God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
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Nothing to do with the fact that many people in Ireland have a love for Irish and would like to see their children be able to speak their native language?
I’ve heard this from people in the past. They think that if their kids are in with Jimmy Polak, whose Mammy and Daddy are still speaking Polish at home, that their kid won’t progress quick enough, and that’s their primary motive for enrolling them in a Gaelscoil. I’d say Gaelscoils have a higher percentage of SUVs parked on kerbs in the morning than other schools
I don’t think there are enough people in Ireland with that mindset to make up Gaelscoil numbers so there must be something else going on.
I don’t necessarily think it’s a xenophobic issue. I think rightly or wrongly they are seen as better schools somehow.
A Primary school principal friend of mine told me that this was the case. His school was rammed full of immigrants with all the hassle that entailed with regard to the language barriers.
I do and I’d never have jumped to the conclusion that Flatty has. I know quite a few people who are not gaelgeoirs who are making an effort to talk to their child only through Irish and are going to Irish classes in order to do so. I expect there far are more people in the country positively disposed to Irish than against it and I think it’s fairly clear that many parents want their children to grow up being able to speak it properly.
I can’t speak with any real authority on this but that wouldn’t be my experience.
The Irish classes are as a result of the kids being in gaelscoil. Cart before the horse.
I didn’t say the children were in a gaelscoil.
Less religious influence in gaelscoils
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Another good reason.
But the lads would think no it just be the foreigners. Says a lot.
There are next to no resource hours/SNAs in gaelscoils afaik. Hence, some parents believe that their child will not be held back academically as a teacher is not spending time with students with Specific learning difficulties.
We enrolled our oldest in a nearby one, just to keep options open. We were interviewd by principal. It was made clear that it was not a place for a child with learning difficulties.
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Why is that? They can’t get Irish language sna’s and resource teachers presumably?
If I was choosing a school for my kids in Dublin I’d want them to go to a Gael Scoil because the lads turn out less cuntish than the private school boys but still do nearly as well. Speaking irish also a plus as is non-denominational ethos. The “normal school” people don’t seem to perform very well, except in a few places like castleknock. The only tolerable private school boys are the Belvedere lads. Also, families in Dublin frequently you move house just to get their kids closer to the better schools. A bad school in dublin is really bad. Hope that helps.
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Kids at post primary get an irish exemption if they have dyslexia. We were told (by principal) that they would struggle academically in such an environment with a SLD. You might say, it was a polite way of saying ‘we only want those kids who can achieve academically as it’s less hassle’. Again, this was just my experience of one school.
Thats enough for me.
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Any thoughts on the Educate Together (“ET”) model generally?
It’s a couple of years before we’ll need to really consider it, as it seems you only apply for primary schools in our area during a 2-3 month window in the year before the child is due to start school. Not sure if this is standard around Dublin/rest of country.
Anyway my life partner very much wants our chap to go the ET route. An ET school for the Clontarf-Raheny-Killester catchment area was signed off a couple of years ago and they opened to junior infants only last year. As the government couldn’t secure them a suitable site in the catchment area, the school was temporarily established in a prefab or something in Sutton RFC with only 5 pupils to start. They’re still there now into the second school year, which is a bit farcical. There might be a nice fancy new site near us by the time we need it.
I think I’d prefer to send him to one of the Ben Affleck affiliated primary schools nearby. A good, old school, school with the Bishop on the Board Of Management etc etc with a strong emphasis on the blessed sacraments.
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There’s a reason the best performing secondary schools in Leaving Cert are the two Irish schools in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 would not traditionally have been a Gaeltacht area.
The Gaelscoils stream kids from get go. They are very hard to get into in SoCoDu
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I will reply later when I have more time.
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