Waterford Schools?

tonc76

Sully wrote: »

I know, I was teached Maths for a few years by a PE Teacher .....

Doesn't say much for the teacher that "teached " you English :pac:

I went to St Paul's from 88 to 93 and looking back co-ed was the best thing ever!! Teachers were all in all of a good standard with some outstanding ones who really helped and pushed students along. Sports facilities were good but having been back there in the last few years training in winter the facilities could do with an overhaul. When I went to college the co-ed was no problem at all - what was it like for people from same sex schools going to college??

paddy1mac

I went to Waterpark over 25 years ago - both to the private junior school and the secondary school and hated it. There was an elitist attidude there where you were judged on what your parents did and where they came from.

I hated every minute of the secondary school but this was due to one teacher that i'm not going to go into about but i'm sure if there is anyone on here that went there around the late 70's will know what i'm on about or they can PM me but i'd prefer not to go into it.

As a result i wouldn't dream of sending my son there and he now attends St. Declans which is an excellent school both academically and in character building.

My daughter goes to the Ursuline but we are seriously considering taking her out of there as her grades have dropped dramatically from when she attended primary school. The teachers here have an elitist attidude and seem to have it in for parents like myself who are separated and dont prescribe fully to their Catholic ethos.

paddy1mac

tonc76 wrote: »

Doesn't say much for the teacher that "teached " you English :pac:

:pac::pac::pac::pac:

Sully

tonc76 wrote: »

Doesn't say much for the teacher that "teached " you English :pac:

dintbo

I'm a past pupil of De La Salle, as were my three brothers before me. I have a lot of time for the de la salle brothers and the work they do. Of course any school will have good points and bad, good teachers and bad. Like someone said in an earlier post, music was, and still is, a big part of my life and DLS provided for that very well.

I'm a teacher myself now, not in Waterford though, and one thing I've noticed is that mixed schools seem to be better for an all-round education. It really is quite unnatural to keep males and females separated until they go to college. That seriously limits your options in Waterford though

Odats

Past pupil of Mount Sion myself and can say was in there when the school was perceived as quite rough, believe it has gotten worse since I left but I have no qualms about the place. Yeah it wasn't the May West for facilities, maybe a better choice of subjects but if you wanted to learn in there they encouraged you to. Out of my class and a few previous years there are lads studying and qualifying as solicitors,accountants,lads lecturers out in the colleges,engineers,architects and thats in the last 5-6 years or so but unlike other schools we don't boast about it all the time. Remember no matter where you go to school you cannot buy brains. Weren't we taught in hedge schools years ago lol. This snobbish elitist thing in Waterford is getting into schools now sickens me. Remember half these wans sending there little darlings to so called posh schools because so and so is there is ridiculous and even heard rumours of some parents paying to get children into a certain primary school in town.
Remember the foundations of a great education lies in the home and some parents nowadays have this misconception that the onus is solely on the school for education.
Great support structures are out for children willing to learn and who want it.

djsupreme

Going back to the DLS 90 minute lunch break....in fairness, who ever thought of anything so ridiculous?! I was also bemused by it. What are kids meant to do for 90 mins at lunchtime if they can't go home? Much better to have shorter breaks and earlier finishes.

deisemum

Odats wrote: »

This snobbish elitist thing in Waterford is getting into schools now sickens me. Remember half these wans sending there little darlings to so called posh schools because so and so is there is ridiculous and even heard rumours of some parents paying to get children into a certain primary school in town.
Remember the foundations of a great education lies in the home

Not being from Waterford I hadn't heard of any snobbish schools apart from Newtown. Hubby wouldn't be into the snobby things so it wouldn't occur for him to mention it.

I too have heard rumours about an open cheque primary school.

I agree with the home input.

Someone here might be able to give some insight into something I've heard secondary school pupils tell primary school pupils that depending on which primary school a pupil comes from can affect how they're treated or mistreated by pupils in secondary, is it true? Please don't mention names of schools

Fajitas!

deisemum wrote: »

Someone here might be able to give some insight into something I've heard secondary school pupils tell primary school pupils that depending on which primary school a pupil comes from can affect how they're treated or mistreated by pupils in secondary, is it true? Please don't mention names of schools

I'd imagine it happens if say, for example, someone comes from a school in a 'bad' area and ends up in a 'good' school (I don't subscribe to what I have in italics, for the record), the student could be picked on over it. And similarly happen visa versa too.

Jealousy can also be a big factor, along with pure little sh*ts acting up.

What can also happen is if the majority of students from one primary school tend to follow into one school, and someone from a school outside of this comes in, they might feel isolated over not knowing anyone.

brendansmith

I would have though the other way would be more common, i.e. a kid who went to a 'good' primary school like ballygunner PS who ends up going to Mount Sion or god forbid the worst of the worst aka Waterpark college they would bully them and call them names. No?

Fajitas!

Fajitas! wrote: »

I'd imagine it happens if say, for example, someone comes from a school in a 'bad' area and ends up in a 'good' school (I don't subscribe to what I have in italics, for the record), the student could be picked on over it. And similarly happen visa versa too.

Read the bold text

You might also want to read up on Deisemum not asking for names of schools.

Daysha

djsupreme wrote: »

Going back to the DLS 90 minute lunch break....in fairness, who ever thought of anything so ridiculous?! I was also bemused by it. What are kids meant to do for 90 mins at lunchtime if they can't go home? Much better to have shorter breaks and earlier finishes.

The school decided years ago to make it 90 mins so that all the sports team, choirs, and other activities could do their weekly training then, rather then after school so the 3rd/5th/6th years who did after school study wouldn't miss out.

It made complete sense, and I know that numbers doing after school study have dropped since the 90 mins lunch was scrapped. It also meant that students wouldn't be as tired during lunch time to do training. Now, with no more 90 mins lunch, we have a situation where students have to sit through 8 or 9 classes with only 40 mins break and then straight into an hour plus of hurling training, basketball training, choir practise etc.

So on the face of it 90 mins does seem completely over the top, but in the context of the amount of extra-curricular activities offered by the school, it worked brilliantly.

deisemum

From personal experience I no longer listen to other people's perceived views of so called "reputed good" schools because when you scratch beneath the surface it may not be so.

dintbo

I was chatting to my dad last night, and he was telling me that from next year. all the DLS brothers will be gone from the school. I think this is a real shame, but I guess its going that way all over the country.

robtri

not being from Dublin.... and maybe I am getting old but I was surprised by the amount of Schoolgirls wearing some very very short skirts, thought this was a bit much for such young girls to be wearing stuff like that....

Sully

robtri wrote: »

not being from Dublin.... and maybe I am getting old but I was surprised by the amount of Schoolgirls wearing some very very short skirts, thought this was a bit much for such young girls to be wearing stuff like that....

You noticed? :P Afaik, while on school grounds its longer but its up further when they go out. Not a whole lot can be done when its not on school grounds I think

deisemum

What's even worse but maybe some would disagree is to see the girls from one of the so called "posh" schools having physical fights outside the school gates, punches thrown, hair being pulled, rolling around on the footpath and skirts up around their waists. :eek:

I believe in some of the girls schools the hem lengths are measured with a ruler.

AdMMM

I noticed a lot of Waterpark bashing here. I haven't been out of the place all that long and can honestly say that it was the ideal experience. As a small school, it was a place where the teachers knew all the students and each student received great individual attention.

Bullying was often quashed before it grew to be too big a problem which isn't something the larger schools can boast about being able to do. I will admit that there were some incidents that did spiral out of control but in the circumstances everything was being done to help.

When I was there, the school had a group of mostly dedicated teachers some of which could be considered to be in the top 10% of their field and managed to get the very best from their students. Of course there were a few teachers there who only seemed to go through the motions, but on the most part they were all willing to take time out and help you.

If any parent would like a more detailed and personal opinion of my relatively fresh experience of the school, feel free to PM me.

Baby4

This post has been deleted.

Newaglish

brendansmith wrote: »

I would have though the other way would be more common, i.e. a kid who went to a 'good' primary school like ballygunner PS who ends up going to Mount Sion or god forbid the worst of the worst aka Waterpark college they would bully them and call them names. No?

Worst of the worst? Backup please?

I went to Waterpark and I thought it was a very good school. Granted some people get bullied here and there and I was on the receiving end of some of it sometimes but that's just the way things are everywhere. The year I finished, approximately half of the students got over 500 points, which is pretty good given that it isn't one of those factory-style grind schools.

Best parts are small class sizes and great teachers.

deisemum

I think you'll hear good and bad about all schools but often the deciding factor for the parents and pupils is the value each put on certain things about a school

Elle Victorine

Baby4 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Hated the ursuline. As if first to third year wasn't a big enough pain in the hole, the dreaded transition year hit. DLS have the right idea about that travesty of a year. Restrict it and make it optional. A complete waste of a year that was and did nothing short of make me want to drop out of school altogether.

THen there were the teachers. Of course we had <snip - name removed> and the other one with the make up lines. But a lot of the teachers there were a great laugh. As for the Notions you're on about well I don't know if I'd agree about that. But that said I got my fair share of crap from them because of the people I hung out with so maybe you'e right.

Have to say I'd put my money on DLS being the best school. Repeated a good while back there and loved it and it benefited me immensely.

As for which ones are rough and which aren't I'd say they all have a combination. The ursuline despite its "notions" was rough enough in some cases. Seen a good few hidins there to be honest.St.Pauls however was the one we were always under the illusion was rough and full of scum. I knew a good few from there and to be honest I wouldn't call em scum at all!

AdMMM

Please edit out the names of teachers .

Sully

AdMMM wrote: »

Please edit out the names of teachers .

Report the posts please, makes life a hell of a lot easier for us.

Nolanger

Surprised to hear bad things about Waterpark. Always thought it was Waterford's version of a South Dublin rugby school.

Fajitas!

It still has the rugby alright, afaik!

Daysha

DLS is good for a number of things, but despite an optional TY, it's generally regarded as one of the worst schools in the city for organising Transition Year. They haven't sent TY's on a foreign trip for a nearly 10 years now, and that won't be changing any time soon. Many of the modules I took weren't taught well at all too. I remember taking First Aid classes once a week, but I didn't bother trying out the certificate at the end since I had eh..."missed" so many of the classes.

So you can imagine my surprise when at the end of the year I received not one, but TWO First Aid certificates saying I passed the test and am now fully qualified as someone who knows First Aid.

In my year we went to Dunmore East Adventure Centre in September, ice skating in Dublin in December, climbed Slievenamon in Tipperary in March and went paint balling in May. They were the only days we ever spent a full day outside of class. Hardly TY-worthy.

And in the meantime all the guys in the school had to listen about how the Ursuline were spending the weekend in Manchester while the Mercy went skiing in France for a week.

ec18

I am biased about my opinion but I wouldn't dream of recommending it to anyone as a good option most of my friends from the school agree too. It was and is a GAA school and if you play that you'll coast along, completely above the rules.

Elle Victorine

deise59 wrote: »

And in the meantime all the guys in the school had to listen about how the Ursuline were spending the weekend in Manchester while the Mercy went skiing in France for a week.

I never went on the Manchester trip actually. But I distinctly remember being sent to the Dunmore East Adventure Centre as part of a "bonding" process....I don't like water so it was a bit redundant. I drank tea for the day with the people working at the place.

deisemum

Back in 1980/81 my class went on an educational trip to Paris.

It was educational alright, the nuns had us girls in bed early at night and unbeknown to the nuns the male teacher took the boys out to the bars and the red light district.