Help, Where is good primary school in Cork city?

masadjie

Hi everyone,

My friends will come to cork Next summer from Asian countries and probably should stay here for several years. He has 7 years old kid and he ask me about primary school in Cork for 7 years kid. And it is preferable a primary school which is located near city center.

I am new in Cork since 6 months ago. So I don't know yet which school is available here? which one is better than another, etc.

Could anyone suggest me where good primary school in Cork City is? Or may be all scools is the same in term of quality?

Kind Regards
masadjie
Bishopstown
Cork

LilMrsDahamsta

Maybe you would get more responses on rollercoaster.ie, the parenting site?

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

masadjie

Thanks 'LilMsMelodrama' and 'The Scientist' for responsed my posting. I'll take a look at rollercoaster.ie. And it's nice to hear that irish education more or less have the same standard.

Any way, is there any website that contains list of available primary school in Cork or whole Ireland?

Kind regards.

LilMrsDahamsta

education.ie

corkfun

The Scientist wrote: »

They're all of the same standard in Cork/Ireland i would imagine.

IMO. this is wrong, they certainly are not all the same. In fact far from it.
The standard between schools in Cork is astonishing.

look long and hard, get advice from rollercoaster.ie
but do not assume they are all about the same.

Interzone

Hi masa,

Two schools I would recommend are Cork School Project on Gratton Street and St Lukes in Douglas. CSP is a very cosmopolitan school and is right by the city centre as you requested. On first sights its not a great school (bad school building and no grass in the yard) but the teachers are fantastic. The best thing about the place though is the people - a mix you'd be pressed to find anywhere else in Cork. You also won't have Catholitisim shoved down your troat

I know alot of people who came through St Lukes and they are all well rounded, decent lads and girls.

Anyway this is all just my expierience and opinion, someone else may tell you something completely different.

minidazzler

Holy Cross National School in Mahon is fantastic. The teachers are great, the facilities are great and there are lots of nationalities there already so he wont stand out uncomfortably.

D-Generate

I would like to suggest Christian Brothers College prep school. It is fee paying but one thing i noticed from my time in the secondary school is that the primary school had loads of kids from other countries. It says its Catholic ethos but I found its not really pushed on you. The classes are quite small and a lot of non-standard things are studied such as French, Science etc. Oh its also very central in town with a lot of green space, sports feature heavily on the curriculum and the facilities are top notch.
I'm not an ex-pupil of the primary school but I am an ex-pupil of the secondary school which i can't speak more highly of. If the primary school is anything like the secondary school then its more than perfect.

http://www.cbccork.ie/pages/preparatory_school.aspx

GretchenWieners

St. Anthony's in Ballinlough is probably one of the most popular and best in Cork. Actually the Gaelscoil in Douglas is coming on leaps and bounds, they have many pupils of different cultures too who are taking up Irish which i great to see. St. Columba's is another great school. I don't think CBC Primary is worth the money you pay if you saw it the last few years.

Froot

Interzone wrote: »

Hi masa,

Two schools I would recommend are Cork School Project on Gratton Street and St Lukes in Douglas. CSP is a very cosmopolitan school and is right by the city centre as you requested. On first sights its not a great school (bad school building and no grass in the yard) but the teachers are fantastic. The best thing about the place though is the people - a mix you'd be pressed to find anywhere else in Cork. You also won't have Catholitisim shoved down your troat

I know alot of people who came through St Lukes and they are all well rounded, decent lads and girls.

Anyway this is all just my expierience and opinion, someone else may tell you something completely different.

I went to Cork School Project and I really liked it. Principals name was Ger/Jer when I was there, really nice guy. Though that was from 1989 to whenever. Jesus I'm old.

delos

Cork School Project is a great school - both my kids went / go there. Its multi-denominational / multicultural ethos is part of the educate together programme which is why I was attracted to it in the first place.

One thing your friend needs to be aware of is waiting lists - you have no guarantee of a place at the school(s) of your choice so they might want to start getting more opinions and applying before they arrive.

titan18

I suggest Scoil Chriost Ri.Its a good school and there are many different nationalities in the school atm.8 different in my brothers class anyway

masadjie

Thank you for all of you who have reply my post. They have been very useful for me.

delos wrote: »

....<deleted>

One thing your friend needs to be aware of is waiting lists - you have no guarantee of a place at the school(s) of your choice so they might want to start getting more opinions and applying before they arrive.

Does the waiting lists happen in other primary school also? Or just this school.

I have other questions:

1. Should one pay school fee in Irish primary school? Sorry if this is stupid question. In my experience in most developing countries we should pay for our pupils who take primary school.
2. How about religion subject. I mean If pupils won't like to attend the catholics. Can they not attend to this subject?
3. How if pupil came from a country whose is not English language as mother language. Is there any requirement about English entry level?

Regards.
masadjie

titan18

Does the waiting lists happen in other primary school also? Or just this school.

I dont think most schools have waiting lists.Scoil Chriost Ri doesnt have one anyway.Used to have,but not anymore


Should one pay school fee in Irish primary school? Sorry if this is stupid question. In my experience in most developing countries we should pay for our pupils who take primary school.

A student probably pays a registration fee in most schools,and some also have a fee once a year to pay for the school upkeep.

How about religion subject. I mean If pupils won't like to attend the catholics. Can they not attend to this subject?

Its all one class so I dont know.See next answer

How if pupil came from a country whose is not English language as mother language. Is there any requirement about English entry level?

No,I doubt it.Scoil Chriost Ri arrange for resource work to be done and have a teacher to teach English for foreigners without the language.You could request this to be done in the religion class also.

DeirdreD

Another school is St Maries of the Isle on Bishop Street, lots of nationalities, small numbers and they teach other subjects such as german.

Hope this helps

MJOR

our lady of lourdes(girls) in ballinlough and st anthonys (boys)in ballinlough... both excellent and near to city

D-Generate

I went to St Anthony's myself for primary school and I don't think I would send my kid there. The school has a certain anti-fun policy going on and from my experience sought to turn kids in to fat lumps of lard.

When i first started there, there was a nice big green field next to the school that allowed boys to be boys. During lunch break you would be allowed run and horse play and have a gay old time. Furthermore the pitch allowed teachers bring their classes out for a kickabout whenever they wanted as it was so close. Unfortunately it was decided to turn this green field in to the new school gymnasium and that was beginning of the end for fun in St Anthony's. From then on out to play soccer on grass you had to walk down to the swimming pool or else you were allotted a single hour a week inside the gym. One freaking hour!!!
On top of that, running in the yards was banned, stickers were banned, yo-yo's were banned, conkers were banned. Everything that kids ought to do and have fun with was banned and replaced with an hours gym use per week per class. If the government want to know why child obesity is on the increase then they need look no further.
Its a real shame too because when i'm having a kickabout with the lads they always have better foot skills..... probably because they got to play footie at lunch....

On a side note it didn't seem to have a huge scum factor and as with any school, some teachers are good, some not so good. I was thankful to get a pretty great string of teachers all the way up.

corcaighcailin9

D-Generate wrote: »

On a side note it didn't seem to have a huge scum factor

They are hugely selective about who they take

Geog

Hi Masadjie. I was reading your thread and I wondered if your friend came to Cork from Asia. If so, how did things work out for them. Did they find a school?

masadjie

Geog wrote: »

Hi Masadjie. I was reading your thread and I wondered if your friend came to Cork from Asia. If so, how did things work out for them. Did they find a school?

Hi Geog, after considering the advice he received finally he send his kid to a school in Grattan Street. Are you looking for a school for your kid as well?

Sleephead

Appreciate the thread. A good read.

Has anyone any insight into Greenmount National School and Chriost ri National School? Moving to the Cork area and those 2 are near where I will be working and hopefully living.

Any thoughts would be great.

Missyelliot2

Sleephead wrote: »

Appreciate the thread. A good read.

Has anyone any insight into Greenmount National School and Chriost ri National School? Moving to the Cork area and those 2 are near where I will be working and hopefully living.

Any thoughts would be great.

Hi there,
I don't have any experience with Chriost Ri, but my pal has 2 children in Greenmount. By all accounts, she's really happy with it.
Maybe go and get a feel for the school and see what you think.
Good Luck!

beer enigma

D-Generate wrote: »

I went to St Anthony's myself for primary school and I don't think I would send my kid there. The school has a certain anti-fun policy going on and from my experience sought to turn kids in to fat lumps of lard.

When i first started there, there was a nice big green field next to the school that allowed boys to be boys. During lunch break you would be allowed run and horse play and have a gay old time. Furthermore the pitch allowed teachers bring their classes out for a kickabout whenever they wanted as it was so close. Unfortunately it was decided to turn this green field in to the new school gymnasium and that was beginning of the end for fun in St Anthony's. From then on out to play soccer on grass you had to walk down to the swimming pool or else you were allotted a single hour a week inside the gym. One freaking hour!!!
On top of that, running in the yards was banned, stickers were banned, yo-yo's were banned, conkers were banned. Everything that kids ought to do and have fun with was banned and replaced with an hours gym use per week per class. If the government want to know why child obesity is on the increase then they need look no further.
Its a real shame too because when i'm having a kickabout with the lads they always have better foot skills..... probably because they got to play footie at lunch....

On a side note it didn't seem to have a huge scum factor and as with any school, some teachers are good, some not so good. I was thankful to get a pretty great string of teachers all the way up.

Must admit, my kid goes there and I find quite the opposite - he's getting loads of sports both inside and out. There's a green area directly opposite the school car park gates which they use during the day & the other green area by the swimming pool is only 300yds walk.....surely walking is a form of excercise & is good for them.

In terms of the school iteself, I've found them very supportive - just my experience, but its a +1 in my book.

Sleephead

Missyelliot2 wrote: »

Hi there,
I don't have any experience with Chriost Ri, but my pal has 2 children in Greenmount. By all accounts, she's really happy with it.
Maybe go and get a feel for the school and see what you think.
Good Luck!

Thanks for the reply. It's a fairly nerve racking decision and I really want to get it right.

If anyone else has direct experience Id be delighted to hear their thoughts.

Pablo Escobar

I'm a bit biased but I think Chríost Rí is fantastic. The facilitities are great too.

Sleephead

I'm gonna ring both and see can I visit.


Again, if anyone has kids in either let me know how they at getting on! Thanks!

overmantle

One school that is in the general area that you did not mention is Glasheen Boys school. It is a fantastic school but I know they have a lot of applications so I am not sure you would get a place. You could always contact them to see. There is also a very good Girls school on the same site. How old is your child? Hope this helps.:)

Sleephead

overmantle wrote: »

One school that is in the general area that you did not mention is Glasheen Boys school. It is a fantastic school but I know they have a lot of applications so I am not sure you would get a place. You could always contact them to see. There is also a very good Girls school on the same site. How old is your child? Hope this helps.:)

4yo just starting in September.

I know I may be dictated by availability at this point.

I've done some more askng around and had some great feedback about Greenmount NS.

I've had people mention Glasheen too but class sizes are very big? And that bit further away.

Thanks for the input!

overmantle

If you need to be convenient for work etc, then go with what suits. I know there is very strong demand in Glasheen but they have more classes, which sorts the numbers. It is unlikely you would get a place there now, I'd say and would probably be on a waiting list so if you can get a place elsewhere you should accept it. HTH

Sleephead

Thanks for the advice.

I'm gonna visit as many of the schools mentioned as I can this week

hoodwinked

Sleephead wrote: »

Appreciate the thread. A good read.

Has anyone any insight into Greenmount National School and Chriost ri National School? Moving to the Cork area and those 2 are near where I will be working and hopefully living.

Any thoughts would be great.

if it helps, my brother and a few neighbours of mine went to Chriost rí and they all hated it, more the secondary school than the primary, but nether were great experiences, and they all suffered academically there.


i met children in after school who attended glasheen and greenmount and they loved it and were getting on great academically,


my husband went to spiorad naomh in bishopstown, it was also a great school it may be worth looking at. they also did fantasticly in their school evaluation

you can read up on how a school is generally doing here: school evaluations

Sleephead

Having spoken to all the above mentioned schools and visit some, I'm going to go with Greenmount. Have spoken to some parents with kids currently attending. Ticks a lot of boxes. Lovely warm and modern feel to it with lots of happy children!

Thanks everyone!