Ireland is famous for its centuries-old tradition of education and excellent quality of teaching. This country has one of the highest rates of university admission in Europe, and the Irish school certificate is recognized in the UK and USA. These facts are enough for many parents to choose Irish secondary education for their children, namely a boarding school, with the prospect of entering a good foreign university. Boarding schools work according to a program approved by the Department of Education of Ireland, but differ greatly from each other - in the composition of students, atmosphere, features of living, studying and leisure. Our brief overview of schools will help you navigate this diversity.
Few, but enough
There are about 800 secondary schools in Ireland, of which approximately one tenth, i.e. 80, are boarding schools. This is not many compared to the number of British boarding schools - 600, but in terms of per capita, Ireland is twice ahead of the UK in this indicator. The cost of education in boarding schools on the Emerald Isle is from €14-28 thousand per year.
Most boarding schools are designed for students aged 12-18. There are also boarding schools for younger students aged 8-12, for example Aravon School and Headfort School. Although Irish boarding schools are available to our compatriots from the age of 8-9, our schoolchildren most often go to study in senior grades. Having in their "baggage" an excellent knowledge of English, good academic performance and the ability to easily adapt to new conditions, they can enter directly at the Senior Cycle level - the last two years of study, when students study at least six subjects and take exams in them, receiving the State Leaving Certificate of full secondary education. But for many of our teenagers it is more advisable to use the opportunities of the "transition year" (Transition Year), which precedes the Senior Cycle; during this period, the teenager will get used to new realities, improve their English and be able to decide on the choice of further studies.
Obtaining the Irish "matriculation certificate" with at least two higher scores in specialized subjects is one of the real opportunities for a domestic applicant to become a student at an Irish (and not only Irish) university. By the way, students in Irish schools in senior grades study twice as many subjects as their British peers, and this has some advantage: if a graduate does not pass to a university based on grades in one set of disciplines, he can send documents to another, betting on those disciplines where the score will be "passing".
Art or business?
In boarding schools, as in all secondary schools in Ireland, compulsory subjects are English and mathematics. In the last two grades, one of the European languages is added to them. The rest of the disciplines are offered as electives: history, geography, biology, physics, chemistry, economics, languages, art, technical drawing, information technology, business basics, accounting. The set of elective subjects in different boarding schools varies slightly. Some may offer Latin, others - agricultural sciences. By the way, we are not used to seeing such school subjects as business, where problems are solved not about cyclists riding towards each other from points A and B, but about financial risks and bank loans, or home economics, where they teach cooking, sewing, talk about proper nutrition and the vitamin content in foods.
When choosing a boarding school in Ireland, it makes sense to take into account what the educational institution specializes in. For example, Rathdown School pays special attention to the musical education of girls, and the pride of the school are lessons in theatrical art and stage speech. One of the oldest boarding schools in Ireland, King's Hospital School, founded in 1669 by King Charles II, has extensive experience in teaching business and economics, as well as humanities. The respectable Catholic boys' college Castleknock College is famous for its training in natural science and technical disciplines.
As in the UK or USA, in Ireland, in addition to mixed schools, there are also educational institutions only for boys and only for girls. 17% of all secondary schools practice separate education. Approximately the same proportion is observed among boarding schools. Note that the best academic results are shown by students from separate schools. You can also choose between open-type boarding schools, where there are "day" students living in families, and closed-type schools, where only boarders study.
Almost all boarding schools are private and are managed by a board of trustees, a religious community or a private person, and accordingly are divided into secular and religious. But even where religious education is a key subject in the curriculum, schoolchildren of any faith can study, as, for example, at the Catholic college Gormanston College, which belongs to the Franciscan Order. At this college, all students must attend Sunday masses, but "non-Catholics" may not participate in the process.
A lake as a bonus
In secular schools, a religious aspect is also often present as one of the manifestations of the traditions on which the entire education system in Ireland is based. For example, at one of the most expensive and famous schools, Sutton Park School, Christianity is studied in junior secondary school, and senior students participate in discussions on religious topics.
In Catholic boarding schools, the rules are generally stricter, and most of them require school uniforms. Incidentally, it is Catholic schools that typically have single-sex education. But overall, in all boarding schools in Ireland, there is constant supervision of boarders' lives and discipline, with a clear schedule of classes and extracurricular activities.
When choosing a school, parents and children should keep in mind that some of the oldest Irish boarding schools, like British ones, offer rather ascetic living conditions: younger boarders sometimes live in rooms of 6-10 people with small individual cubicles separated by a curtain. Such limited comfort is one of the components of a system aimed at perfecting the spirit, building character, self-control, and self-discipline. Students aged 16-18, who are apparently considered to have sufficiently mastered the skills of self-discipline, usually live in rooms for 2-3 people.
Boarding schools also differ in location. One can choose a school in a rural area amidst nature with a huge territory, or in a small quiet suburb, or, for example, in Dublin.
Some parents prefer to choose an educational institution based on its sports component. Of course, many boarding schools have excellent facilities for sports: gymnasiums and exercise rooms, sports fields for football, cricket, and golf, tennis courts, and often a swimming pool. But some schools stand out in particular. For example, Newtown School has the best sports complex in the city, which is famous for its rugby team. The boys' school Gormanston College also prides itself on its sports facilities: here one can pursue 30 sports.
Some boarding schools are located on the shores of lakes, rivers, or near the sea, which provides additional opportunities for water sports. The girls at Kylemore Abbey School, one of Ireland's best boarding schools, are fortunate in this regard, as the school is situated on the shore of a lake in an ancient castle. Incidentally, although its founding year is given as 1920, it actually first opened in 1665, but in Belgium, and at the beginning of the last century it 'moved' to County Galway in Ireland. Rockwell College can boast of having its own lake on its grounds, and students of King's Hospital School have the opportunity to go canoeing on the nearby River Liffey.
Irish boarding schools are distinguished by their desire, first and foremost, to raise each student as a free, harmonious personality with high moral principles, and only then to develop their intellectual abilities. Moreover, education is built in accordance with the principle that is the motto of one of the most prestigious Irish boys' schools, Blackrock College: "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire."