Girls secondary schools in Limerick city

Taceom

My daughter will be going to secondary school next September and we are currently trying to decide where best to send her. She would like to go to an all girls school so we have attended the Open Day/Nights for the girls schools. I was impressed with all we saw and heard on those open nights and now the problem arises as I don't know which school to pick. I had one very obvious favourite while my daughter had another. We do not live in Limerick city and do not know anyone we can ask for opinions, so I am hoping someone here might be able to give me some information. I am particularly interested in Laurel Hill and Scoil Carmel and would be grateful for anything good or bad anyone can tell me of their experiences with either of these schools or indeed any of the other all-girls schools. I would love to have a real reason to put 1 or 2 (or not) opposite those schools on the CAS form instead of having to go down the eeny-meeny route.
Thanks in advance.

Cpt_Blackbeard

Its simple...Where does your daughter want to go? She'll be the one going there every day for 6 years not you.

Raiser

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Its simple...Where does your daughter want to go? She'll be the one going there every day for 6 years not you.

Hmmmm....... Yeah def. try and determine what is important to her and then find out why as much as you can.

- I'd say it makes sense to remember your own decision making skills and objectivity back when you were aged 11 or 12, in all fairness there is no substitute for a mature and experienced outlook sometimes - Enroll in haste repent at leisure!!!

FWIW I'd be guessing that there's more fist fights and Teachers head-butted in Scoil Carmel than in Laurel Hill

LB6

Taceom,

I went to the Mount (SC) - but it's 25 yrs since I left there. Back then it was a lovely school - granted they promised new buildings to my parents who forked over money hand over fist to get us out of the pre-fabs - guess what - they still have pre-fabs!

I'm living in the burbs now myself and haven't sent any of my own kids into town. They may be more independent in getting to and from school, however there is no guarantee that they will actually get off the bus and go to class.

I've put my three out to Coláiste Chiaráin - granted it's a mixed school, discipline is of utmost importance, results are great, teachers are easy to talk to both from a parents and a students point-of-view and they're bussed from the front door to the school door and if they don't log in each morning they're a phone call home to see why there's an absence.

My son finished his 6 yrs out there and my two girls are there now - as far as I'm concerned a mixed ed system was a good choice - a little bit of competition is good for them, it also gives the girls options to do subjects like tech graphics, wood work etc that would only be made available to boys in boy's only schools and same for boys who can do home ec., etc....

Good luck in your choice - it's very limited I know - but your best bet is to talk to students going to either school and see how they find it.

iguana

Taceom wrote: »

I would love to have a real reason to put 1 or 2 (or not) opposite those schools on the CAS form instead of having to go down the eeny-meeny route.

Have you really examined what way subjects are offered? In my experience (20 years ago :eek:) I attended lots of open days where certain subjects were shown to be taught but if you pushed for more information those subjects were only available under limited circumstances. Perhaps only to "Pass" level at Leaving cert and not "Honours." It would be an awful shame to attend a school based on the fact that it offered Italian, for example, and then find that if you pursue that language you automatically lose 40 points on the Leaving because you can only do the exam at the lower level.

Also how about transition year? Do you have an opinion on that? In some schools it's mandatory while in others it's optional and in others there are just a limited number of places each year. I personally would never have gone to a school where it was mandatory so that would have made my decision for me. But if your daughter feels she would definitely like to do it then it's worth thinking twice about a school with limited spaces.

I know both of those things still seem far into the future but in most cases the school you join as a first year will be the same one you graduate from. So it makes sense to be thinking about the senior cycle now.

Butterfly25

As with any school, you will always get the undesirables. It doesn't matter what school you pick, at the end of the day you cant pick the people your daughter will sit beside/hand out with.


Let your daughter decide the school she would prefer. Its about the student not the school. They'll all learn the same curriculum.

Cpt_Blackbeard

They are both very different schools, pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum. Would you prefer your daughter to wear hoop earrings or a side fringe :P

LB6

LMAO - that just about sums it up in a nutshell!

Crea

My niece goes to Laurel Hill. She is very happy there and her grades are good.

I went there 21 years ago - so I won't even advise on that.
Mind you I have a dd aged 5 and that would be the all girls school i'd pick for her.

Butterfly25

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

They are both very different schools, pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum. Would you prefer your daughter to wear hoop earrings or a side fringe :P

Hardly!

There are just as many scumbags and decent girls in both schools!

Jofspring

Butterfly25 wrote: »

Hardly!

There are just as many scumbags and decent girls in both schools!

Ya i agree with that. Not much difference in most Schools in Limerick these days.

I went to St. Nessans which would have been considered a scummy school but there was way more nice people than scum in it and Ard Scoil which was supposedly a higher class had as many bad eggs in it.

Heard great things about Colaiste Chiarain also.

Cpt_Blackbeard

Butterfly25 wrote: »

Hardly!

There are just as many scumbags and decent girls in both schools!

I know girls in both schools but Scoil Carmel does appear to be worse, this is just from walking around town on a Weekday the last couple of years. Laurel Hill is viewed as a posher school, but I'll admit that Colaiste does add to the amount of side-fringes. :P

Im sure that Scoil Carmel is a nice school though

Cpt_Blackbeard

There is no need to jump into stereotypes really though, its much too easy to generalise every school in Limerick (I'd be happy to have a go though :pac:)

My comment was just a generalisation of how the schools are viewed

Mc Love

I went to Clements but if I was doing it again, I would have gone to the Comp!

zuroph

Mc Love wrote: »

I went to Clements but if I was doing it again, I would have gone to the Comp!

i know right?! Christ, the comp. Why did I not know about it before I started. so many missed years of opportunity.



OP, Laurel hill > SC in my opinion.

Mc Love

Most of my friends were going there - so thats my reason! Plus the fact it was in town but Crescent Comp was practically a stones throw away

Captain Average

I went to Enda's so I'm in no place to comment on the quality of any school in Limerick:D

Raiser

Captain Average wrote: »

I went to Enda's so I'm in no place to comment on the quality of any school in Limerick:D

Bet you could comment on the 4am ease of entry to any Secondary School in Limerick

Insect Overlord

Serious replies only here, please. The OP did request advice, and not jokes.

houndsoflove

The presentation secondary on sexton street!! :eek:

The Snipe

As someone who is still in Secondary (Almost out thank god!) I know people in a few schools,

Laurel Hill: From what I hear its a really good school, Nice crouds in there and the teachers seem to be enjoyable to learn from, and the Principal, and Vice are really nice.

Scoil Carmel: A lot of fist fights etc. go on here, often seen to the teenage age group as being 'slutty'

Salesions: Both my sisters went here, as well as a few friends, and from what I know its a brilliant school, really well run, really involved in the community.

But it all really depends on where you live too due to traffic etc. too.

iguana

houndsoflove wrote: »

The presentation secondary on sexton street!! :eek:

Is actually a very good school and regularly produces the some of the best results in the country.

It just has a fairly open policy about letting in pupils of all abilities because it has vocational streams as well as academic. Good students will rarely share classes with the less academic as it runs separate streams. But when it comes to range of subjects they were unparalleled in Limerick and they bent over backwards to make their timetables suit their students requirements. They also have unbeatable social and political study programmes for senior students due to the fact that one of their teachers is a senator.

rainbowdash

I was speaking to somebody recently and their kid is looking for a secondary school. Its very difficult to get into Laurel Hill if you don't have connections (parent, teacher or older sister in already) so chances are you will not get your first choice. Then theres a risk you won't get your second choice as the places are taken with people who put it down as No. 1. so you could end up with your 3rd choice but that could be gone etc.

That probably doesn't describe it exactly but you get the idea and its something to be wary of.

Raiser

rainbowdash wrote: »

I was speaking to somebody recently and their kid is looking for a secondary school. Its very difficult to get into Laurel Hill if you don't have connections (parent, teacher or older sister in already) so chances are you will not get your first choice. Then theres a risk you won't get your second choice as the places are taken with people who put it down as No. 1. so you could end up with your 3rd choice but that could be gone etc.

That probably doesn't describe it exactly but you get the idea and its something to be wary of.

Oh doom, DOOM!!! - I think what they mean is that you'll have to turn up your morning radio show really loud cause your 12 year is going to be sitting there bored beside you every day......

Def. consider the Schools outside of Limerick City also, you may need to research Buses etc. but I wouldn't rule them out at all.

Taceom

Thanks everyone for all your insight and information, I really appreciate it.

SarahBeep!

iguana wrote: »

Is actually a very good school and regularly produces the some of the best results in the country.

It just has a fairly open policy about letting in pupils of all abilities because it has vocational streams as well as academic. Good students will rarely share classes with the less academic as it runs separate streams. But when it comes to range of subjects they were unparalleled in Limerick and they bent over backwards to make their timetables suit their students requirements. They also have unbeatable social and political study programmes for senior students due to the fact that one of their teachers is a senator.

You're well far off target there!

I started there in '04 and it was fine. Not great but it was only down the road. I'm in my 2nd year of college now and I realise how much I missed out on by going there. My mam and I were talking last week and even she said lookng back she sends me here. I'm so glad I finished there when I did because it's getting worse and worse.

They 'offer' a wide range of subjects? Nope. They have a staff that is qualified to teach a wide range of subjects. They don't offer many at all. Fully qualified Tech Graphics teachers, Ag Science, Engineering...Not one Modern subject is offered. It's very rare that Physics and Chemistry are offered at LC and NEVER both. I think only me and one other girl have managed to do all 3 sciences @ LC in the past 15 years.

The principal has an amazing staff and refuses to utilise.

Their discipline policies and procedues are second rate and shoddy.

They do have an inclusion policy of 'any student, any ability' but they just stick all the lower ability students together. They do less sucjects @ Junior Cert and are treated like they're only there because they're under 17.

In my opinion, send your girl to a mixed school. Way better range of subjects, get her uded to working with both males and females. Give her a better chance

lizoreilly

Scoil Carmel is a school on the up. There is a very positive atmosphere there and many dynamic changes. Come and see for yourself. I suggest you make an appointment and call to see the school in session. My daughters were very happy there and achieved very highly

Builderfromhell

lizoreilly wrote: »

Scoil Carmel is a school on the up. There is a very positive atmosphere there and many dynamic changes. Come and see for yourself. I suggest you make an appointment and call to see the school in session. My daughters were very happy there and achieved very highly

May have to move my daughter from Villiers (can't afford it anymore) and am, once again, considering Scoil Carmel.
Do you know are there any openings there?
What iritates me about most secondary schools is the insistence on following the Catholic Ethos. Insisting kids go to mass on special days. We chose Villiers to avoid all that.

Raiser

Builderfromhell wrote: »

May have to move my daughter from Villiers (can't afford it anymore) and am, once again, considering Scoil Carmel.
Do you know are there any openings there?
What iritates me about most secondary schools is the insistence on following the Catholic Ethos. Insisting kids go to mass on special days. We chose Villiers to avoid all that.

Its morally wrong to use your wealth and privilege to shield your offspring from the inane, nonsensical wafflings of Christs Bible Bashers on Earth.

- Let them sit through their share of Jesus-Babble like we all had to - Its character building

lizoreilly wrote: »

Scoil Carmel is a school on the up. There is a very positive atmosphere there and many dynamic changes. Come and see for yourself. I suggest you make an appointment and call to see the school in session. My daughters were very happy there and achieved very highly

Liz O'Reilly I'm curious as to why you'd post that on here?

Also you say 'come' see for yourself as opposed to 'go' - Are you on the Staff there?

- I've no problem if you are by the way, I see nothing wrong with speaking on behalf of an Institution you admire/believe in etc.

db

This topic comes up every year around this time. I went through it last year with my own daughter and it can be a very worrying time for both parents and children. If the school you pick is one of the more popular schools in town, Crescent, Laurel Hill English / Colaiste, Ard Scoil or Castletroy, and you do not have right of entry then be prepared to be disappointed if you put it down as first choice. There is a very good chance you will not get this school and you will have to settle for whichever school you are allocated based on your lower choices.
My daughter applied for Laurel Hill but got Salesians instead. We rejected this because she had a place in a school out the country.
Everyone wants the best for their child but in this case selecting Scoil Carmel as first choice may be the best thing you can do.

Taceom

db wrote: »

This topic comes up every year around this time. I went through it last year with my own daughter and it can be a very worrying time for both parents and children. If the school you pick is one of the more popular schools in town, Crescent, Laurel Hill English / Colaiste, Ard Scoil or Castletroy, and you do not have right of entry then be prepared to be disappointed if you put it down as first choice. There is a very good chance you will not get this school and you will have to settle for whichever school you are allocated based on your lower choices.
My daughter applied for Laurel Hill but got Salesians instead. We rejected this because she had a place in a school out the country.
Everyone wants the best for their child but in this case selecting Scoil Carmel as first choice may be the best thing you can do.

Do you mind if I ask if Salesians was your second choice or was that school further down your list?