Into on St Finians

coolabula

Looking for some info on St Finians in Mullingar if anyone can help.

My son is in 6th class and we want to send him to Finians. I called the school earlier this year and was told that I would have to wait until January for the open day to apply.
I have been told that it is hard to get a place in the school, is this true?
We have no family history in the school, my son is the eldest child and my partner and I are from Dublin, will this go against us?
I'm also concerned that there is a policy of only accepting students who are 13 at the beginning of the school year, my son will be 12 and a half.

We really think this is the best school for our son and would really like any info that could help him. Also if it comes to it and we cant get him in Finians can anyone recommend another school as a back up? His teacher believes he would be best suited to Finians as the school is smaller, my son is dyslexic but is also in advanced maths classes. I'm afraid he would be lost in a large school.

Thanks for any info.

nice_guy80

I doubt there will be any problem getting him into Finians.

don't worry yourself.

coolabula

Thanks for that, maybe I am just freaking out a bit
This is all new to me.

jenniwenni

I think most likely you will not get a place in St Finian's. They first take brothers and sisters of past and existing pupils then children of past pupils then they take students in order of age. Being from Dublin will not make any difference to your application. My son was 13 in early october and he did not get a place.

If your heart is really set on Finian's, have you considered keeping him back a year. I've heard of a few people doing that.

My lad is going to CBS and so far I'm impressed, and he is really happy there. In saying that however, he doesn't have any special needs.

coolabula

Thanks Jenni, thats what i've been hearing alright from other parents.
We have a 2nd choice lined up and we are happy with that if he doesnt get in to Finians.
I couldnt hold him back, it wouldnt be fair on him, apart from English he is doing great in all other subjects and in advanced classes for some. He would be bored if he had to repeat 6th class.

i will apply and see what happens, but it's good to know that you need a 2nd choice lined up, just in case.

Thanks for your advice, this is all new to me and i'm terrified to make the wrong decision as it will affect him for the rest of his life if he goes to the wrong school

nice_guy80

coolabula wrote: »

Thanks Jenni, thats what i've been hearing alright from other parents.
We have a 2nd choice lined up and we are happy with that if he doesnt get in to Finians.
I couldnt hold him back, it wouldnt be fair on him, apart from English he is doing great in all other subjects and in advanced classes for some. He would be bored if he had to repeat 6th class.

i will apply and see what happens, but it's good to know that you need a 2nd choice lined up, just in case.

Thanks for your advice, this is all new to me and i'm terrified to make the wrong decision as it will affect him for the rest of his life if he goes to the wrong school

whats wrong with the other schools?
Most schools in Mullingar are good.

As I said, don't worry about it - plenty of choice. go out to the school, make an appointment and explain your situation to the principal. the special needs you son has might be beneficial to the school as it might mean an SNA keeping their job or another teacher getting full hours for a job.

slowharry

I'm pretty sure there are new guidelines as to how schools fill out the places available. I'm pretty sure that being a child of a past pupil has no bearing. this was to allow for cases like yourself where the parents are not originally from the catchment area.

jenniwenni

slowharry wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there are new guidelines as to how schools fill out the places available. I'm pretty sure that being a child of a past pupil has no bearing. this was to allow for cases like yourself where the parents are not originally from the catchment area.

Well that's st Finians enrolment policy.

coolabula

nice_guy80 wrote: »

whats wrong with the other schools?
Most schools in Mullingar are good.

As I said, don't worry about it - plenty of choice. go out to the school, make an appointment and explain your situation to the principal. the special needs you son has might be beneficial to the school as it might mean an SNA keeping their job or another teacher getting full hours for a job.

Nothing wrong with other schools (that I know off anyway) it was just recommended by this teacher as it is a smaller school. He goes to a small rural primary school so dont want him lost in a big secondary school.

I will apply anyway when they open for applications in Jan, see how it goes. As I said we have a 2nd school in mind, so we'll see how it goes.

I was worried as it is a big decision, but maybe I am making a bigger deal that needs be. We never had a choice when I was in school, we just automatically went to the local primary and secondary school, so its all new to me!

coolabula

slowharry wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there are new guidelines as to how schools fill out the places available. I'm pretty sure that being a child of a past pupil has no bearing. this was to allow for cases like yourself where the parents are not originally from the catchment area.

That doesnt bother me as much as most schools have this policy. It is their policy of accepting those only over 13 which bothers me, if he has completed his primary education he should have an equal chance to everyone else, his age shouldnt come into it.
But anyway like I said I will apply and see what happens, if he gets in good if not he will go to his 2nd choice.

muckety

There was a case brought in (I think) Tipperary last year to challenge the fairness of a school giving preferential places to sons/daughters of past pupils but it was lost, so many schools maintain this policy afaik.

The age 13 thing may be because there is no Transition year in Finians, just 5 years to LC.

recylingbin

Things may have changed, but isn't there an entrance exam with the top achievers being offered a place?

paultf

coolabula wrote: »

We really think this is the best school for our son and would really like any info that could help him. Also if it comes to it and we cant get him in Finians can anyone recommend another school as a back up? His teacher believes he would be best suited to Finians as the school is smaller, my son is dyslexic but is also in advanced maths classes. I'm afraid he would be lost in a large school.

Not sure if this will work but maybe get in touch with someone on the town/county council in Mullingar or even a TD.

(Johnny Penrose (council chairman) or his brother Willie Penrose (TD) are very helpful)

State your case that you are anxious about getting your son into Finian's as he has dyslexic. Also how you have been advised that Finian's would be the most suitable school.

I don't know how far a representative can go with this but at worse you might get some extra information or pointers of what to do next.

afkasurfjunkie

paultf wrote: »

Not sure if this will work but maybe get in touch with someone on the town/county council in Mullingar or even a TD.

(Johnny Penrose (council chairman) or his brother Willie Penrose (TD) are very helpful)

State your case that you are anxious about getting your son into Finian's as he has dyslexic. Also how you have been advised that Finian's would be the most suitable school.

I don't know how far a representative can go with this but at worse you might get some extra information or pointers of what to do next.

have you discussed the secondary school options with your son's principal? He or she should be very familiar with the options available to you, which school would suit your son best and the various enrolment policies.

coolabula

afkasurfjunkie wrote: »

have you discussed the secondary school options with your son's principal? He or she should be very familiar with the options available to you, which school would suit your son best and the various enrolment policies.

Yes we have, his teacher feels Finians will suit him best.
I have heard about the age thing from 2 other parents in my sons school and wanted to know if anyone else knew anything about this.
There is nothing I can do about his age, so we will apply and see how we get on.
I have been to a few open days for some other schools in the last week, so not feeling as anxious anymore.

daretodream

coolabula wrote: »

Yes we have, his teacher feels Finians will suit him best.
I have heard about the age thing from 2 other parents in my sons school and wanted to know if anyone else knew anything about this.
There is nothing I can do about his age, so we will apply and see how we get on.
I have been to a few open days for some other schools in the last week, so not feeling as anxious anymore.

Would love to hear how you got on. Will be in the same boat as you this time next year.....

nice_guy80

any parents I know said their kids have no problems getting into Finians

great competition between the schools for enrollments at the moment

daretodream

nice_guy80 wrote: »

any parents I know said their kids have no problems getting into Finians

great competition between the schools for enrollments at the moment

Oh I hope you're right. My son will be 13 and a half so cud do without TY at CBS + we feel Finians would be a better fit...time will tell I guess. Only one current 6th class pupil has got a place in this school so far + all applied to all of the schools regardless of preference....

Dr Sunshine

Finians is a great school. I think they are taking in an extra class of 1st years this year (5 classes instead of 4) so fingers crossed for you all.

coolabula

We went to the open day and filled in the application form but didnt hear anything back. 1 of my sons friends was offered a place so unless he gets a place because of someone dropping out he wont be going to Finians.

GavinFlud

Having only left the school about 4 years ago, I know it was very difficult to get into. I managed to get in back in 2004 without ever having any siblings or relatives in the school. I'm also originally from Dublin so that never factored into it. That being said, my parents heard back from them quite a while after one of my friends had been accepted (his father was in the school years beforehand).

Hopefully you hear back but if you don't there's still a number of other great schools in the area.

daretodream

coolabula wrote: »

We went to the open day and filled in the application form but didnt hear anything back. 1 of my sons friends was offered a place so unless he gets a place because of someone dropping out he wont be going to Finians.

Thanks for letting us know. There's still a chance, I guess. I kinda resent rejection letters to kids tbh. I know they only can take so many but....it almost puts me off. Have another year to worry about it then. I've heard mixed reports on CBS but most it seems adore it there. Best of luck with it all.

time lord

daretodream wrote: »

Oh I hope you're right. My son will be 13 and a half so cud do without TY at CBS + we feel Finians would be a better fit...time will tell I guess. Only one current 6th class pupil has got a place in this school so far + all applied to all of the schools regardless of preference....

TY is optional at Marys. One thing about Marys I frequently find maybe its just a generation thing but ex Mary's pupils would all send their own kids there no problem but definitely it is the opposite for Finians ex pupils.
But it was a differant school in the eighties, boarding was the order of the day and no ladies. I have found a lot of new people to the town prefer Finians, some change their minds especially after they have dealings with the top Priest/headmaster and if your child has any special needs Finians is not the most welcoming place. ( chaired a special needs parents group for a few years and the parents all came back to the group with the same comments year after year)
Having said all that if my next along wanted to go there I wouldn't stop him. Although my best mate, my line manager, my brother in law, his still best mate and my ex publican all would disagree with me strongly.
I hope it has changed and like to believe it has. So Finians abú. Maybe. Jury still out.

GavinFlud

time lord wrote: »

TY is optional at Marys. One thing about Marys I frequently find maybe its just a generation thing but ex Mary's pupils would all send their own kids there no problem but definitely it is the opposite for Finians ex pupils.
But it was a differant school in the eighties, boarding was the order of the day and no ladies. I have found a lot of new people to the town prefer Finians, some change their minds especially after they have dealings with the top Priest/headmaster and if your child has any special needs Finians is not the most welcoming place. ( chaired a special needs parents group for a few years and the parents all came back to the group with the same comments year after year)
Having said all that if my next along wanted to go there I wouldn't stop him. Although my best mate, my line manager, my brother in law, his still best mate and my ex publican all would disagree with me strongly.
I hope it has changed and like to believe it has. So Finians abú. Maybe. Jury still out.

I only left there four years ago and have nothing but good things to say about it. I can't comment on things like facilities for students with special needs since I have no experience in that regard. One of the main criticisms people give is how some things have been dealt with by the principle. Having experienced the school first-hand I can say that he's actually rarely around and usually delegates most dealings to the vice-principle.

That being said, there are a lot of decent schools around the area and each has pros and cons. Once the kids are enrolled they usually don't take too long to get comfortable and into the rhythm of secondary-school.

Dr Sunshine

time lord wrote: »

TY is optional at Marys. One thing about Marys I frequently find maybe its just a generation thing but ex Mary's pupils would all send their own kids there no problem but definitely it is the opposite for Finians ex pupils.
But it was a differant school in the eighties, boarding was the order of the day and no ladies. I have found a lot of new people to the town prefer Finians, some change their minds especially after they have dealings with the top Priest/headmaster and if your child has any special needs Finians is not the most welcoming place. ( chaired a special needs parents group for a few years and the parents all came back to the group with the same comments year after year)
Having said all that if my next along wanted to go there I wouldn't stop him. Although my best mate, my line manager, my brother in law, his still best mate and my ex publican all would disagree with me strongly.
I hope it has changed and like to believe it has. So Finians abú. Maybe. Jury still out.

Re. St Finian's and special needs, a parent of a boy with special needs spoke very highly of the school at last years' parents council agm. I also spoke to a lady recently who has a daughter with special needs and has a full-time SNA. The school installed a lift last year and I know there are more pupils with special needs this year than in previous years. I would encourage anyone with queries on special needs to contact the school directly and see the facilities for themselves.

As GavinFlud mentioned dealings with the principal are limited. As with most schools the vice principal deals with the day-to-day running of the school and I have found him to be quite approachable.

My preference for my child was for a co-ed school but I have heard both Loreto and CBS are also good schools.

time lord

Dr Sunshine wrote: »

Re. St Finian's and special needs, a parent of a boy with special needs spoke very highly of the school at last years' parents council agm. I also spoke to a lady recently who has a daughter with special needs and has a full-time SNA. The school installed a lift last year and I know there are more pupils with special needs this year than in previous years. I would encourage anyone with queries on special needs to contact the school directly and see the facilities for themselves.

As GavinFlud mentioned dealings with the principal are limited. As with most schools the vice principal deals with the day-to-day running of the school and I have found him to be quite approachable.

My preference for my child was for a co-ed school but I have heard both Loreto and CBS are also good schools.

Glad to hear as the song says the only way is up.

daretodream

coolabula wrote: »

We went to the open day and filled in the application form but didnt hear anything back. 1 of my sons friends was offered a place so unless he gets a place because of someone dropping out he wont be going to Finians.

Just curious on whether he ever heard back?

coolabula

Sorry I never replied to this - he did get a letter a few months ago saying he didn't get a place due to the number applying.

We are happy with the school he is going to now and so is he, so its all good.

daretodream

Been a while here too.
Just thought I'd post an update.
Son was offered both CBS and Finians.
He chose Finians.

Time Now Please

daretodream wrote: »

Been a while here too.
Just thought I'd post an update.
Son was offered both CBS and Finians.
He chose Finians.

Good for him, and you and your husband. He should enjoy Finians, your only other choice would have been to 'home school' your son, because the other schools in Mullingar are not really worth it to be honest as they are <modsnip>.

Rovi

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