Schools in Dublin for a family moving home

Dubpistol

Hi,

My young family and I are hoping to move back to Ireland in the coming year. Having lived away for almost 10 years we don't really know Dublin like we used to and certainly are clueless about which areas have good schools. We have a daughter who will be almost at school age by the time we make the move. Can anyone recommend areas to consider living, with Schools in mind but also affordability. Somewhere in the middle for living costs.

I've heard that Rialto has changed dramatically, as has Cabra, Inchcore. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Many thanks

E

tuisginideach

There are excellent schools and not-so-excellent schools all over Dublin. You'd really need to narrow your choice down to an area, then ask for advice re schools which would be accessible from that area.

Greenmachine

Are you planning on renting or buying in Dublin. How long are you willing to commute for work etc. Do you prefer co-ed or single sex, multi-denominational or catholic schools etc.

Dubpistol

Hello and thanks for your messages.
We are hoping to buy a property in the next year all going to plan. Areas we have considered thus far, (in our price range) are East Cabra, Glasnevin, Donnycarney, Clondakin, Swords potentially (although we would like to live more central if possible. We've heard that Inchcore and Rialto are developing into good areas to live now. I used to live there about 15 years ago and it was a bit rough round the edges. Fine for me but not so sure if I would have wanted to raise my kids there (don't mean to sound snobbish). Love to hear your thoughts on areas to consider looking at in Dublin. North and South.

Commute to work ideally, 30 mins , if thats doable by bicycle even better.
I'd be happy with a co-ed but single sex is fine as I know alot of schools are. Religious, we are not ourselves but I was schooled in a Catholic environment and it didn't do me any harm so not too worried about that either.

Thanks in advance

tuisginideach

Just a general comment - if your children haven't been baptised into Catholic Church, you may have difficulty getting them in to (any) local RC national school (if that is your choice).

Moonbeam

in some schools you need to put their name down at birth so ring or email any of the schools in question and ask for a copy of their enrollment policy.
In each of those areas it would depend on the particular area as parts of all of them would not be pleasant.

Dubpistol

Thanks everyone, perhaps the question I should really be asking is is there a place on line or elsewhere I can find out about schools performance levels/ratings?

Moonbeam

League tables for primary schools are not published in Ireland.

Do you want a single sex or mixed school?
Do you want it to be catholic/protestant/other/mixed or non denominational?

That can narrow it down a bit.

lazygal

You won't find anything bar the Whole School Evaluation report.

Your best bet is narrowing down your location and then looking into all the schools in the area. All people here can give is qualitative feedback, and what one person considers a good school doesn't mean its a good school for your children. There are 'good' schools near us our children can't attend because they aren't of a religion.

Access is going to be a huge problem in some areas. I know people in south Dublin who only got confirmation of a school place in late August to start in the September. We are considering moving at the moment and the number one factor putting us off relocating to another area of Dublin is that we cannot be guaranteed a school place in a local school. In one educate together school we looked into, there are hundreds on a waiting list.

If you pick a certain area, you may have to take what you can get in terms of a school place.

ETA-The only non denominational schools in Ireland are fee paying schools. There are no state funded non denominational schools.

urban sprawl

We moved back to Ireland 2 years ago, kids were 5 & 7. Found our options for schools were very limited by the fact that kids' names hadn't been on any waiting lists (so the ET or Gaelscoil routes, for example, were not open to us). Ended up living in Donnycarney. Local primary schools have excellent pupil/teacher ratios and good learning support. We love the area, it's affordable and very well served by public transport (you certainly wouldn't need a car). City centre is 10 minutes away on the DART.

We are not sure of the options for secondary school & may end up going the private route on the basis that it would be more affordable to pay school fees than pay a mortgage in an area with a better cchoice of secondary schools.

Best of luck whatever you decide. It was a bit of a culture shock for us coming home after more than 10 years in northern Europe but we have never regretted it for a moment.

overmantle

Glad to hear you've settled back and that you've been able to look beyond what may have seemed like a less desirable area, back in the day. Times have changed and so have areas.