Schools in Galway

norway

Hello from Norway, my name is Marthine. Me and my husband Eirik and my son Balder will be moving to galway in the middle of august. We do not know how to enroll our son in school he is 17 years old. We also don't know which schools are the best. We are afraid that he might get bullyed because of his religion we are practising jehovah witness s from jewish ancestry.

Amhran Nua

Well first of all bullying shouldn't be an issue, I would be surprised if anyone even cared about his religion in the slightest. Second of all I'm pretty sure you've left it too late to enroll this year, unless maybe one of the private colleges might take him on. Are you talking about second level education or third level education? Can you outline how the Norwegian education system ranks students?

http://www.education.ie/

norway

In Norway we have 4 stages of school, the last being college. He would be going into his second last year in the third stage. the third stage is optional here until the child is 18, but he wants to continue onto college.

xflyer

The only one that spring to mind, considering his age is Yeats College which caters for older students and indeed international students. That's the only one off the top of my head. There may indeed be others. At his age, there is little point in trying to join one of the conventional schools as they will already be fully geared up for the exams for their students.

Yeats do one year Leaving Certificate courses. The Leaving cert as it's name implies is final year of school exams. Points gained from those exams help qualify for college. But his previous school results in Norway might help too.

http://www.yeatscollege.ie/

Amhran Nua

norway wrote: »

In Norway we have 4 stages of school, the last being college. He would be going into his second last year in the third stage. the third stage is optional here until the child is 18, but he wants to continue onto college.

He'll face some challenges with the change in curriculum I think, but you need to contact the Department of Education first thing tomorrow morning to see what they have to say, you'll probably get a lot more useful advice from them.

I've never heard of any problems with religion or indeed race in Irish schools, most of them have children from every corner of the globe and quite a few different denominations at this stage, so don't worry on that front.

norway

He would also like to know which of the schools offer the best science courses. He is interested in physics the most, he is vert interested in nuclear warware.

biko

As Amhran said: contact Dep of Education.


You can also find some info googling

http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/pschools.xls
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/introduction_to_the_irish_system/moving_your_child_irish_primary_school.html

General boards.ie info about moving here

Scandinavian forum on boards.ie

Sponge Bob

Try the Jes, this school. . They don't care if he is an alien with a green pointy head.

Understand he may have to 2 a two years leaving cert cycle , leaving cert = (roughly) = international baccalaureate.

Mrs OBumble

Hmm, Wikipedia tells me this:

Norway is not a member state of the European Union (EU), but is closely associated with the Union through its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA), in the context of being a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member.

If you son cannot prove that he has lived in Ireland for five (or is it three - someone correct me please) before he enrols in what Ireland calls "3rd level" college, then I think he will need to pay non-EU fees.

I haven't researched these myself recently, but have memories that these can be anywhere from E12,000 to E25,000 per year.

It feels kinda bad saying this (esp if you're leaving Norway because of bad circumstances there) - but have you really thought this through property? Moving countries this late in someone's education is an extremely drastic step - especially when the first language of the countries is different. Is there any possible way that your son could complete his education in Norway - or even through the Norwegian system by correspondence, if they have such an option? Could he perhaps board with a relative or family friend, etc?

Apologies if this sounds offensive ... I really did think twice about posting ... but potentially this could be a huge mistake, unless the benefits of coming to Ireland can somehow outweigh the large educational disadvantages.


Oh ... and not being Catholic is actually getting more popular here by the day. Religious bullying should be the least of your worries.

elefant

I'm fairly certain that free fees are available to all EU, EEA and Swiss nationals.

Source: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/third_level_education/fees_and_supports_for_third_level_education/fees.html

Sponge Bob

elefant wrote: »

I'm fairly certain that free fees are available to all EU, EEA and Swiss nationals.

If they do 2 or 3 years secondary schooling in the state. Otherwise they are "foreign" even if born here. It all depends on the 2 or 3 years before university entry.

xo.mary

JustMary wrote: »

It feels kinda bad saying this (esp if you're leaving Norway because of bad circumstances there) - but have you really thought this through property? Moving countries this late in someone's education is an extremely drastic step - especially when the first language of the countries is different. Is there any possible way that your son could complete his education in Norway - or even through the Norwegian system by correspondence, if they have such an option? Could he perhaps board with a relative or family friend, etc?

I'm sure they have thought it out properly, as every rational parent does before moving to a new country with children especially. I know loads of people who have moved around throughout their education and have had no problems whatsoever, the countries being Finland - the US, Finland again, Germany and China. Language wasn't a problem.

In my old school, we had loads of international students who had JUST moved here and they just had to go into 5th year (pre-LC) and got extra classes where needed.

kayos

JustMary wrote: »

Moving countries this late in someone's education is an extremely drastic step - especially when the first language of the countries is different.

Ah now in fairness JustMary if the Nordic education system is anything like the rest of the Scandinavian country's the lad has been learning English since primary level. I've know lots of people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and they all have near perfect English.

Greaney

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Try the Jes, this school. . They don't care if he is an alien with a green pointy head.

Understand he may have to 2 a two years leaving cert cycle , leaving cert = (roughly) = international baccalaureate.

It's much easier to get into any school once the student isn't part of the 'just out of Primary school' rush. That's a solid recommendation the Jes. Religion isn't usually a point of bullying in Ireland. My lad's never saw sight nor sound of it, nor any of my mates who were not Roman Catholic.

Mrs OBumble

xo.mary wrote: »

I'm sure they have thought it out properly, as every rational parent does before moving to a new country with children especially. I know loads of people who have moved around throughout their education and have had no problems whatsoever, the countries being Finland - the US, Finland again, Germany and China. Language wasn't a problem.

In my old school, we had loads of international students who had JUST moved here and they just had to go into 5th year (pre-LC) and got extra classes where needed.

I'm glad you know lots of people who it's worked out ok for.

But I'm pretty damn sure that overall the research shows that moves disrupt a child's education, and frequent moves can have very negative effects. I certainly know people who this was true for.

I'm guessing the OP's move has not been planned in advance (or s/he wouldn't be posting here looking for enrolment advice in late July). Sometimes these things are unavoidable - eg unemployed partner gets a job here etc. Sometimes rational decisions aren't first priority. etc.

I felt that it was worth asking the question at least: one of my cousins stayed in Scotland when his parents moved back to Ireland just after he turned 16, and I'm damn sure he's better educated as a result.