Moving schools

mits1234

I am having trouble in school and I want to leave the school. The school is a fee paying school and is meant to be a top school but I really don't fit in there well. I don't have much friends there and I dont perform well in tests. There is also the issue that I am treated like **** from most of the class. I want to move to the local school where I know I have friends but fear the school is not very good. It has one if the worst college after school rates but this may be because its relatively new. Should I move or stick it out in my school hoping that that there is light at the end if the tunnel. There are some other pros to the local school as I will also get more time as I normally take a hour long bus journey to and from school.
BTW I'm in 3rd year atm

evolving_doors

mits1234 wrote: »

I am having trouble in school and I want to leave the school. The school is a fee paying school and is meant to be a top school but I really don't fit in there well. I don't have much friends there and I dont perform well in tests. There is also the issue that I am treated like **** from most of the class. I want to move to the local school where I know I have friends but fear the school is not very good. It has one if the worst college after school rates but this may be because its relatively new. Should I move or stick it out in my school hoping that that there is light at the end if the tunnel. There are some other pros to the local school as I will also get more time as I normally take a hour long bus journey to and from school.
BTW I'm in 3rd year atm

Have you talked it over with your folks!

spurious

Talk to your parents. If you are really unhappy where you are, then you could move after the Junior.

College progression rates are only part of the picture of a school, so don't make your decision entirely on that. You have to remember a school's results depend a great deal on the abilities and strengths of the students they take in.

By their nature, fee-paying schools take in almost exclusively children with interested parents, committed to their education. Not all schools are as lucky, but when 'lower achieving' schools get a high achieving student in the door, the stops are often pulled out. In my own school (which was in inner city Dublin) we organised HL classes in Maths and Irish for very very small groups of students, in some cases single figures.

You could show this thread to your parents. They want the best for you. I'm sure they would feel terrible if they thought their choice of school was making you unhappy. Make an appointment to visit the school you are thinking of going to. Talk to the teachers, see what sort of a 'feel' you get for it. You already know some people who go there. Ask them honestly what they think of it - do they feel safe/happy there?

evolving_doors

I'd echo the above as regards transfer rates to college. In a previous school I'd taught in it was fairly mixed socio economic backgrounds (DEIS status). Once a student with any aptitude/motivation came along they were well looked after. The school regularly appears at the bottom of the league tables for transfer rates but yet it's consistantly had it's fair share of lawyers and doctors over the years.

In saying all that, the right environment has to be provided to study in so I'd assume there are some schools where this environment is very difficult to provide. You'ld be surprised how much a walk around a school during a school day can give you a feel for the school. I'm not suggesting you 'go under cover' but maybe ask your parents to schedule a 'chat' with the principal or vice principal during a school day (if possible).

As regards the 'quality of teaching', don't forget that the vast majority of Irish teachers all attended the same teacher training, so it's not as if the 'Fee Paying School' teachers went to a 'better' college. Of course in a fee paying school the results are what the parents pay for so the teachers are under a lot of pressure to get 'a lot' of high grades. So you're probably used to the freedom of a less disruptive classroom environment , but if you engage with the teacher/topic in any school then you'll probably be alright.

I don't want to come across as 'telling' you to move as there are probably more factors to consider but I would say to maybe stick it out until the Junior Cert is over. It might be a good time to enter a new school when TY is starting as a lot of the regular students will be 'finding their feet' during that year too. Then again, the TY in your current school might be a good opportunity for you to mingle with different groups within your year too! I know in our school that's what a lot of the students comment on when the TY year is over... "working with students you wouldn't normally hang around with etc."

Just make sure the school you go to is actually taking in new students for the next term, you might end up saying things you shouldn't have said and then finding out that the move isn't possible (usually schools are delighted to get more numbers in though!!). Check out if your subject preferences are there in the new school too .. it might be something to think about if you are really strong in a certain subject but it's not offered in the new school!

ustazjoseph

I work a bit with early school leavers and have met a lot of people who are unhappy in the system. Sometimes its not just the school. Sometimes moving really helps , sometimes other issues still remain. At the end of the day you do your own leaving cert. Your teachers are just one resource. The net , your friends and family also are a resource. How the circumstances around you can support you is important. as other posters said, talk to your family. Talk to your guidance counselor. take your time. Moving schools can be a big jump. Although it may seem obvious do check with your "new " school. some schools don't like taking new students part way through . The schools record is one thing , its what you do that counts. good luck !