School league tables

Started by Hound, November 21, 2012, 05:14:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Hound

Anyone with kids in primary school pay attention to the school league tables that are in the papers today (Irish Times anyway, Indo too I think) ?

Would the results make you send your kid to a secondary school a distance away rather than your local secondary school to increase the chances of getting into third level?

In one sense it seems like a no-brainer to send them to the better school to give them the best chance of getting the best possible Leaving Cert. On the other hand making them get up 30 or 40 mins earlier (than they would if staying local) and get home much later seems a bit like punishment!

Declan

#1
The league tables are complete Dublin middle class twaddle. While the school has a certain influence on the outcome in my opinion its more down to the pupil and the parental influence/support they get that affects the results of the LC. 

Both my kids went to the local primary school and the local community college for secondary. No complaints whatsoever and their peers who go/went to perceived "better" schools did no better and in many cases worse than them.

Your point re commuting at 7am for school is well made and when I see young fellas from my place waiting at the bus stop at 6.30 in the morning to head in to Belvo etc I smile. 

Cold tea

Better schools aren't going to improve your child's school performance, better parental involvement is.  Parents should spend time every night with their kids helping with homework, improving reading skills, mathematical skills, this theory that bad teachers make bad pupils is half baked, if children do not get encouragement within the family home and get help and guidance on a daily basis it's no wonder they don't succeed.

One teacher told me that yearly there is an influx of P6 parents complaining about their child's school standards (transfer test in mind)  and are almost taken aback when it is pointed out that their schooling started 6 years previously and that education is a gradual process, taking an interest in P6 or before important exams is just to late.

armaghniac

QuoteBetter schools aren't going to improve your child's school performance, better parental involvement is.

There is something of chicken and egg here. Parents who research schools and get up half and hour earlier to get children out to go to a different school are those involved with their children's education. It is not entirely because of the school that these children do better, if the kids went to the local school with good parental support they might also do well.
If at first you don't succeed, then goto Plan B

Cold tea

The school could also be close to the parents work!  School is the framework for education but schools can only do so much, irrespective of what school the child attends - encouragement and parental involvement from day one will hugely influence what the child takes away from their education.

Donnellys Hollow

Quote from: Declan on November 22, 2012, 09:46:32 AM
The league tables are complete Dublin middle class twaddle. While the school has a certain influence on the outcome in my opinion its more down to the pupil and the parental influence/support they get that affects the results of the LC. 

+1

I'd be surprised if parents place too much stock in these. They take no account of the vast amount of other important work done by schools. A lot of students from the schools that perform well in these lists are those who are dropping out during their first year at third level. They are used to being spoon fed and have mastered rote learning. A lot of them cannot adjust at third level when they have to think for themselves and form their own opinions - the correct answer cannot be simply found in a textbook.

The new Junior Cert sounds quite promising in theory in this regard but it seems rather pointless unless there is a similar reform of the Leaving Cert.
There's Seán Brady going in, what dya think Seán?