Laurel Hill Secondary School-not the Colaiste

LJquest

Can anyone tell me about the Laurel Hill Secondary School please- just generally, is it to be recommended, have you a daughter going there, or did you go there yourself.

Avatar MIA

LJquest wrote: »

Can anyone tell me about the Laurel Hill Secondary School please- just generally, is it to be recommended, have you a daughter going there, or did you go there yourself.

It would be considered a very good school.

However, it will be over subscribed from an application point of view, and therefore any applicant may not get it as their first choice.

naughtysmurf

LJquest wrote: »

Can anyone tell me about the Laurel Hill Secondary School please- just generally, is it to be recommended, have you a daughter going there, or did you go there yourself.

http://www.laurelhillsecondary.com

Some information there, our daughter will be starting next September, we chose it as we felt it would be the best fit for her, it would IMO have generally the best reputation of all girl secondary Schools in Limerick

Neighbours & friends of ours whose daughters go there all seem happy with it

LJquest

Thanks v much for your replies, our daughter has been offered a place for next September, we are really happy about it as we didnt think she would. Just hoping to find out a little more as I am not originally from Limerick.

naughtysmurf

LJquest wrote: »

Thanks v much for your replies, our daughter has been offered a place for next September, we are really happy about it as we didnt think she would. Just hoping to find out a little more as I am not originally from Limerick.

They will be expecting €500 per year contribution, last year's was cancelled because of terrorism threats in Europe but a European trip for first years has been usual, approx 1k + spends so it's gonna cost ya (us)

There is four first year classes starting next September, last year three so extra places were available this year compared to last & most likely next, if you have other younger daughters, they will now have automatic right of entry

Alongside the academic stuff, the current principal likes his sports, drama & music too, that's how he promotes the school anyway

Realbhoy

naughtysmurf wrote: »

http://www.laurelhillsecondary.com

Some information there, our daughter will be starting next September, we chose it as we felt it would be the best fit for her, it would IMO have generally the best reputation of all girl secondary Schools in Limerick

Neighbours & friends of ours whose daughters go there all seem happy with it

Just wondering how it compares with its sister school the Colaiste? With them both being from the same ethos surely there can't be much difference between them? No child in either of them by the way.

naughtysmurf

Realbhoy wrote: »

Just wondering how it compares with its sister school the Colaiste? With them both being from the same ethos surely there can't be much difference between them? No child in either of them by the way.

We were advised by our daughters primary school principal not to consider the Colaiste UNLESS we had strong cultural reasons for choosing it, their results are very good nationally but it was indicated to us that a lot of grinds would be required, our daughter didn't want to learn through Irish anyway,

Seemingly those who attend Colaiste have a higher drop out rate at third level because of having to adjust to learning through English again

Realbhoy

Thanks for the reply. Interesting about the drop out rates. Is there any source for the drop out rates nationally I wonder? Would be interesting to see is it a trend with the Irish medium secondary schools

sleepyman

I think there's a feeling that they cherry pick the brightest kids in the city and county-this probably contributes to the good results.
I know they did when my sister went there.Maybe it's changed now.

naughtysmurf

sleepyman wrote: »

I think there's a feeling that they cherry pick the brightest kids in the city and county-this probably contributes to the good results.
I know they did when my sister went there.Maybe it's changed now.

They will deny that of course, the reality is that they do, to an extent, along with some other schools, for example, Ard Scoil Ris

By the time that those who have right of entry are allowed for, there won't be many places for those with no former connection to the school, they will cherry pick from the remaining applications, if it was an open lottery for the remaining places there would be no need for parent(s) to go & hand deliver the application along with school reports, Drumcondra results & basically interview for a place, I'm not saying it's right but it is the reality

sleepyman

naughtysmurf wrote: »

They will deny that of course, the reality is that they do, to an extent, along with some other schools, for example, Ard Scoil Ris

By the time that those who have right of entry are allowed for, there won't be many places for those with no former connection to the school, they will cherry pick from the remaining applications, if it was an open lottery for the remaining places there would be no need for parent(s) to go & hand deliver the application along with school reports, Drumcondra results & basically interview for a place, I'm not saying it's right but it is the reality

Yeah Ard Scoil would have been guilty of the same.In fairness to them they did have kids from Moyross,Balla when I was there aswell as lads from NCR,SCR,Parteen,Croom,Castletroy etc.I'm not so sure you'd find many in the Colaiste from the working class areas of the city.They also used to call the Irish school the''a'' school which further perpetuated a certain academic snobbery

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sleepyman wrote: »

I'm not so sure you'd find many in the Colaiste from the working class areas of the city.

It's not the the social class, but the ability to speak Irish well enough to attend which will influence the pool of applicants.

alroley

naughtysmurf wrote: »

We were advised by our daughters primary school principal not to consider the Colaiste UNLESS we had strong cultural reasons for choosing it, their results are very good nationally but it was indicated to us that a lot of grinds would be required, our daughter didn't want to learn through Irish anyway,

Seemingly those who attend Colaiste have a higher drop out rate at third level because of having to adjust to learning through English again

Results in Irish language schools are generally better due to there being a way lower number of special educational needs students too.

sleepyman

Avatar MIA wrote: »

It's not the the social class, but the ability to speak Irish well enough to attend which will influence the pool of applicants.

The reality is that the pupils who are good at Irish tend to be good academically and from said areas bar the odd exception.

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sleepyman wrote: »

The reality is that the pupils who are good at Irish tend to be good academically and from said areas bar the odd exception.

I wouldn't disagree with that. There's a high correlation between financial comfort and academic performance, including Irish proficiency.

But lack of attendance at the colaiste is not because they are from working class areas. It's a fine, but important distinction.

thesimpsons

naughtysmurf wrote: »

We were advised by our daughters primary school principal not to consider the Colaiste UNLESS we had strong cultural reasons for choosing it, their results are very good nationally but it was indicated to us that a lot of grinds would be required, our daughter didn't want to learn through Irish anyway,

Seemingly those who attend Colaiste have a higher drop out rate at third level because of having to adjust to learning through English again

2 daughters though the colaiste and numerous friends and none have dropped out of 3rd level because of having to adjust to english. English is the first language for 99% of these children, classes are often taught bilingually and alot of the text books are in english with irish handout notes. The very odd time, one of my daughters might struggle for a few seconds to find the right word for something in english but its usually in a technical subject.

Admittedly some kids in Colaiste have grinds but its the same in Ard Scoil Ris, Laurel Hill Secondary (English), Castletroy, etc. in most cases I've found these grinds are not to help a child to pass a subject, its to go from a B to an A. There are many many high achievers in Colaiste. Many girls go from english primary schools to the Colaiste too, its not just from gaelscoil primaries. From this, the girls who go to Colaiste from english primaries know they have to work that little bit harder to get control of the irish language but usually by Christmas of 1st year, the girls have well adjusted.