Gaelscoil Na Giuise Firhouse

kateobrien33

wondering if anyone has any feedback on Gaelscoil na Giuise in Firhouse? Sending my second boy to primary school in Sep 2019 and not sure at all where to go as my older guy is in St Olafs. We have moved to Firhouse and I am looking at the Gaelscoil as my favorite option but I have no clue of application process, feedback from current parents etc.

byhookorbycrook

kateobrien33 wrote: »

wondering if anyone has any feedback on Gaelscoil na Giuise in Firhouse? Sending my second boy to primary school in Sep 2019 and not sure at all where to go as my older guy is in St Olafs. We have moved to Firhouse and I am looking at the Gaelscoil as my favorite option but I have no clue of application process, feedback from current parents etc.

Gaelscoileanna are incredibly popular , so you may be too late for next year . Check out their enrollment policy on the school website .

MamaiN

Hi Kate,

Hopefully you will have received some feedback elsewhere by now but I've just stumbled across your thread and hope I can help a bit.

I have 2 kids in Gaelscoil na Giúise and a 3rd starting next year. This year the school finally moved into their brand new 16 classroom building complete with sports hall, library, 3 school yards and lots more. From an academic perspective, the kids are thriving and it blows me away how quickly they pick up fluency as gaeilge.
My kids have done everything from yoga to fencing to zumba in school and those opportunities will only increase now they have their own permanent school. There are also after-school classes available a couple of days a week - art, sport and science this term.

Gaelscoil na Giúise is a developing school so as far as I know it's not yet oversubscribed. I'd suggest contacting the school secretary and she will be able to give you an indication of how many places will be offered for next year but I'm sure it's not too late for your little fella for next September.

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

kateobrien33 wrote: »

wondering if anyone has any feedback on Gaelscoil na Giuise in Firhouse? Sending my second boy to primary school in Sep 2019 and not sure at all where to go as my older guy is in St Olafs. We have moved to Firhouse and I am looking at the Gaelscoil as my favorite option but I have no clue of application process, feedback from current parents etc.

LadyT2018

Hi Katie,

My daughter was one of the first classes in Gaelscoil na Giuise which was originally located in the Community center in Firhouse. We are changing schools in September 2019. She's 8 years old, can't read and I've had to hire a private tutor at a cost of €35 per hour to help her. My daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia in August, she is entitled to assisted technology as per her report and it's now mid-November and nothing. She is expected to attend school daily without the correct resources and supports in place.

The parents association don't want to know. If it doesn't affect them directly they will not support you taking any issues to the principle. Save yourself and your child a whole lot of hassle and find a school that actually knows how to educate children, has the capacity, compassion and the supports in place if God forbid you have a child that needs a little help, care and attention. Already a number of children have left the school in my daughters class. I think she might be the 3rd or fourth child to go. That's just in her class in the 5 years it's been open. There were 18 in her class originally, she's in a split class now with two teachers "job sharing". I honestly have nothing positive to say about this school. As for "The Board" there is a conflict of interest in that there is a "husband & wife" team on the board so you'll never get anywhere with them either. My experience is that the parents association will only assist you if they can benefit in some way, they won't go against the board, nor will they challenge the Principle <snipped>

I've had a path worn to the school over the past 5 years and I'm counting the days to next June when we can close that chapter in our lives. School is supposed to be the happiest in our children's lives. This school is full of snobs, wannabe's and people who think they are "all that".

The extracurricular activities only happened last year because the parents fought to get them for the children. nothing was in place before last year and it was constant campaigning showcasing what other local schools had to offer when eventually the children were offered art and sport on Tues and Thurs for one hour after school, paid for by parents of course.

Good luck finding a school for your son, if you don't speak Irish yourself then don't bother, they look down their noses at you for that too.

byhookorbycrook

To be fair, assistive technology may be recommended by a particular professional, even when the child does not qualify for it, under DES rules .Hardly the fault of the school if a SENO turns it down as a result .

Once upon a time , a child with dyslexia get resource time automatically , the DES decided this wasn’t a good use of time and now a child with dyslexia isn’t automatically entitled to anything .
After school activities aren’t in the remit of a school or its staff , it’s normal to pay for after school activities , why wouldn’t it be?

You do need to research the role of the PTA vs the BOM as you seem to be confusing the two.

LadyT2018

Assistive technology was not just recommended in her report it was outlined as a necessity for my dd to access course content. DD is in the 1st percentile dyslexia. There is no worst-case scenario. She does qualify, received notification last week. The problem is the length of time it's taken the school to process her application and implement the recommendations set out in her Dyslexia Association of Ireland's report.

According to the Key Actions For Primary Schools and the Special Education Teaching Parent Support Handbook. DD is entitled to access learning support and any other supports available i.e she should have her books in digital format on her IPad and she should receive learning support. This information, these handbooks can be sourced from Dyslexia Assoc. Of Ireland and Dept of Education. The information is there for parents and schools to access.

Parents have no problem paying for Afterschool Activities, that was never the issue. The point is there is limited/no after school activities compared to other primary schools.

I understand the role of the BOM as I do the Parents Assoc. The parents assoc are just there to fundraise for the school IMO.

The OP asked for feedback on Gaelscoil Na Guise and I gave it. My honest experience of the school. Presently my DD is facing her 3rd week out of school because Gaelscoil Na Guise has failed to provide her with the proper supports she is entitled too as outlined in the Key Actions For Primary Schools and the Special Education Teaching Parent Support handbook. We've had to contact the Dept of Ed and the Educational Welfare Officer in our local area. If our dd was in a wheelchair the school would have to provide ramps and other supports to allow my daughter to attend school. Because my dd has an "invisible disability" she is expected to attend school daily without the correct supports in place. We are waiting 5 months now for the correct supports as outlined in the DAI report, this is unacceptable for any school and soul destroying for a child with a learning disability.

This is my experience of the school, the board of management etc etc. I am well versed on what my daughter is entitled to being 1st percentile dyslexic. I am a member of DAI who has been amazing and supported us throughout this harrowing, difficult time. Being Dyslexic is difficult enough, going to school every day not receiving the correct supports ostracises a child, diminishes their self-esteem and damages them irreversibly later on in life. We know our son is 22 and living proof of a school system that is flawed, doesn't work and needs updating.

Back to the OP. If you do not speak Irish {the annual school reports are all in Irish} and you think your child might have any issues e.g if a sibling is dyslexic or has sensory issues - Anything at all, please do not send your child to this school. Words cannot express the heartache, torment and sheer frustration we encounter every single day while our dd attends this school. We are looking for an English speaking school for her, it's very difficult as places are already allocated. However, we are hopeful the Dept of Ed and The Educational Welfare Officer will find something for dd soon. In the meantime, she remains at home until the issue is resolved. This school has its own agenda, it does not cater to children that are unique, different or challenged in any way. It caters for parents who speak Irish and wants their children to excel in the Irish language period. That has been our experience in the last 5 years. The OP asked for feedback - That's ours.

byhookorbycrook

Handbooks mean nothing to the DES or to SENOs , If you look at any SEN forum , you will find parents and teachers in equal measure frustrated with refusal after refusal for assistive technology / SNA provision / extra support hours . I see it every day .

I’m sorry your child has suffered so much and that you feel the school has been so unsupportive. I will repeat though , that no primary school is obliged to provide after school classes or activities .

LadyT2018

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

that no primary school is obliged to provide after-school classes or activities .

I understand that I'm just making the OP aware that there are little afterschool activities at this particular school. In case she needs to access them.

bringoutthegimp

kateobrien33 wrote: »

wondering if anyone has any feedback on Gaelscoil na Giuise in Firhouse? Sending my second boy to primary school in Sep 2019 and not sure at all where to go as my older guy is in St Olafs. We have moved to Firhouse and I am looking at the Gaelscoil as my favorite option but I have no clue of application process, feedback from current parents etc.

Howdy.

I have a couple of kids in the school for a few years now. Pretty happy with it and the kids are happy in general (the usual gripes you'd probably get in any school I'm sure).

Has a lot of good points:

Brand new amazing school building in a really good location if you need to head onto to m50 or town after drop off.

Very friendly bunch of parents, no toxic cliques that I have noticed anyway. The Irish isn't a big deal, I'd say 95% of conversations at drop off and pick up are in english, it's not a "thing", nobody looks at you sideways. I think the cupla focal is appreciated as you pick it up.. the teachers run irish evening classes for parents if there's enough interest. It's not a gaelgoir mafia institution or anything like that.. I'd be stunned if the main reason most of the parents sent their kids there was specifically for the irish.

All the stuff the school sends out is in irish and english including the end of year reports. PT meetings are done through english if you want, no big deal.

Parents Association run some good events through the year, table quizzes and the like. You'd also see a load of parents at the local GAA club on a saturday morning, great for getting to know other people in the area if you have just moved.. as I said very friendly bunch!

As with all schools the teachers vary in terms of how much the kids love them or not, but my experience has been that they are doing a solid job. They run after school science club and art club, and I think football as well. Some parents run after school religion if you're into that (it's a multi d school so no religion during school time). Some of the teachers can get the bit between their teeth on things.. one of the classess actually had a stand and science project at this years young scientist in the RDS and they all went on the bus for the day.. didn't even know primary schools could do young scientist!

Can't think of any points I'd define as really "bad", and probably nothing you wouldn't find in any school. The only thing I'd say is that the school isn't really active on facebook so if you rely on that to know what's going on you might be flying blind sometimes, but there's an email newsletter sent out regularly enough by the principal (and if a nit is found in a kids hair you will know within 5 minutes by email!!).