The Institute questions

Ranrooni

hey, um, i'm going to the institute of education this year, and i had a few questions
1- i know that there aren't any lockers, but are backpacks heavy then with all the books? or are there no books at all?
2- i got this year's book list, but should i wait and see what books my teachers tell me to buy?
3- i know this is a weird question, but are heels allowed at the institute? i'm not talking 6-inch mega heels, just small 3-inch heels?
4- is arabic hard as a subject? i wanted to take it up as i'm fluent at speaking it but some people really scared me, saying it was dead hard and impossible..
5- next question- teacher recommendations... i'm doing english, french, history, maths, biology, chemistry, agricultural sciences, and maybe arabic.. higher level everything (yikes!)
6- just as a matter of curiosity, are there many muslims there?
7- is being a few minutes late for a first class a big deal? or do teachers not care? (i travel for almost an hour to get to the school- 2 buses, sad isn't it?)
8- last question- do you receive your junior cert results in the institute or do you get them at your own school?
Thanks in advance to whoever is going to answer my questions... wow this was a long post

amortentia

Hi, I just did my leaving after two years at the Institute. The place was brilliant, I could never have got my 520 without it for many reasons.

1. No, quite a few girls just bring handbags. I'd recommend one of those plastic folders that has 12 or 13 different compartments for each subject to bring your notes in each day and keep them organised. I cringed when I saw people with notes loose in their bag just getting tattered and mixed up. I think there is a book for biology though, but thats all I've seen people using unless they brought in their own for reference and stuff. There are dictionaries in the study halls.

2. Definitely do not buy the books yet apart from the novel and play you're doing since you'll definitely need them. Most of the teachers do not take kindly to students who don't have them by at least the second week. They were the only books I got apart from a Geography revision book that I bought for myself.

3. Yep they are, a few girls wear them, usually just heeled boots but I have seen girls in stiletto-ey types.. Bear in mind there are a LOT of stairs in the Institute and you don't want to make it harder for yourself getting to the 4th floor after running into school while late :P

4. I have no idea but I'm sure you'd be more than fine if you're fluent. I say go for it and see how it is for a while and if its terrible, drop it.

5. I can only advise on three subjects but I'll PM you the teacher recs.

6. Yes, there seemed to be a lot in my year. Bearing in mind I'm terrible at telling peoples religions and stuff but I'm pretty sure they were Muslims. Maybe over a hundred, hundred and fifty? There are prayer rooms for girls and boys separately.

7. It honestly depends on the teacher. You will get to know soon enough. A couple of minutes doesn't matter that much but you will really not want to be late, its horrible walking in to a dead silent classroom in front of a hundred people (in the case of some of the biggest classes).

8. Sorry I don't know, since I did TY.

Ranrooni

thank you sooo much amortentia !! you really cleared things up for me:) thanks for taking time out to post your reply, it really helped!

Stalin and rugby

Tons of Muslims there, Literally tons.

Arabic is a trek, You'll need to know poetry understand the Quran etcetra...

Bear in mind that arabic is specifically designed for those who are FLUENT in the language. It's not like German or French, it's going to be hard even if you're fluent. I personally never did arabic but I heard it off some mates

Ranrooni

thanks stalin and rugby my mom keeps telling me to drop it, but i haven't made up my mind yet ...

rainbowtrout

Ranrooni wrote: »

thank you sooo much amortentia !! you really cleared things up for me:) thanks for taking time out to post your reply, it really helped!

You will collect your junior cert results in whatever school you sat the exams.

irish_man

1. Nope you don't have any books. You just have handouts. The days of heavy school bags are over!!

2. No buy the books now

3. There is no uniform so you can wear what you want.

4. If your fluent go ahead. You can always try it for a few months and then drop it.

5. Don't bother doing 8 honours subjects. I'd advise doing just 6. That's all that gets counted after all.

6. There are loads.

7. Depends on the teacher but they generally don't mind too much.

8. They will be sent to your old school.

amortentia

irish_man wrote: »

2. No buy the books now

No really.. don't. Everyone I know agrees that the booklist was a joke, no one needed any of them. Serious waste of money.

Saaron

Definitely don't get books! I went there a few years ago and bought all books before hand to find out I wasn't going to use half of them or the teachers had changed their mind.. Grrr!

Plus you use mostly notes!

Ranrooni

thanks a lot everyone you're all being very helpful I really do appreciate it

Ranrooni

just as a matter of curiosity, is geography hard as a LC subject ?

amortentia

Ranrooni wrote: »

just as a matter of curiosity, is geography hard as a LC subject ?

It's easy in the way that there's nothing at all to understand, but there is a lot of learning off by heart involved. I liked it, got an A2 this year and found the book "Exam Skills Geography" by Sue Honan to be brilliant combined with my Institute notes.

Ranrooni

thanks:)