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Secondary school choices in Dublin South

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  • Registered Users Posts: 32 connorsmith


    yes, if conside the art level, I would like to choose Loreto College Foxrock as this school 'students can get rewards of the Texaco Art Competition every year.But another side, it seems some people do not recommerd this school. And this school is not far from Sandyford.




  • Registered Users Posts: 15 TruCal


    I don't think they are not explicitly recommending Loreto Foxrock, but rather expressing opinions and views about the schools they probably have experience with as their children went to / are going to ...

    I have 2 daughters in Loreto Foxrock, 5th and 2nd yrs, quality of teaching is high, both are very happy & have great groups of friends, lots of foreign students attend school, lots of extra-curriculum activities to chose from... The older daughter will study art & design in NCAD and she gets the full support from the school (she was a honourable mention in Texaco Art Competition among other achievements). One thing to highlight is that the older daughter was also competing on a very high level in one particular sport (she was training 15-20h a week) and school did their utmost to enable her to endure such difficult and packed weekly schedule - I do not think this would be achievable without their support as well. Please bear in mind that this is my own subjective view of the matter, but our experience with the school is excellent.

    (In terms of LC results - perhaps this helps, but as other posters explained, you should take this just as a general guide - https://extras.thetimes.co.uk/web/public/pdfs/4ae37f2231c180216b94a71160d8aaac.pdf )

    Hope this helps :)



  • Registered Users Posts: 32 connorsmith


    thanks for sharing. Your daughter is excellent and my daughter should learn from them. We may meet at this school later.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭JDD


    Hi connorsmith - where did you opt for in the end? I am interested to know as I also live along the Green Luas line and am pondering schools for my daughters. I went to Alexandra College myself, so I have their names down there, but I also know that there's a feeder bus from my area to Loreto Foxrock, so that's also an option. A couple of friends went to Loreto Foxrock, and although they are lovely I always got the impression that that particular Loreto was quite snobbish. Now, they went there 20 years ago and Alexandra had it's own issues with snobbishness, but I'd be really interested to know what it is like now.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,004 ✭✭✭Theboinkmaster


    Be very careful of Mount Anville - the school presently and historically has a very bad reputation in Dublin for bullying. I know several parents who have had to remove their daughters.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭JDD


    That's a pity to hear - two good friends are intending on sending their daughters there. Is it just that the school takes no action when bullying is reported?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,004 ✭✭✭Theboinkmaster


    yes exactly and it's the culture of the school and always has been. driven by the principal.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2 imtheking


    I would highly recommend Loreto college Stephens green for daughter and CUS Leeson Street around the corner for boys. Our daughter is very arty and loves art in Loreto on the Green. Our son is academic and loves rugby, CUS is great fit. Both schools close to transport links in/out town. Nice mix of kids in both schools from different parts of dublin- Clontarf, sandymount, Malahide etc etc.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 777 ✭✭✭dRNk SAnTA


    Just a note to people from overseas who may read this thread in future. Comparing Leaving Cert results between differing years from the period between 2020 and 2023 is very dangerous because during the COVID crisis there was extreme grade inflation due to a change in the way papers were marked. On average, all students in 2021 received higher grades than the equivalent in 2019.

    I would recommend only comparing school results of the same year, and I would personally pay more attention to the results from 2019 and earlier.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    You can't compare school results afaik. You can only compare college entry results, which is a different thing altogether.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 282 ✭✭sekond


    Yes. And doesn't include any assessment of whether college was the right place for all of the pupils. I think its something like 80% of school leavers are now going on to higher education. Some schools with a lower progression to HE rate might actually be taking the time to consider what is best for the student and not just funnelling them to HE, but actually pointing them to apprenticeships (the new ones are a world away from the old craft apprenticeships), further education, or higher education overseas, which isn't captured in the data.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,278 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    You also need to factor in what selection process, if any, was used on intake.



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    Ridiculous advice, what if the local school is awful.

    I would visit a lot of schools at closing time, see how the students behave,one clue is how overweight the students are, if parents cant be bothered to feed their children properly or enrol them in sports facilities then they wont be people you will relate to.

    If i cant relate to these parents then i wont expect my children to relate to their off spring.

    Its really really important to pick the right school, I paid for private education for my children and their friends are the hardest working most driven people i have ever met,all have done very well for themselves.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,113 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    The original post was relevant to the summer of 2022, I doubt the thread has any further purpose.



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    True, you would need to know if a particular school was very welcoming to special needs children, this would mean you would have a very large number needing extra help while the nearby schools would have no special needs students at all.

    These schools without children needing extra help would of course have better results.

    Some parents will pay school fees for the academic children and send the not so bright ones to the local school who are welcoming to special needs students.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,105 ✭✭✭Trigger Happy


    Absolute garbage. And a sh1t attitude to boot.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,726 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Nonsense, is anything you pay extra for the not so gifted chld some get better support that suits his needs. Also Private schools are not renowned for academics.



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    Do you actually know many leaving cert students, there is huge money being paid to teachers offering grinds to students wanting high points.

    The private schools do get good results, why wouldnt they, they are getting bright children who want to do well, children whose parents are willing to pick them up late after after school study, willing to drop and pick them up from grinds, willing to pay for the Gaeltacht, willing to pay for two weeks in Spain or France or Germany or wherever.

    Willing to do whatever it takes to get their child into whatever third level course they want.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,726 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    sending a child to a private school and grinds are 2 different things.

    I know my brother went to a public school and I went to a private school, we would be more academic than me.

    the school I went to was very much sport focused. The results weren’t €36,000 better than kids who went to public schools. Sure the ambition, expectations and privilege was higher.


    my daughter goes to a public school which outperforms private schools ever year with results.



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    Many of the children who go to private school get grinds too, they know exactly what they want and they have huge parental support.

    That is one of the benefits of paying, you value what you pay for and hope your children will too.

    Its not just the academics, its the sports facilities, the library, the computers, the arts, the music, everything available at school.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    It's funny how you pretend to be so concerned about obesity and academic results, while you consider making active choices that will reduce obesity and improve academic results as 'ridiculous'.


    But hey, don't let your personal biases hold you back there from making really bad decisions.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    The main purpose for Maisie resurrecting the thread is so that Maisie can have a go at me. I'm cracking up here laughing at how much time she must have spent scrolling through my back catalogue to find something to argue with.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    How are the private schools getting bright children. Are they refusing to take less bright children?



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    Yes, they will say we dont have the facilities, the community school down the road would be a better fit.



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    Patents who value education are not going to put walking or cycling to school as a top priority.

    All things being equal they will choose the local school but if its a bad school they will go elsewhere.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    People who value not have obese children, as you seemed to do, will put walking and cycling as a priority.

    No one mentioned top priority except you. That's your own little strawman.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,113 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    Paying for an exclusive school is IMO a waste of time, in most instances. A child's educational outcome is mostly influenced by their parents attitudes and input and the child's innate abilities. Both of my children qualified for CTYI. They attended local primary and secondary schools which were great. The local rural/commuter secondary school even let my daughter drop that useless civics subject I forget the name of and teach herself Japanese instead, as it wasn't an available subject. My son did exactly as well as he wanted to to get into the tertiary course he wanted while my daughter was more industrious and just did very well across the board. They would not have done any better had they gone to private schools.

    Both have finished their tertiary degree courses, my daughter doing a clean sweep of honours, top student and best final project. I think that old adage of not being able to make a silk purse out of a sows ear applies equally to schools and children.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,105 ✭✭✭BlueSkyDreams


    Private schools afford better career options overall, not just because of the education, but also because of the social circles the kids will mix in and the connections forged.

    Being surrounded by a lot of high achievers can only help to develop a childs education and once the kids reach early adulthood, the relationships formed at private school can really help someone get their foot in the door Career wise.

    "Yes, we can get little Johnny a placement at the US multinational in the docklands, he is ex (insert colleged name) and good friends with my Tristan"

    I know it shouldnt be like that and we shouldnt have jobs for the boys, but thats how the real world works.

    Thats not to say public educated kids cant do well, of course they can.

    But the privately educated are certainly starting the race of life a good bit closer to the finish line than everyone else.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,726 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Private schools aren’t for grades. It’s for networking and expectations.

    private school pupils expectations / privileges are that they will be Senior management, solicitors , accountants etc



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  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    They would have primary school reports and they do assessments tests on incoming first tears.

    If your child is very slow and also non sporty you arent going to pay thousands for their education, all you are doing is paying for the benefit of someone elses child.

    If you are very wealthy you might but most parents who pay for their childs education are particularly wealthy, they want the best school and thats usually the one you have to pay for.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    What schools have brightness on their admission criteria?

    The ones I know would only get information about primary school reports and do assessments AFTER the decision to give a place has been made and the parents have paid a decent deposit.

    Lots of parents pay for private education with the objective of getting the best results for a non academic child.

    You've read the Ross O'Carroll Kelly books, right?



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    I have heard of schools withdrawing the school place if the assessment results are very bad, private schools sell places based on academic results, no point in putting a non academic child into s pressurised school environment, waste of money and time.

    I dont think you are a parent, you wont understand the lengths people will go to further their childs interests.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    What schools have withdrawn places following assessment results?

    Maybe try opening your narrow mind a little when dealing with people who have different experiences and different opinions to you.

    Lots of parents choose schools because of location or family traditions,nothing to do with academic ability.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,113 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    Obviously my brother and I went to the wrong private school - nada - just applied for jobs the normal way. I feel cheated.

    Post edited by cnocbui on


  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45


    As I said you arent a parent nor involved in the education system.

    You simlply havent a clue of the politics of it all.

    No desire to engage with you further.

    I dont have to open my mind at all, I opened my chrquebook and paid for everything the family needed.

    I might have been able to buy a nice expensive bike for myself if i didnt spend so much on them.😀😀😀😳



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    You couldn't be more wrong on both counts in your opening statements, as my other posts here will confirm - but it's interesting that your only response is a personal attack rather than any rational debate or discussion.

    This might be a surprise to you, but many parents see value and merit in their children beyond their academic ability and leaving cert points result. Many parents want to get best education for their children in music, or arts, or sports, or indeed to get the best academic results possible for their less bright children, who (surprisingly enough) are also worthy of getting the best education.

    You simply haven't got a clue of how school enrolments work, with published criteria, and parents ready to take legal action if the school messes ups. Maybe if you had gotten better education you could have paid for private education AND gotten a nice bike too. Shame you didn't get the chance to remove some of those chips on your shoulder too.



  • Registered Users Posts: 188 ✭✭maisie45




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    Still not as funny as the anti obesity person who doesn't want his kids walking or cycling to school.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,726 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Don’t feed the trolls, you can add block/ignore him so his drivel doesn’t show



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭JDD


    I come from a family of three. Two older brothers. They went to a local public school. Just because I came along a bit later, and my parents had more money, I went to private school.

    My brothers' school was....fine I suppose. It took a lot of kids from our moderately well off suburb, and a lot of kids from a working class suburb. My Dad was on the Board of Management for years, and he said that half their time was taken up adjudicating on what to do with the kids that were borderline about to be expelled.

    My brother closest in age to me was very academic. He was always a bit smarter than me and I remember thinking it even back in primary school. He worked hard in school and came second in his class in terms of Leaving Cert results.

    I, on the other hand, came maybe in the top half/third of my class when I did my Leaving Cert two years later. Yet, I got considerably more points than he did. Why is that? Well, my brother was in a class where at least half of them had no intentions of going on to third level (no issues with that). A lot of time in the classroom was taken up by trying to get that cohort to pay attention, and to actually do the work.

    For me, I was surrounded by kids who wanted to do law, or medicine, or science or engineering. Even the ones who didn't want to go on to conventional university wanted to get in to NCAD, or the Royal Academy of Music, or wanted to start their own businesses. Nearly everyone was aiming high, and it felt like that was just normal. It makes you work harder.

    Fast forward to after university. I interviewed at a couple of law firms and got offers to three. The one I eventually went for asked me about my school in my interview. Asked me how I enjoyed it, etc. And I obviously gave a glowing review of the place. A good few months later I heard that that particular partner had sent his two girls to the same school as me. I'm not saying that where I went to school swung me a place, but it felt a little like they were checking out whether I was "one of them". As distasteful as that is.

    My brother has done well for himself in the meantime (I still earn considerably more), but I felt sorry that he didn't have that same opportunity to get that extra percentage in interviews, or maybe that connection that would tell him that there was a job going in another company. He doesn't at all have the same network that I do. That's why - even though I disagree with the idea of this two tier system - I am sending my children to the same private school I went to. Because the world isn't fair, and I accept that this is how it works.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    It didn't seem to work so well for the 2/3rds of people below in the class.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭JDD


    I dunno about that. There were a few in the class that definitely did not want to go on to third level. One became an air hostess, another couple went into a childcare and another became a hairdresser. AFAIK they're all stay at home mums now. Which may well have always been their ambition, and that's perfectly fine. I feel a bit weird saying this, because it sounds like I'm from the 1950's or some ultra conservative country, but they all "married well". In that I mean they all married men who are high earners, who come from wealth. Now, that could be a coincidence. It could be as a result of them coming from well off families in the first place and moving in certain circles. Maybe what school you went to makes no difference. But it seems to me that people tend to look for a partner who is similar to themselves, and has similar experiences, and a similar school experience is part of that.

    The others that got lesser points all went off to university anyway, did Arts or other courses and then went on to do Masters. I would say, given our small class sizes, overtime paid to teachers to help after class, and the general importance put on good grades by the vast majority of parents, every student got more points than they would have done in your average public school. Whether the name of the school got them any further in life I wouldn't know. I can only speak to my own experience.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,625 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    So going to a private school isn't a guarantee of great academic results then.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,278 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    All about the networking.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭JDD


    Depends if you define great academic results as the maximum you can achieve given your abilities and skills. Basically achieving your potential. That’s how I’d define it.

    The only way to guarantee all As for every pupil is to get the Burkes to sit all of your exams 😃



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,105 ✭✭✭BlueSkyDreams


    This is a key advantage of private school.

    Building a network.

    Its elitist, but its reality and it opens doors for private students that otherwise do not exist.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,278 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    I have corrected mock exams from all sorts of schools and there is no real difference between them standard-wise.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,236 ✭✭✭bullpost


    Thats it - guy I know was freaked out because his wife didnt want their son playing rugby. He felt this would deny him valuable network. This was a 13 year old.



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