Bray School Project

Bagheera

My son has just been offered a place here and as we're fairly new to the area we don't know much about it. He also has a place in St Patricks but I'd be happier with the co-ed, non-denominational and non-uniform aspects of BSP. However I want to make sure he's going to a good school also! I'd appreciate any thoughts on BSP.

xyz123

Can't speak for BSP but our son has just finished two years in st Patrick's and I'd only have good things to say about it. Would have had similar reservations about denomination, uniform etc but it's been fine.

foxy06

Would also recommend St Patricks but have no experience with bsp

fenris

They are two very good but very different schools, my son went to St Patrick's and my daughter to BSP so I have experience of both.

There is a much much greater amount of time spent on religion in St. Patrick's and there is a much more traditional approach in terms of large amounts of homework in contrast to BSP where there is a lot less time spent on "gods class". Boys are very transitory in St Patrick's as they move up the road to St Cronin's (fantastic school) after senior infants. My son's teachers were lovely but boys just don't really seem to fit in as a result of being noisier and more boisterous than the girls and simply being young boys in a girls school as opposed to boys in a mixed school.
The change in dynamic with the move to Cronin's is unbelievable and it may be worth just getting through the St Patrick's bit and biding your time for Cronin's which is very definitely a school where boys can really thrive.
Look at Patrick's as a package including Cronin's and you get a more balanced picture that will get you over most of the frustrations that you may experience with Patrick's. To be honest, if I hadn't had experience of BSP I would not have known that things can be different. Cronin's is a big boys school with excellent facilities and staff that really know how manage and focus the energy levels that come with a class of young lads.

BSP is a very different experience, in some ways it appears a lot less structured but everything gets covered and covered well, there is a real sense of fun and a lot more interaction with the school as a parent and with the other parents socially, where you are pretty much expected to drop your kid at the gate and leave it to the experts in the national school system, the educate together system actively welcomes and seeks out involvement from parents at a much higher level and you do need to factor in a higher level of your parental involvement to get the best out of it.
There is almost no homework in junior stages of BSP, to the extent that I actually went and asked to check if my daughter was pretending that she didn't get any, as my son regularly had a half hours worth in senior infants (no more than 10 mins, my arse) and most other parents reported the same, but it was just that the material was being covered in school and there was very little need to send any home. I very much get the feeling that the huge amount of time that is dedicated to communions etc. by NS in their respective school years is seen as an opportunity by educate together schools to push on the non core subjects without losing any ground.

You are not just picking schools at this stage you are actually choosing an educational ethos, so you need to clear and be comfortable with that.
in fairness both systems get to the same place but by different routes, I was able to benchmark my two kids and they were handling the same books etc. at the same ages, my daughter had a much broader view of different cultures because for example Asian or Eastern European parents would come in and talk to the kids about where they came from, their food, what it was like growing up etc. so it was a bit more alive and we washed a hell of a lot more paint and glitter out of my daughters clothes at equivalent points in their schooling!

We moved from Bray and both my kids are now in the same school and thriving, my daughter did have a bit of and adjustment due to the uniform but she got over that, my son wouldn't have given a monkeys as being a boy he couldn't care less what he wore going to school and would wander out in his pajamas if he could, academically my daughter was where she should have been and slightly ahead in some areas, while being a bit bemused about the religion part only focusing on one lot of stories.
The mixed school is a positive benefit from my son's perspective and is worth thinking about as it rounds off the corners a bit earlier than learning the hard way in teenage years that girls see the world a bit differently!.

You may find that childcare and pickup drop off arrangements have a bigger influence on your choice than any of the above concerns :-)