Primary school recommendations in South Dublin?

ParentofGirls · 17-07-2012 9:18pm #1

Hello there. My family & I are moving to Ireland in December. We are looking to find a school for our daughter in south Dublin, and would welcome recommendations.

byhookorbycrook · 17-07-2012 10:50pm

What age is she?Do you want a faith school?Mixed or girls only?

Midnight Sundance · 21-07-2012 11:37pm

Also, what area in South Dublin are you thinking of? South Dublin is quite a large place so there would be many schools.

ParentofGirls · 23-07-2012 9:16am

Hi there - thank you for replies. My daughter is 3 so wont be going to school for a while. The main thing we are looking for is smaller class sizes. We live in Denmark where classes are ~20 students, so dont like the idea of huge classes. We are Catholic, and are fine with Catholic, Protentant or non faith schools as long as the education is good.

I have heard about "national schools with a voluntary contribution", though am not able to find out a lot about those.

South Dublin is a big area :-). We are looking at Blackrock and a few other areas. Actually - we are fairly open, and may use choice of school to help narrow that down.

bullpost · 23-07-2012 9:25am

I can recommend Guardian Angels in Blackrock.
Its a local National school . Class sizes are probably a little bigger than 20 but I think they are coming down all the time as there is not too many young families in the catchment area.

ParentofGirls wrote: »

Hi there - thank you for replies. My daughter is 3 so wont be going to school for a while. The main thing we are looking for is smaller class sizes. We live in Denmark where classes are ~20 students, so dont like the idea of huge classes. We are Catholic, and are fine with Catholic, Protentant or non faith schools as long as the education is good.

I have heard about "national schools with a voluntary contribution", though am not able to find out a lot about those.

South Dublin is a big area :-). We are looking at Blackrock and a few other areas. Actually - we are fairly open, and may use choice of school to help narrow that down.

byhookorbycrook · 23-07-2012 9:02pm

Many schools have long waiting lists, so you need to get her name down asap.Most primary schools have classes of 30-ish, unless they are DEIS schools designated as disadvantaged)www.schooldays.ie has lists of schools according to areas.

Moonbeam · 24-07-2012 3:37pm

Class sizes here are about 30-35 in normal schools.
Normal school are National Schools or Educate together schools.
Nearly all National schools are catholic schools,and Educate together are multi denominational.
There are not many private primary school in Ireland but they do exist.
"national schools with a voluntary contribution" are the normal "free" public schools.
"free" means you do not pay tuition but will be asked for a contribution,but yoo pay for uniform and books which depending on the school can cost 100 euro +.
There are no school meals here either so you just give kids a packed lunch.
South Dublin is huge and school all have their all enrollment policies with some letting in local children in 1st and some based on religion,some based on having siblings there.

byhookorbycrook · 24-07-2012 5:40pm

Just to mention that some schools exist, non-fee paying and some are multi-denom called Gaelscoils where, the spoken language of the school is Irish. These tend to be vastly oversubscribed, but if you want your child to be bilingual from an early age, they are worth considering.

Nuffy · 24-07-2012 9:15pm

I have a friend whose child goes to All Saints in Blackrock. It seems to be a very small school with a nice atmosphere. It's Church of Ireland. It's so small the Junior Infants and Senior Infants are in the same classroom with the same teacher. I think that's the problem with small classes - they are just combined anyway especially these days. Best of luck with your choice.

Crystal Cole · 26-11-2012 10:20pm

My daughter is due to start school in Sept 2013,living in Rathfarnham area and praying for her to be accepted into Educate Together Rathfarnham but no guarantee and no sibling policy ( we have a daughter 19 months younger also). We are hoping for the Educate Together as religious backgrounds are an issue in this decision, one of us being Catholic and the other C O I. If we do not get into this school, can anybody recommend an alternative ? I particularly do not want to go down the COI route as my husband is so anti Catholic its off putting.Dont want the girls ending up with same attitude. Any advice?

Nuffy · 26-11-2012 11:09pm

Hi Crystal Cole,

Not sure if you are aware that there are two new Educate Together schools in South Dublin - one in Ballinteer and one in Stepaside. They both opened in September 2011 and are not oversubscribed as yet. If the ethos is important to you, you might be prepared to travel. There is only a junior infants class in each school now and another junior infants class starting September 2013. My dd is in the Stepaside school and I am thrilled with the school - couldn't be happier having moved her from a gaelscoil. You can enrol at the website www.stepasideetns.ie and see lots of photos at www.facebook.com/StepasideETNS The Ballinteer website is at www.ballinteeretns.ie and their facebook page is www.facebook.com/BallinteerETNS If you want to talk to me about the Stepaside school, you can dm me & I know parents in the Ballinteer school if you wanted to talk to someone about that school. You may well get into the Rathfarnham ET yet, my friend got in two years' ago even though they were quite far down the list. There a few gaelscoileanna that are multidenominational but I don't know if there's any near where you are. Best of luck with whatever choice you make.

Crystal Cole · 30-11-2012 2:16pm

Thanks so much for your feedback. I will definitly look into these but Its not that we are not prepared to travel abit of a distance, its more to with the fact that we could probably not manage to drop her at either of these locations and make it to our own jobs on time. We presently have no help available to us either, our creche do drop offs but only to schools close to the creche. So still in a dilemma but will make some enquiries. I will message you again if need be. There is a gaelscoil nearby but husband not keen as in theory its Catholic..suits me fine obviously. Also he hasnt a word of Irish whereas I speak Irish very well. Its a tough, very divisive issue for sure but I suppose our main priority has got to be our children.

Nuffy · 30-11-2012 5:59pm

It may not help but the Stepaside school starts at 8.30am and finishes at 1.10pm. I don't know about the Ballinteer school but may be similar. Best of luck - they'll do great where-ever they are I'm sure.

Riskep · 14-12-2012 1:00pm

Hi there,
My daughter goes to the International School of Dublin, if you don't mind paying a fee.
Wonderful school, with small class size. Your daughter could go there from the year after she turned 3.

Crystal Cole · 19-12-2012 9:30am

hi there, to the person who mentioned Dublin International school. have you any more info on that. Where is it ? Do you think it is a good school? Any information would be great. Thanks for your comment.:)

Riskep · 19-12-2012 1:42pm

The school is located in Barclay Court, Blackrock (off the Frescati/Temple Road).
It's a school with a mix of International and Irish children, more International than Irish.
I love the school! We move every few years for my husband's job and my daughter has absolutely blossomed at this school. She came in a shy girl and is now a confident little person.
They follow the Primary Years Programme of the IB - it is inquiry based. The learn all their regular things (maths, language, learning to read) but in an inquiry based setting. If you need any more info, just let me know!

Primary school recommendations in South Dublin?

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