Douglas/Ballinlough schools

anie_irl

Hello.

In February I'll be moving with my husband and two young daughters to Cork and have settled on one of two primary schools - Eglantine in Ballinlough or Columbas N.S. in Douglas.

Does anyone have any experience of either of these schools?

longtimelistener

I went to Eglantine (many years ago) and I loved it. I still think really fondly of it. I felt the standard of teaching was really high and the facilities were good, even back in the 90s. Class sizes were large though (I think about 30 per class) so that may be a factor for your children.

cantalach

When we moved back from overseas in ‘07, our daughter had a place in both schools and we decided to send her to St Columba’s. I think it’s fair to say that the two schools have very different socio-economic profiles, and we were of the view that this diversity was important. You’ll get a good feel for that just by parking up outside each school for 10 mins at morning drop-off time. I think our daughter was reasonably happy in St Columba’s. She had some good teachers and some average teachers. She has plenty of friends and acquaintances from both schools, some of whom remember those days fondly and some of whom don’t.

Looking further down the track, you might want to give consideration to how the primary school attended can affect secondary school entry. Officially of course, the feeder school system is abolished but in practice that isn’t the case, certainly for boys. I would advise you to do your own research on that point. My information is too old to be relied upon for something so important.

cantalach

Forgot to mention that Ballinlough has a second girls primary school in the form of Our Lady of Lourdes. It’s by the junction of Ballinlough Road and Wallace Avenue. Given the name, you don’t need to look up whose patronage the school is under.