Changing schools for Leaving Cert cycle

gary29428

Hi

My daughter just finished up TY last months but the last 3 or 4 months of it was hard going. She had her 1 or 2 friends but over the course of a few days they dropped her as they got into the "cool gang". The classes have always been a bit clicky and for the last few months since she was dropped she's been pretty much excluded. For the most part there seemed to be a lot of free time in TY, sitting around chatting of which my daughter was usually excluded. I think the exclusion would be very much a distraction for her as she starts her leaving cert in September, we have the option to move schools but she is very worried about "finding a group". To the teachers out there who have had students move at this stage in there school life generally how do they get along. Might she be better off staying put as I'm sure the 5th will give less opportunity for sitting around chatting or is she as well to get a fresh start.

Thanks

Treppen

It's a tricky one. Maybe it depends on the type of school(s) too.

Ours is fairly academic so TY is quickly forgotten about once 5th year kicks off, also it's a big enough school too so all the students are mixed with different groups again depending on subject choice. That kind of puts a damper on cliques developing. They were mixed in TY away from regular form groups too so made more friends outside of the norm.

Im getting the sense that your daughter's yeargroup is fairly small though.

Does she have friends outside of the school, or friends in the potential new school?

Don't forget to consider if she'll get the subjects she wants in another school. The new school might promise X,y,z but when the timetable is done they might have to cut a subject or limit class sizes, or put two subject choices at the same time against each other.

Just to give a heads up.... once July hits alot of schools shut up shop completely till about second week in August.

Consuelano

That is really horrible to read, and not just tough on your daughter, but horrendous for you watching on feeling rather helpless.

I would say that moving schools over the issue is a bit extreme. Kids that age are fickle enough and many change friends/friendship groups when they change into a new cycle of school. I've observed many kids flourish socially once they get to 5th and 6th year. In JC and TY, they tend to be stuck in the same groups day-in day-out which can allow for cliques to develop, but in 5th year (depending on the size of the school) she'll be with different cohorts for every subject which will allow much more opportunity to bond with classmates she may not have encountered before. And as you said, there'll be much less opportunity for sitting around chatting.

My advice would be to stay put and encourage your daughter to join a club/sport/drama group/society outside of school. That way, if things don't progress socially in school, she'll have somewhere else to fill that void.

gary29428

Appreciate the comments, we have a meeting with the principle of the new school tomorrow just to keep that option open while we figure out what to do. Her current school is fairly small so I think there may still be some issues....thanks again for the time you took to comment, it's a great help to hear from the teaching side.

am_zarathustra

We have always had a few students join in 5th for similar reasons, it can often just be a fresh start and we are mixed so often issues that existed in a single school that were causing problems just aren't there. It would be very dependent on the schools, both the one she's in and the one she's thinking about going to! Meeting the principal is a good step though, it'll give you more information to make a better decision! Unfortunately with staff absenses a lot of TYs were not all they should have been this year!