Primary Schools in Cork

dirty_leo

Hi all,

I'm doing a bit of research about primary schools in Cork, especially in Douglas & Rochestown area. I'm talking to friends and family to know about the schools with the best reputation and I wanted to drop a quick message here to have your opinion about them.

The thing is, ideally, I'd like to enroll my son in a non-religious school but as far as I know there's only one in Cork, and it's right in the middle of the city centre. We live in Douglas and we think that it would be a nightmare to drop him and pick him up.

Anyway... I'd greatly appreciate your opinions about Cork primary schools as it is becoming stressful to try to find a good one (let alone getting accepted).

Thanks in advance,

byhookorbycrook

no such thing as a non-religious primary school,Educate together schools teach about religion, they just do promote one over the other.
There's an Educate together school in Carrigaline and an Educate Together Gaelscoil in Mayfield.

overmantle

Hi dirty_leo.

You haven't said how old your son is or how soon you hope to start him in school.

There are many parents for whom religion holds no interest (or those who have a deep rooted mistrust in all things religious) but that should not mean that those parents should discount one of the many excellent schools in Cork on that basis. There are many very good schools where your son could attend. St. Columba's (Douglas), St. Anthony's (Ballinlough), Scoil Nioclas (Frankfield) are all good schools close to you- Don't let the names put you off. Other very good schools a bit further from you are Glasheen Boys school (near Wilton & UCC) and Glounthaune school (for which you would have to use the tunnel).

Good luck with your choice. PM me if I can be of any more help.

dirty_leo

Thanks very much for your prompt responses.

After posting my question, I spent a few hours reading various threads on this forum and indeed, I noticed that I'm not the only one in this strange situation where a parent wants a non-religious education for her siblings to no avail.

Why can't we be a true secular country and keep religion out of state schools, and provide catechism classes for children out of school hours? In other European countries like France this works very well.

My son is just one year old. I know that it's very early but friends and family tell us not to be too late to talk to schools especially in densely populated areas. I realize that the quality of a school's education is the primary criterion in our research however it would be a terrible thing, at least for me, to have to choose a good but religious school versus a not-that good Educate Together school. There's also a question of proximity. With my wife and I both working full time, it's also important to have my son enrolled in a school in the Douglas-Rochestown area.

May I also ask if anyone knows about St. Luke's School in Douglas? How would you rate it? (You can always PM me if you don't want your opinion to be public).

Thanks again for your advice and I hope more people would chime in to let their opinion known about the subject.

curly from cork

My children attended St.Lukes and Rockboro. PM me if you would like to ask anything.

byhookorbycrook

forgot about Rockboro, it's a multi-denom too, if I remember correctly.

curly from cork

Yes Rockboro is multi denominational , but not non denominational as I think the OP was looking for . It is also fee paying , suffering in this " current climate !

byhookorbycrook

There are NO non-denom schools in Ireland at all, multi-denoms yes, but not non-denom.

dirty_leo

Thanks Curly, I'll drop you a PM now

Thanks guys! I understand that, unfortunately, there aren't any non-denominational schools in Ireland. I don't want to say "Ah well. I have to live with it, then" so I'll try to contact my local TD about it so that maybe my grandkids can go to a non-denom school.

In the meantime, I'm going to check the reputation of the schools in Douglas so that I can enroll my son to a good one.

byhookorbycrook

Ring any school you are interested in and check the enrolement policy. Many schools work on a first come, first served policy so the sooner you get the name down, the better.A year old for our school might be cutting it fine, for example.

Why_oh_why

slightly off topic but same location with a child the same age as the OP.

At what age should the child be before you start applying for places in schools in the Douglas/Rochestown/Blackrock area?

overmantle

Most schools accept names several years in advance. Get in touch with the schools in which you are interested. Establish what the likelihood is of your child being offered a place and get a feel for the school by talking to the principal and asking him/her any questions you may have.

One thing I would caution you against though is putting your child's name down in too many schools so that you forget which ones you've registered in. Also, closer to the time, if you have narrowed it down to a small number of schools or have been offered a place, make sure you notify the other school(s) that you no longer need the place in their school. I'm just saying this because I have seen a number of discussions where parents have thoughtlessly block-booked (and even accepted) several different schools. If this is done by a number of parents, chaos is caused in several schools.

Best of luck.

iwona.t

curly from cork wrote: »

My children attended St.Lukes and Rockboro. PM me if you would like to ask anything.

Hi. My son is going to the primary school this year, i still didn't get any place...even i applied over year ago.St. Nicolais on Frankfield is overpacked,no places in Educate Together in town as well... St. Lukes on Douglas should make decision this week. Would you tell me is your child enjoyed this school??are the teachers good? and is a religion an important subject in there?? I'm from the catholic family, but doesn't really care is my son will be in catholic , protestand or any other religion school..more important is an education and a fact that school is mixed. Any information will be useful:)
Email address removed- Please PM the poster if you have details- D4RK ONION

Iwona

021vivienne

Hi, I'm new to this and would love if someone could give me some info and advice on the educate together school in cork city. I have no idea how soon I need to be looking at schools because of the baby boom and also does any one know if you have to go to school in your own area
help please

byhookorbycrook

Educate Together schools don't organise on parish basis, but most have a policy of first come,first served. So ring any school you have an unterest in and check policy asap, as I lready said, for our school, any child over a year might not get a place.

iwona.t

Hi.
I don't know where to send my son to school. Is July already and i still can't decide.He didn't get a place in St.Nicholais on Frankfield and in St.Lukes on Douglas. My priority was always the mixed school but because we didn't get place,we accepted a place in St.Anthonys on Ballinlough...But last week i read in local paper that Turnerss Cross Primary school (boys and girls) are going to merge from september. I contacted the principal and i've got offer from there now as well. The problem is i don't know anything about this school???is anyone have a kids there???How is level of education there, teachers, etc....i'll apprieciate any info.
Thanks
Iwona

Toto Wolfcastle

I know someone who sent all of her children to St Anthony's. It's an excellent school.

professore

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

I know someone who sent all of her children to St Anthony's. It's an excellent school.

With a name like that I strongly doubt it's multi denominational.

Toto Wolfcastle

professore wrote: »

With a name like that I strongly doubt it's multi denominational.

I didn't realise that she was looking for a multi-denominational school.

iwona.t

Thx for reply. I also heard St.Anthonys is a very good school, but i still would prefer to send my son to mixed school, thats why I'm asking about Turners Cross Schools.So far i heard one bad opinion about school ..but i dont want to base my choice on this.