...wheres romps? i want a word with her

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Well when zacks form came back saying he had got a place at Moorhead, there was a yellow form saying that if we were on Benifits, entitled to free school meals or on Highest rate of working tax credits, we would be eligible for travel costs!! So you could look into that, if you wanted him in Moorhead shaz.

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i've just rung and spoke to romps, she's sorting out a form for me
sod our ladys, if i have to pay for travel costs i dont care i'll try and get him in at moorhead

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Good, at least you know roughly what the school is like shaz. it's changed a lot since we were there, but, from what i could see, it was for the better.

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Am dreading what will happen when I'm faced with the same predicament, think i might start saving now for a private one lol

Good luck, i hope you get the appeal

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I think subsidised travel costs only apply if you live more than 2 or 3 miles from the nearest available school. There is an added complication here because it's a totally different education authority.

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like i said Dave, i dont mind forking out for a bus pass, if i lived in Accrington i would of gladly put Moorhead down as my first choice

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OH ******!! of course yes. :rolleyes: Forgot about that.

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Postman has been but no letter. I'm presuming she will fetch it home from school with her? Trying to remember how I got to know when my son went up to secondary but I can't!

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I think they are all being sent through post.....not 100% sure, but, i know my brother found our by letter and so has my lad on Saturday.

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my sister said st Albans sent them home with the kids, failing that just ring up the edusation in Blackburn...585585 and ask to be put through to the education department


she will definately of got into Our Ladys though, like i said st Albans is a feeder school for there

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Flashy wasnt this year different as no matter what choice you put the school you they all had equal ground. Im sure i heard that, anyway im at Moorhead at the moment (last year) decent school and if they get the go-ahead for the academy then even better.

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That is only sort of right. It depends which schools you put down. They all have a selection criteria. In the end it often depends on distance from school. You need to read the info they sent out to you listing all the schools.

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Howarth rang me earlier and told me that she'd put her lad down for Rhyddings and he got denied too, they have offered him Blakewater.....*******

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The rules apparently was there is no selection criteria.

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Sounds like a lot of un-happy people knocking around.