Primary teaching. Resit leaving or take SCG?

grainne97

I'm finishing my initial degree (Arts) at the moment and really want to do primary school teaching. However as a 15 year old I wasn't bothered to keep up my Higher Level Irish so dropped to Ordinary Level....problem! To qualify as a primary teacher my options now are a) resit my Irish Leaving Cert or b) qualify up North and then sit the SCG once I return home. Has anyone done either of these routes? Which is the best option? I'd love to hear from people's personal experience! Any hints and or tips are greatly appreciated!

Larianne

Moved from Mature & Non-Traditional Students.

eimearcmh

A C3 in Higher Level Irish is what you would need. (Of course if you got higher than this it would be great:)) Im sure you would be hoping to get this grade if you repeated it. How did you find the Irish you did for the Leaving Cert

grainne97

It wasn't bad but would prefer not to go through it again and as the scg is an alternative I'm thinking of taking it.

Nead21

bear in mind that if you qualify under the british system you can no longer return to ireland straight away to do you're probationary year. this now needs to be completed first.

i repeated my irish leaving cert in june and found it difficult, but doable

chips2009chips

hey

I am also thinking of doing primary school teaching.I started back learning Irish after 9 years in feb of this year and sat the Irish paper in June and I got my C3. I think its def worth giving it a shot.One thing in your favour is that the paper in June 2011 is going to be the last year of this course. So if you were to start studying the Irish after you finish your degree and sit the Irish in 2012 there is going to be a lot of things that you wont have to study like the irish history and a lot of the peoms will be taken off it and a lot more marks going towards the oral.

implausible

grainne97 wrote: »

To qualify as a primary teacher my options now are a) resit my Irish Leaving Cert or b) qualify up North and then sit the SCG once I return home. Has anyone done either of these routes? Which is the best option?

To be honest, I think most principals would prefer teachers who have Irish qualifications, as opposed to the British one (unless you're in a border area, where they are well used to graduates from the North). So, I'd recommend doing your HL Irish.

As another poster said, this is the last year of the old course so there'll be loads of notes floating around and the basic poems and stories are the same as the ones you did at OL in (I presume) 2008. If you got yourself organised, you could be starting the graduate diploma next year (or whenever it's running next) or Hibernia. I'd imagine there's a Cumann Gaeilge in your college, where you could practice your Irish.

grainne97

Really helpful guys thanks! Hadn't heard about the probation year in UK or the new Irish course being introduced.

Micilin Muc

Do a Diploma in Irish rather than the leaving. The Leaving Cert is (arguably) more aimed at 17 year olds. UCD, Maynooth, NUIG and UL all provide the Diploma course.

grainne97

I sat my LC in 2006 so it would be a new course for me anyway! The diplomas offered by Universities are all two year courses, I'm 22 and frankly just want to be out of college!

Well done chips!

Roro4Brit

chips2009chips wrote: »

hey

I am also thinking of doing primary school teaching.I started back learning Irish after 9 years in feb of this year and sat the Irish paper in June and I got my C3. I think its def worth giving it a shot.One thing in your favour is that the paper in June 2011 is going to be the last year of this course. So if you were to start studying the Irish after you finish your degree and sit the Irish in 2012 there is going to be a lot of things that you wont have to study like the irish history and a lot of the peoms will be taken off it and a lot more marks going towards the oral.

Wow that's pretty great. Can you give more info on how you got back in to it? Did you sign up for classes somewhere? What books did you use, how much did you study etc?

BoozyBabe

Hi Roro4Brit,
I just officially qualified as a primary school teacher today, having 1st repeated my Irish LC to get on the course.
You need to apply to resit the exam youself. Even if you enrol in a course that covers the course content, so still need to apply yourself to sit the actual exam.
Check here for more info:
https://www.examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=ca&sc=ca

It's up to you how you decide to prepare for the exams. Whether you enrol in a course, teach yourself, get 1-1 grinds or whatever. The Institute of Education runs a class each year, where you may not need to study much more than the notes they give you. It's V expensive though. Other colleges also run night classes to help you repeat. I can't remember where now exactly. If you search on here, or go to www.educationposts.ie you should find the info. I've a feeling there's a college in crumlin that run it.
Others just go for grinds. In this case you'd prob have to get the curriculum book for the Irish course.
I myself did a course in Navan, & was V pleased with it. It started in Oct, & basically involved learning answers off by heart. I actually DID learn Irish along the way though. But it was exactly what I needed to get my result. (I got a B2 in honours 11 years after getting a C3 in ordinary)

gaeilgegrinds1

Congrats on qualifying boozybabe! Wonderful to hear your success story!

Nead21

i second the congrats BoozyBabe i repeated my Irish last june, and when reading some of your posts, it was nice to know that someone else had been through the process and come out the other side. well done

dory

Congrats Boozybabe!

For anyone else considering LC or SCG I would strongly recommend the Leaving (or the aforementioned diplomas).

I've taught both now to adults wanting to become primary teachers, and the Leaving is an easier standard. The SCG is University standard, but you don't have the support and constant feedback that someone having tutorials for three years in a University would get. It's better to do the Leaving then improve your Irish gradually over the course of being trained as a primary teacher, rather than needing to be SCG standard having not spoken Irish the whole time you were in England for the training and probationary year.