What is a Certificate of Catholic Practice?

A Certificate of Catholic Practice’ is a form to be signed by the Parish Priest to state that a child wishing to apply for entry into a Catholic Primary School for Nursery, Reception or for entry into a Catholic Secondary School.

What does the certificate state?

The form states that the child and their family are a practising Catholic family. The definition of ‘practising Catholic’ is that the family attend Mass each week and that they attend Mass on Holy Days of Obligation. With the competition for places in St. Teresa’s very competitive, I have had to introduce a new system to ensure that no child from a practicing family are excluded. Though Fr Dominic generally meets and greets people at most of the Masses at the weekend he cannot guarantee that he can be 100 per cent correct.

How can I ensure my child gets a certificate?

From September 2019 anyone wishing to apply for a place in either a Catholic Primary or Secondary must have a card with a photo and have it stamped every week after Mass. We will provide the cards and we will have people at the back of church to stamp the cards.

Fair and just

We really do not like doing this but when people, who do not attend regularly, secure a place ahead of families who attend every Sunday, this is wrong and unjust. We will know many people by sight but we now need to know if they are regularly practising and sadly this is the way that we believe we have to move to prevent injustice and cheating.

(Photo: mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)