Choosing primary school

iAcesHigh

How would / did you choose primary school for your kids? Is it down to what is close to you, up to local reviews or it depends on the stats for the school? If it was down to the latter, where would you check the stats as some schools, like Lycee, don’t seem to have scores on schooldays.ie which I originally thought would be the place to find all grades…

afkasurfjunkie

Stats? I have absolutely no idea what you mean regarding primary schools. What stats are you referring to?

iAcesHigh

There are parents surveys as well as college progression data available @ schooldays.ie but I don’t have a clue if these are even relevent, trustworthy or would you use something completely different to assess the school?

Musefan

Progression data isn’t really relevant for primary school- I find that it’s about a gut feeling from the principal and the info they give you on the school- this will inform how staff operate mostly and what is acceptable/ what is let slide etc

iAcesHigh

But where possible, wouldn’t you aim to keep your kid in the same school if they have secondary school on premises as well? Same friends, location etc?

afkasurfjunkie

College progression data is fairly pointless at primary stage I’d say. It depends where in the country you are based. If feeding into a good local secondary school is a factor, then that’s what you might look at. Ask parents that live locally to you. Would you prefer mixed or all boys/girls schools? Is religious ethos important to you? Once you have narrowed your focus you can look at individual schools in more detail. Check out their website, enrolment policies, etc.