Ard scoil ris

juneg

Any opinions on Ard Scoil Ris these days?

The lad I am inquiring for is not interested in sports.
thanks

naughtysmurf

Sports isn't a problem, my lad doesn't play any school associated sports. It's an excellent school, the principle Brid de Brun runs a tight ship which is reasonable as they must have 700 students, very focused academically

Difficult to get into unless you meet the entrance criteria, i.e live in the parish, son of past pupil etc

db

Very tight on discipline as the last poster says. They use a scanning system to record who is in school each day. Failure to scan leads to automatic detention. Minor offenses like late to class, no homework etc, a note will be sent home. Repeat offenses will lead to detention.

They encourage the lads to join after-school activities but there are more options than sport - the chess club would be one example.

There is a heavy workload and with up to 9 subjects in a day there can be a fair bit of homework some days.

juneg

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Sports isn't a problem, my lad doesn't play any school associated sports. It's an excellent school, the principle Brid de Brun runs a tight ship which is reasonable as they must have 700 students, very focused academically

Difficult to get into unless you meet the entrance criteria, i.e live in the parish, son of past pupil etc

We dont have any connections. I know the places are very limited.
He would be well able for the workload but I am just concerned that any spare places would go to the sports people?

highlydebased

juneg wrote: »

We dont have any connections. I know the places are very limited.
He would be well able for the workload but I am just concerned that any spare places would go to the sports people?

Your concern is justified. I went there many moons ago but things have changed...all about who you are I think.

I'd look elsewhere if I were you.

rainbowdash

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Sports isn't a problem, my lad doesn't play any school associated sports. It's an excellent school, the principle Brid de Brun runs a tight ship which is reasonable as they must have 700 students, very focused academically

Difficult to get into unless you meet the entrance criteria, i.e live in the parish, son of past pupil etc

I think thats gone. I heard something ridiculous like 100's of kids turning up at the open day and there were 100 places, out of these between kids with brothers and children of teachers only a handful of places available between hundreds of applicants. I think I read this on a thread on here actually.

juneg

the open night is mobbed every year. There wasn't room to swing a cat.
I'd say the places are very limited for those without right of entry

banie01

Without right of entry it is a notoriously difficult school to get into.

I know of a case where someone rented a house in the locality(While actually living in a different location) to gain right of entry via the Parish, was initially granted a place, was then found out by the school and had the offer withdrawn, went through the appeals process and lost. Ard Scoil have never lost or had a refusal overturned in the time that the current appeals process has been in place.

That said, great school academically and sportswise.
And a school that when the time comes I'm glad my own son will have right of entry as an option at least.
As already pointed out it is a very tightly run school with strict discipline but I think thats a good thing.

naughtysmurf

The admission & enrollment policy is on their website,



The school shall select all applications firstly from children whose parent(s) guardian(s) are seeking an education in the Catholic tradition for their son and in the following priority from numbers 1 - 4, a child:

1. who has a brother who is a current student in the school or a brother who previously attended the school and completed his Leaving Certificate examination at the school

2. who is a permanent resident in the parish of the Holy Rosary as defined by parish boundaries, regardless of which primary school he attends

3. who is the son of a staff member of the school

4. who is the son of a past pupil who has completed his Leaving Certificate examination at the school

5.
random selection of pupils for remaining places.

Personally I would consider it the premier boys school in Limerick, I know of people who have rented (legitimatly) in the area and have had no problems getting their son in, I also know of people who have used an address in the parish (not theirs) and been ok also....but they do make some checks

http://www.ardscoil.com/school-policies-3/

naughtysmurf

juneg wrote: »

We dont have any connections. I know the places are very limited.
He would be well able for the workload but I am just concerned that any spare places would go to the sports people?

Being sporty will have nothing to do with it

juneg

At the open night they were very much praising their sports achievements as a school. only so many of those in the local area, they'd have to cherrypick from other clubs

naughtysmurf

If I take my son & his mates attending Ard Scoil as an example, 50% are sporty, 50% not. I'm sure they praised their sporting sucesses, I've no doubt they also highlighted their academic record.

Your sons 'non sportyness' will not have any effect on his application IMO

ninty9er

In my time there discipline was tight, but within reason. The deputy principal at the time was the type who knew a parent, uncle, aunt, neighbour of every pupil and had a good rapport. He was responsible for minor discipline and junior cycle discipline.

Senior cycle pupils were, within reason treated as young adults by most teachers. The TY programme used to be second to none nationally, but those responsible have since retired.

Sport is the main thing you will hear about, but there's the odd equestrian or quiz team formed when the demand is there and some teachers have been excellent at running lunchtime and after school supplementary classes for Leaving Cert pupils.

The teaching staff, whilst not uniformly popular, was the best asset the school had in my time there, and the quality of those hired seemed to reflect the laid back, but no nonsense type discipline that engenders a mutual respect.

I miss the place, sad as that sounds.

jbkenn

Ard Scoil Ris is a secondary school, nothing more, nothing less, like all schools in Ireland, it has some excellent teachers, and, if we are honest, some godawful useless teachers, simply a typical Irish secondary school.
Our experience as parents of students in Ard Schoil, were not what I would be described as memorable, in fact, I would go so far as to say my children succeded in spite of them, not because of them.

naughtysmurf

jbkenn wrote: »

Ard Scoil Ris is a secondary school, nothing more, nothing less, like all schools in Ireland, it has some excellent teachers, and, if we are honest, some godawful useless teachers, simply a typical Irish secondary school.
Our experience as parents of students in Ard Schoil, were not what I would be described as memorable, in fact, I would go so far as to say my children succeded in spite of them, not because of them.

I would agree that it has some excellent teachers & some not so good, same could probably be said of their students

I would disagree with your description of it as being a typical Irish secondary school as it's academic & sporting record compared to other schools nationally would suggest otherwise

You seem to have had a negative experience, fair enough, mine has been positive

By the way OP, it will cost you €250 minimum annual voluntary contribution plus they will nickle & dime you to death for lockers fee, photocopying, bus to match, etc

neverwasser

I went to Ardscoil and I still have mixed feelings about the place, I made great friends there but I feel that if I was in a different school I would have done better academically. I would rate myself as being slightly above average in brains (slightly) but with the larger amount of highly intelligent students in the school I was not given the best of teachers as they tunnelled the best teachers towards them, I was given some awful teachers who turned me off the subjects. As well as that there is an air of superiority about a lot of students there as they come from wealthy backgrounds and that can have a negative effect on a young fella who had bread and butter sandwiches for his 5 years there. Maybe I am looking at it from my own perspective and I am still bitter about my treatment by the longserving male principal who was there in my time.

L.T.P.

neverwasser wrote: »

I went to Ardscoil and I still have mixed feelings about the place, I made great friends there but I feel that if I was in a different school I would have done better academically. I would rate myself as being slightly above average in brains (slightly) but with the larger amount of highly intelligent students in the school I was not given the best of teachers as they tunnelled the best teachers towards them, I was given some awful teachers who turned me off the subjects. As well as that there is an air of superiority about a lot of students there as they come from wealthy backgrounds and that can have a negative effect on a young fella who had bread and butter sandwiches for his 5 years there. Maybe I am looking at it from my own perspective and I am still bitter about my treatment by the longserving male principal who was there in my time.

Couldn't agree more. The better teachers were definitely allocated to the "A" class while the rest of the "Teachers" dealt with everyone else.

Mc Love

neverwasser wrote: »

I went to Ardscoil and I still have mixed feelings about the place, I made great friends there but I feel that if I was in a different school I would have done better academically. I would rate myself as being slightly above average in brains (slightly) but with the larger amount of highly intelligent students in the school I was not given the best of teachers as they tunnelled the best teachers towards them, I was given some awful teachers who turned me off the subjects. As well as that there is an air of superiority about a lot of students there as they come from wealthy backgrounds and that can have a negative effect on a young fella who had bread and butter sandwiches for his 5 years there. Maybe I am looking at it from my own perspective and I am still bitter about my treatment by the longserving male principal who was there in my time.

It was the same in St. Clements - did they ever think that if the good teachers were teaching the bad pupils, then they would have better opportunities in life? I mean the good A class were always going to do well anyway..

zulutango

I went there in the 1990's, and didn't enjoy it much. It has a very narrow ethos and it doesn't produce grounded individuals, in my opinion. While it has a strong academic record, this is mostly due to the fact that practically everybody gets grinds in at least one subject in 5th and 6th year. Also, single sex schools just aren't healthy places. My kids won't be going there.

manna452121

4. who is the son of a past pupil who has completed his Leaving Certificate examination at the school
I went to the school and did not get to do my leaving cert,is this a fair process as to how and where your son can be eductated.My son did go to the school and is now in 2nd year UL.

naughtysmurf

@ OP, Was talking to my sons former primary school principal, he told me that the secondary school is not allowed access to your childs academic records until after a place has been offered so the lack of interest in sport will not be a factor

Just be careful when filling in the secondary school application form, if your son does not meet the entrance criteria for Ard Scoil do not put it down as your first choice because your chances are slim and you may end up with your / his second, third, fourth or fifth choice etc

seachto7

If I ever have kids, I'll be sending them to a mixed school. Single sex school did me no favours when it came to dealing with women all of a sudden in UL..........

juneg

seachto7 wrote: »

If I ever have kids, I'll be sending them to a mixed school. Single sex school did me no favours when it came to dealing with women all of a sudden in UL..........

Now you have to elaborate on that one!!!:D

seachto7

Well, as a youngfella, I only hung around with lads, and I went to an all boys school. Suddenly I was thrown into a class which consisted mainly of women in UL. Which is a good thing. But I had to play a bit of catch up compared to other fellas when it came to dealing with them or working them out. Didn't help that I was shy by nature as well.........

naughtysmurf

I spent a little time in a former life up at the Cresent Comp and I would agree that the students seemed very relaxed in eachothers company and that's a good thing

Whether it's true or not, I'm told that boys in an all boys school do better academically than boys in a mixed school, not as many distractions I suppose

juneg

At this stage I am leaning more towards a co-ed school. The open night for the crescent comp is on tomorrow night so that should be a very interesting evening.

naughtysmurf

juneg wrote: »

At this stage I am leaning more towards a co-ed school. The open night for the crescent comp is on tomorrow night so that should be a very interesting evening.

They have a similar criteria for selection to Ard Scoil, I imagine most / all
schools do, best of luck

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
The term ‘Priority of Selection’ does not constitute a right of entry. The term refers to students who will be offered a place before Random Selection begins. Priority of Selection is at the sole discretion of the Board of Management but, in general, will apply in the following order:
a) Brothers and sisters of present pupils and those who completed their second level education at Crescent College Comprehensive S.J.
b) Boys from Our Lady of Lourdes school
c) Children of school staff
d) The BOM reserves the right to offer a maximum of 5 places each year on behalf of the Trustees, the Jesuit Provincial.

http://www.crescentsj.com/about/admissions-policy/

jbkenn

juneg wrote: »

At this stage I am leaning more towards a co-ed school. The open night for the crescent comp is on tomorrow night so that should be a very interesting evening.

Are you applying yourself? or, are your considering where you will send your child/children?, what exactly, would you imagine would be interesting about tomorrow night?, it is just another state funded secondary school, same as all the rest, it will have an overrated/overpaid Principal, who, like every other Secondary School Principal, will be incapable of running his/her school within budget, so, will sell you some horse**** about whatever, and will skin you to the tune of approx €250 "voluntary contribution" p.a. , plus lockers, plus photocopying, plus, plus......., having sent 4 children through the Primary/Secondary system in this country, I have failed to understand why the average Irish parent is expected to continually subsidise the Japanese photocopying industry, we must keep 000's of the little ****ers in jobs every year.
Enjoy your night out, and don't expect too much.

jordainius

I had to laugh at ASR's selection criteria, I can name more than a few promising young hurlers from county Clare and west Limerick who certainly didn't meet numbers 1 to 4 of the criteria/priorities. The "random selection" has done well for their Harty Cup teams.

AnCapaillMor

jordainius wrote: »

I had to laugh at ASR's selection criteria, I can name more than a few promising young hurlers from county Clare and west Limerick who certainly didn't meet numbers 1 to 4 of the criteria/priorities. The "random selection" has done well for their Harty Cup teams.

They were always up to that, i remember during my entrance exam, one the teachers came in and starting looking at and taking the name of any of the tall guys in the exam. I found out in september that he was the rugby coach.

L.T.P.

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

They were always up to that, i remember during my entrance exam, one the teachers came in and starting looking at and taking the name of any of the tall guys in the exam. I found out in september that he was the rugby coach.

One Desmond Harty by any chance? Legend

Mossess

I’d have to agree with all the posters who said that it is a very academic school. (in my day anyway) And in saying that if you want to get on well you will have to be an academic performer, not just average. Sports are/were encouraged as it helps produce a more rounded individual, and sur, it wears them out.

If, when the time comes, my son is highly academically focused then I will be more than happy to send him to Ardscoil. If he’s not then he won’t be going there. We’ll find the right school to suit him. But like I said, if he is academically focused, he will be going there. He will be in the ideal environment to get high points in the leaving cert. Start at 9, classes till the usual finish time(ish), a small break, then supervised study till 9. It teaches them respect, hard work and above all, getting results.

I’d also have to agree with the bit about losing out on the whole mixed school thing, but, that doesn't take too long to balance out.

seachto7

What about a school pushing the arts as well as sports? Why does a school feel that sports makes a more rounded individual? I'm not saying it doesn't but the secondary school I was in was known as a "hurling school" and a "rugby school". Most in there didn't give 2 ****es if you excelled at art or guitar or piano. But if you were on the provincial schools rugby team, you were seen as some kind of special child......

AnCapaillMor

L.T.P. wrote: »

One Desmond Harty by any chance? Legend

"Basically speaking" i can't comment.

thesimpsons

the school also has a great choir and band there and runs a musical every second year for TY students where everyone has to sing and perform. kids you'd never have expected to perform on stage do really well out of it. Art, music, and technical graphics/DCG is also taken up by loads of students. I believe they have woodwork rooms there now with the new extension. other sports are accommodated but time constraints means that they can't train basketball, soccer, etc. time, facilities and coaches just don't exist for them all I'd say. There are loads of opportunities for the lads to take part in extra stuff too which benefit both the school and producing the rounded individual. Remember, there's no perfect school - just what you or your kids make of it. We're very happy with ASR for ours lads anyway - they would't be highly accademic but they try hard, push themselves that bit and seem to be turning out good rounded individuals as a result.

Insect Overlord

thesimpsons wrote: »

other sports are accommodated but time constraints means that they can't train basketball, soccer, etc. time, facilities and coaches just don't exist for them all I'd say.

That's a shame. A few of the lads in my year won 3 national basketball titles back around '05/06. They were trained by the Limerick team's coach at the time.

Mossess

As Mickey was known to say "The Finest School in Ireland" - And I don't think he was far wrong either.

Cossax

Best school in Ireland.

Also, we won Blackboard Jungle, na na na na hey!

neverwasser

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

"Basically speaking" i can't comment.

Arrgh Arrgh Arrgh, Quagmire.