Should I move child out of Gaelscoil to avail of Irish exemption

taytay123

My child has been diagnosed with dyslexia. They are in a gaelscoil at the moment. They have never received any extra resourcing.

It's a strain on them but they are happy with their friends and teachers. It is getting progressively more difficult though (3rd class) and anxiety around schoolwork is increasing.

However if in an English medium school the assessment scores would have been low enough for us to avail of an Irish exemption.

In the long run perhaps it is better to move schools and avail of it. Apparently it is much harder to get an exemption once you reach secondary school.

Wondering if anyone who has been through this can talk me through the pros and cons. Eg in secondary school perhaps it limits the number of subjects you can do.

How does the process work? I believe the principal, resource department and parents make the decision together. How does this work if moving from a gaelscoil and the new school is signing off on the exemption? My child has never had any extra resourcing. Will some schools be more likely to sign off on the exemption than others? If looking at new schools how can I tell whether or not they would be likely to sign off on it.

I just want to make life easier for my child and for them to maximise their potential. They are already going to have to work harder than the average child to keep up.

taytay123

Just bumping this up

witchgirl26

Is the Irish actually causing them an issue or is it school work in general? If they're struggling, would you not look into getting the additional resources where they are rather than uprooting them from friends & teachers they like to a new school?

My son is in a gaelscoil but only 5 so we don't have this concern yet but if he was diagnosed & happy in the school, I'd explore the options before getting him an exemption just because the scores say he could possibly have it. My nephew has the exemption but he was obviously and clearly struggling with Irish for all of primary school & got it in 5th class (he's in 1st year now). But that said the clear problem was the Irish there as opposed to anything else.

Honestly before jumping the gun on moving schools, I'd have a few meetings with their teachers and the school to get the extra resourcing if that's what's needed now.

taytay123

Thanks. Unfortunately not eligible for out of class help or any individual support as sten results weren't low enough. An English medium school would mean practicing English writing etc for the majority of the day. Currently it's only about half an hour per day. A gaelscoil principal cannot sign off on an Irish exemption. It is very difficult to get an Irish exemption in secondary school and so most children will get the paperwork for the exemption sorted towards the end of primary school so that it is place for secondary. So if we are to have the option of availing of an exemption we can't stay in a gaelscoil. The main issue is writing, processing speed etc. Realistically it is probably more important to focus on English writing and perhaps remove the pressure of having to learn to write in Irish. It's a really tough decision.

witchgirl26

I'm surprised at the out of class help - my nieces school had that without any results needed. They both were falling behind in reading, so a group was taken who were similar & extra work done with them for 30 mins a day as standard in the school. Neither of them had any assessments or anything done. Helped get them back up to the same level as peers.

I don't think it's that difficult to get the Irish exemption in secondary school - just that you need to have all the ducks in a row before starting really. However I don't have experience so can't say for sure. Realistically though you need to look at how your child is now - is it just taking them a little longer to get the reading & writing done or a lot longer. I would question if the scores would be low enough to get an exemption from a subject but not low enough to get help if there is a misunderstanding there on the scores? Because I would imagine if they were low enough for an exemption, there should be some level of additional support needed.

Flinty997

Its a issue of the best use of resources and the capacity of the child. Unless you need Irish for possible careers. If you lighten the load all that effort can go into other subjects. End up with more points in the long run.

I tried with mine because I think it's culturally important. Extra private help etc. But the Irish teachers didn't meet us halfway. Tbh Very hard to get private resources. So I gave up and focused the kids on other subjects they would do better in. For me that means dropping them to pass. But if I had an exclusion I'd go that route. We just outside of the rules for that.

If it requires changing schools thats could be a huge complication with peer group and friends. If a child was doing ok, id be reluctant to charge them.

taytay123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645309#Comment_122645309

Drumcondra tests are the standardised tests used to determine a schools requirement for resourcing. They are multiple choice and in second class the questions can sometimes be read out loud by the teacher, therefore as the educational psychologist explained to me a bright child with dyslexia can make educated guesses and get a result that doesn't reflect their difficulties. They don't test for things like reading fluency, pseudo word decoding, discrepancy between verbal comprehension and reading ability etc that will highlight dyslexia. Our school won't do drumcondras again till the end of 4th class and there may be a significant drop at that stage but that is two academic years away. You need to get a sten 3 or below to be eligible for resourcing.

There have been cuts to resourcing by the dept of education this year. Perhaps your nieces were in school a few years ago when the system was different.

It has been gradually more and more different to get exemptions. An oireachteas committee this Feb 2024 reviewed the exemptions and they suggest that only 2-3 % of children should receive them, ie children with multiple needs and immigrants facing multiple challenges. At least 10% of the population is dyslexic. The report was only published in Irish which made it very inaccessible. I would think anyone who is eligible for an exemption and wants it should get it sorted asap as it sounds like things will tighten up even further.

taytay123

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. The peer group is ok. The school work is not and there are no learning supports. The difficulty with school work is creating anxiety and exhaustion which is interfering with her being able to interact happily with her peers. So it's a catch 22 and a really hard decision.

taytay123

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. The peer group is ok. The school work is not and there are no learning supports. The difficulty with school work is creating anxiety and exhaustion which is interfering with her being able to interact happily with her peers. So it's a catch 22 and a really hard decision.

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122646813#Comment_122646813

My nieces are both still in primary school so it wasn't a few years ago.

The extra class was for any student that the teacher felt was falling behind in either reading, writing or maths. There was an SNA who would take a group & do the appropriate work with them for 30 mins & they would get the homework from that teacher for what they were with them for. So my nieces case, it was reading. They didn't have to do the class reading while they were under that extra help. Others was maths. Once the SNA thought they were back up to their peer level, they rotated back into their class as normal. This has been since Covid.

Flinty997

The resources seem to shrinking. It's worse in secondary.

taytay123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648673#Comment_122648673

That's really good I guess individual schools must vary in how they are delivering their learning supports.