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St John’s Church of England Primary in Highbury Vale |
Children flock to church schools as other primaries struggle to fill their classrooms. Are we creating a two-tier system?
Head: ‘Parents play the system. They send kids to Sunday school or fake a baptism’
CLERGYMEN have rejected claims that middle-class parents are playing the “religion card” to win their children coveted places.
Figures obtained by the Tribune reveal that ambitious parents are clamouring to get their children into Islington’s church schools – many of which receive four times more applications than other primary schools.
But clergymen with links to St Peter’s and St Paul’s RC School, in Clerkenwell, and St John’s Church of England Primary, in Highbury Vale, have defended their selective admissions policies – saying they are not an invitation for wily parents to hijack the system at the expense of other children.
But the message is less reassuring from headteachers – with one despondent head speaking of parents joining parish councils, enrolling their children at Sunday school and even having them baptised to guarantee a place at their chosen church school.
St Peter’s and St Paul’s, St John’s Highbury Vale and St Luke’s Church of England Primary, in Finsbury, each received more than 80 applications for just 30 places at the beginning of the school year, while schools at the bottom of the league table are having to cope with dwindling admissions, with many failing to reach capacity.
Critics of church schools say they are divisive. They claim middle-class parents who know how to “play the system”, are leaving deprived children without a choice. These children are forced to enrol at community schools, creating a two-tier system, it is claimed.
The headteacher of one of the borough’s community schools in the lower half of the league tables, who asked not to be named, said: “It is true that faith schools attract a disproportionate amount of middle-class parents. It is a catch-22 problem. They do well because of this and skew the system in faith schools’ favour. People see them as offering something additional.
“I am a parent and know of other parents playing the system. They send their kids to Sunday school or fake a baptism just to get a place. I don’t think it is a widespread phenomenon but everyone knows someone who has tried it.”
But he felt it was an overstatement to say there was resentment from community schools towards faith schools. “Certainly, in Islington at least, there is no rift,” he added. “The relationship between all headteachers is very good. I personally think choice is a good thing and faith schools are an important part of that choice.”
Six of the top 10 primary schools in Islington’s league table are church schools, where governors are allowed greater freedom over selection than community schools, whose admissions are controlled by the local authority and are largely based on proximity to the school.
Admissions criteria vary at church schools, with some giving priority to children with good church attendance records and others preferring those who have been baptised.
Father George Ranahan, at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, which is attached to Islington’s league table-topping primary, said: “We are a Roman Catholic school and Roman Catholics get priority – simple as that.
“We have very strict criteria in place to make sure every boy and girl who says they are Catholic is in fact Catholic. It is very hard to cheat the system unless children go through with a late baptism in which case we will smell a rat.
“It would take some serious cunning to get past us. We are oversubscribed with real Catholics as it is.”
The Rev Jonathan Brewster, from Christ Church Highbury, one of three parish churches tied to St John’s School, said: “As vicars we have a say on who gets in and there’s no hiding from that.
“It just means we have to be very responsible. I can honestly say that the school is reflective of the parish, which is reflective of the area. I realise it is very important to break down barriers.
“I am acutely aware of those people that might join the church for cynical reasons and I keep my beady eye on them. It is reassuring that hardly any parents drop out after their children get a place. That would be a giveaway sign.”
Islington has a higher proportion of church schools than many boroughs – with 16 of its 45 primary schools being faith based.
The Town Hall denies the existence of a divide between church and community schools. Councillor Ursula Woolley, Lib Dem executive member for education, said: “Speaking as a parent, I honestly believe the idea that these faith schools are creaming off the best children and brimming with overprivileged kids is not true.
“On a national level, I get the impression that you get ambitious parents taking their children to Sunday schools and sucking up to priests but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t happen in Islington. We usually have a number of faith schools that do very well but there are community schools up there as well. It is true that faith schools traditionally have more latitude over admissions but I believe the reins have been pulled in and their hands are increasingly tied.”
She added: “I don’t really think there’s that much difference between faith schools and community schools. The high-achieving schools are the ones that get the whole community behind them. That’s true of faith schools and community schools.
“There are no plans to build any more faith schools or to change existing schools. The current system is far from ideal but our schools are getting better. All we can really do is work on building up communication and support between schools to close any equality gap their might be.”
Novelist Martine Oborne, a mother-of-five, said faith schools gave parents choice and were often the target of unfair criticism. She added: “I’m certainly no expert on this matter and, like most people, I have mixed feelings. There’s no doubt that faith-based primary schools in Islington are very successful and I can see why parents would want their children to go there.
“In a way faith schools are a self-fulfilling prophecy – everyone says they’re better, parents clamour to get their children in and the school has the pick of them so they get better results. There’s nothing intrinsically magic about faith schools.
“If there is going to be choice for parents then inevitably some schools are going to be more popular than others. That’s just the way it works and there will always be a vociferous minority pointing out the problem.”
She added: “I am a Christian. I don’t see anything wrong in children getting priority if they attend Sunday school. I think it is of value to children.
“We have to strive to improve standards in all schools but I don’t think doing away with faith schools is the right answer. If we were coming up with a schooling system from scratch I agree we probably wouldn’t come up with the one we’ve got but I don’t think we should start dismantling the ones we’ve got on ideological grounds.” |
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