Swords primary schools

Montserrat · 20-01-2017 12:51am #1

Hi guys,
We are new in Swords, Holywell and our little one is going to school in 2019.
Please share information about really good primary schools in Swords.

Thanks

Dizzyblonde · 20-01-2017 12:58am

Each school has a catchment area, so where you live will usually determine which school your children go to - apart from the Gaelscoil or Educate Together schools.

Inquitus · 20-01-2017 11:57am

Personally a big fan of the Gaelscoil, in my opinion its the best primary school in Swords.

C.O.Y.B.I.B · 20-01-2017 1:22pm

St Cronans is a great school too , with the advantage of having a lot of extra resources some of the others dont have due to its size.
Ive heard good things about both the GaelScoil and the Swords Educate Together . With such a choice , it can also be important to think about where you will live in relation to the school which can be a big factor and also after school care if needed should be brought into the equation.

plodder · 20-01-2017 2:18pm

I hear good things about Holy Family in River Valley as well. It's a big school as well (actually split into two schools). So, they can do some good things like streaming for Maths classes. Good principal too. My own kids went to Scoil an Duininigh and we were very happy with it. They are a few years out of it now though. There is a second Gaelscoil (in Applewood) now also.

Ginny · 20-01-2017 4:39pm

Depends which side of Swords you live on. Catchment area wise anywhere we looked we were told.once you're in Swords you're fine.
We had our sons name down in the ET and gaelscoil from 2 weeks old. If you can Id ring the schools asap and see what their list is like for 2019.

PWEI · 20-01-2017 8:15pm

My eldest daughter went to St Cronans for a few years but we moved her to Swords Educate Together when she was in 2nd class. Best decision we ever made as she was much happier in Swords ET.
Don't get me wrong, St Cronans is a good school also but the learning ethos in Educate Together is way different. They encourage children to interact with their peers and teachers while they learn. They teach about all cultural & religious backgrounds & all are equally respected.
I remember trying to explain to my daughter what racism was when she was in 5th class & she couldn't get her head around it & I put this down to the school.
There is a waiting list though & you have to put your Childs name down early. We put my seconds daughters name down when she was 3 months old and she was number 60 on the list.
But if your child is already in school places do come up regularly in the older classes.
The Thornleigh Educate Together school is also in Swords (beside my house actually) but doesn't have such a good reputation.

Montserrat · 21-01-2017 11:18pm

Thanks, we visited many schools yesterday. We also went to Swords ET but the list was already too long - 180! But anyway we sent an application.

Montserrat · 21-01-2017 11:31pm

Inquitus wrote: »

Personally a big fan of the Gaelscoil, in my opinion its the best primary school in Swords.

Thank you. Could you please precise what you like about that school? We put our baby's name there as well but we are a bit reluctant of her to study in Irish.

Montserrat · 21-01-2017 11:33pm

Ginny wrote: »

Depends which side of Swords you live on. Catchment area wise anywhere we looked we were told.once you're in Swords you're fine.
We had our sons name down in the ET and gaelscoil from 2 weeks old. If you can Id ring the schools asap and see what their list is like for 2019.

Thanks. We have put her name to both schools. The waiting lists are too long already!
We live in Holywell. As we understand Holywell ET NS, Holy family Junior, St Colmcilles Girls National School, Old Borough National School are the schools which cover our area, is that right?

Montserrat · 21-01-2017 11:43pm

C.O.Y.B.I.B wrote: »

St Cronans is a great school too , with the advantage of having a lot of extra resources some of the others dont have due to its size.
Ive heard good things about both the GaelScoil and the Swords Educate Together . With such a choice , it can also be important to think about where you will live in relation to the school which can be a big factor and also after school care if needed should be brought into the equation.

Thanks, we live in Holywell. We put our baby's name to mahyschools testerday including Gaelscoil and Swords ET, but in both of them the waiting list is too long.

Lady_North1 · 22-01-2017 6:47pm

Holy Family does not cover Holywell within catchment area.
Rivervalley, Ridgewood, Boroimhe, Hawthorn Pk and Ballintrane wood fall into that category. Holywell doesn't

Montserrat · 23-01-2017 3:44pm

Lady_North1 wrote: »

Holy Family does not cover Holywell within catchment area.
Rivervalley, Ridgewood, Boroimhe, Hawthorn Pk and Ballintrane wood fall into that category. Holywell doesn't

Thanks. I was told Holywell was in the catchment area of Holy family school. Could you please tell where I can read about that? I tried on the site of St. Finians parish but failed to find anything

Dizzyblonde · 23-01-2017 4:52pm

Montserrat wrote: »

Thanks. I was told Holywell was in the catchment area of Holy family school. Could you please tell where I can read about that? I tried on the site of St. Finians parish but failed to find anything

It's in their Mission Statement on the school website: http://www.holyfamilyjns.ie/about-us

Rivervalley, Ridgewood, Boroimhe, Hawthorn Pk and Ballintrane Wood are in the parish of St. Finians. Holywell isn't. If the classes aren't filled from these areas the school will take children from other areas on a first come, first served basis so it might be worth putting your child's name down anyway.

You could contact the school for further information, their phone number is on the website.

Lady_North1 · 23-01-2017 7:58pm

The catchment area is the parish of St Finian.... Holywell is not in the parish. They will take your child's name but as the school is hugely over subscribed I doubt you would be offered a place.
Call in to the school and ask for a copy of the enrolment policy.

tigershould · 29-01-2017 10:58pm

Hi, sorry to hijack this thread but I would appreciate some honest opinions as I'm not from Swords:

If you had a choice, which one would you choose and why?

Swords ET, St Cronans or Holy Family.

Thanks in advance

Ginny · 30-01-2017 2:38pm

Is your child baptised and will they be making their communion?
We've gone with the ET as our boys aren't baptised and I don't want them sidelined during the communion year. The inclusiveness of the ET appealed to us. The ethos of the ET was what we were looking for. Is someone at home during the day? Our crèche arranges a drop off and pick up from the ET too so it made sense. Also the ET starts the day a bit earlier which is a lot easier for us.

tigershould · 30-01-2017 3:01pm

Ginny wrote: »

Yes baptised for this very reason. I'm also favouring ET for all the reasons you refer to above, my sense is Cronans is too big, but I don't know anything about holy family and have the enviable position of being able to choose.

C.O.Y.B.I.B · 30-01-2017 3:36pm

Hi ,

We got accepted to Swords ET and the Gaelscoil , but chose St Cronans in the end. We had asked opinions of a number of people and it was 50/50 between ET and St Cronans so went with the one closest to home . It is a big school , but that has advantages such as a large range of afterschool and extra curricular activities along with great resouces for kids who require extra attention for whatever reason .
Also for us , we were closer to St Cronans which works well as the child gets older and can walk to/from school with friends.
Only other thing to bear in mind is that St Cronans , Holy Family get preference in the "Loreto Lottery" if your child is a girl , this might be something to think about.
Ive nothing but positives for St Cronans after 4 years , however I know friends whose kids are in ET and likewise have no complaints .

Hope this helps . Feel free to PM any 'more sensitive' questions :-)

mickmmc · 30-01-2017 4:27pm

% Going to college (Independent.ie - published today)

Loretto, Swords - 87%
Fingal Community College - 58%
Cholaiste Choilm, Swords - 56%
St. Finian's, Swords - 53%

http://education.independent.ie/league

Lady_North1 · 30-01-2017 8:03pm

As my four children all went to Holy Family then that would be my recommendation. It's a fab school but if your concerned about size then it could be an issue. It's currently oversubscribed for junior infants next year. There's around 700 students in the junior school (jnr to second) and over 650 in the senior school.
How old is your child and are you resident in the parish of St Finian? Closing date for application for junior infants for this Sept is tomorrow.

breakfast roll · 31-01-2017 7:04am

Is there any difference in the swords educate together and holywell educate together apart from location?

tigershould · 31-01-2017 11:31am

Thanks for the replies, it looks like we're outside the parish for Holy Family so it's a straight throw up

St Cronans vs Swords ET

I think my decision making is whether I want the ET non denominational ethos or whether I want the Catholic system. I'm not religious but I do think it opens a few more doors further down the line (e.g. Loretto for the girls, Belvedere for the boys).

Any more opinions on these two?

munyt · 01-02-2017 11:04am

we are very new to Swords, we were looking for a catholic school for our girls and so we went with St. Cronan's - very happy with our choice so far.

Dizzyblonde · 01-02-2017 2:16pm

My daughters went to Holy Family because we live in the catchment are and it's a marvellous school - but I don't think there's a bad, or less well run, school in Swords. They're all very good.

The good thing about children going to a school in the area you're living in is that they will have plenty of friends nearby, and that might not seem important when they're little but it's important as they get older.

Swords primary schools

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