DonabatePortrane.net

Donabate Hatter wrote:Hi Jack

You make an extremely good point, surely we need to see what the actual results were, the fact that only 1 in 3 went onto college prove nothing in relation to the actual exam results!!

This is not a good point at all. This is clutching at straws. It would be bizarre to assert that the leaving cert results were in anyway comparable to other schools where pupils were three times more likely to go on to college.

It is possible that there might be a reasonable explanation. Perhaps all new schools go through this. But the Board of the secondary school needs to offer an explanation of these dismal results and give a reassurance that things will improve.

Personally I would like to see a general comparison between this years Junior Cert Results and those from the Leaving Cert students being referred to in the data. Perhaps standards have improved in the last few years.

I would also like to see a general comparison between the this years Leaving Cert results in Donabate Community College and those from another local college like Malahide, Donabate, Skerries, Swords, Balbriggan.

It might be easier for the school and individual parents if one group such as the Parents Council asked the Board for a response and made that response public e.g. on this forum?

Some may take a year off or want to do something else but in fairness, generally 90% of people who get the points for 3rd level go onto 3rd level.

I am a student who sat my leaving cert in DCC this year and am very sure that the figures are incorrect. I cannot say what all the students who sat the exams this year are doing but I know that 4 of my fellow students are now attending Trinity not 0 as was quoted in the Irish Times Listing. There are also more than 1 attending DIT, I know of 5. Of my group of friends, all are doing further courses, most are in third level courses, but some are doing PLC courses and one is doing an apprenticeship, (these will not be reflected in the figures). No-one is sitting around idle and they are all doing what they hoped to do before they sat their exams.

We were not "wasters" as Mr Stupid suggested nor were our teachers who in most cases gave alot of their personal time with extra classes and stayed back with us day after day as the deadlines of projects and portfolios fast approached.

I believe the school was happy with the results overall with one student getting 585 points. It was an unsettling year with Ms Laffoy leaving but we made the best of it.

Maybe the current management should investigate how the figures are compiled and try and ensure that in future years the figures are correct as the reputation of the school is at stake

dccclassof2014 wrote:I am a student who sat my leaving cert in DCC this year and am very sure that the figures are incorrect. I cannot say what all the students who sat the exams this year are doing but I know that 4 of my fellow students are now attending Trinity not 0 as was quoted in the Irish Times Listing. There are also more than 1 attending DIT, I know of 5. Of my group of friends, all are doing further courses, most are in third level courses, but some are doing PLC courses and one is doing an apprenticeship, (these will not be reflected in the figures). No-one is sitting around idle and they are all doing what they hoped to do before they sat their exams.

We were not "wasters" as Mr Stupid suggested nor were our teachers who in most cases gave alot of their personal time with extra classes and stayed back with us day after day as the deadlines of projects and portfolios fast approached.

I believe the school was happy with the results overall with one student getting 585 points. It was an unsettling year with Ms Laffoy leaving but we made the best of it.

Maybe the current management should investigate how the figures are compiled and try and ensure that in future years the figures are correct as the reputation of the school is at stake

That's good to hear. I had a few drinks when I wrote that comment about being wasters.

dccclassof2014 wrote: Maybe the current management should investigate how the figures are compiled and try and ensure that in future years the figures are correct as the reputation of the school is at stake

This is a smart suggestion.

If the figures are incorrect, the Indo should apologise in large font for damaging the fragile reputation of a very new school. Either way, the school needs to get on top of this I think.

This is awful, but as another poster pointed out ,you don't have to look any further then Supervalue to find out where these kids have ended up after leaving school.Not that there is anything wrong with working in Supervalue because there's not.Has it crossed anybody's mind that maybe the parents just don't have the money to put their children through college.

The cold facts are whether we add 5 for Trinity and 5 for some other place, Donabate did very poorly in 2014. I expect all the other schools are making the same excuses, that there should be more going to this College and more going to that College. I hope next year Donabate is at the top and not second last. It can only sadden us that our school has lost its way.

mirror wrote:This is awful, but as another poster pointed out ,you don't have to look any further then Supervalue to find out where these kids have ended up after leaving school.Not that there is anything wrong with working in Supervalue because there's not.Has it crossed anybody's mind that maybe the parents just don't have the money to put their children through college.

Not sure how that's relevant. I congratulate those that have obtained work in Supervalu. College is not for everyone.

Retail management can be a very well paid career, just look at Lidl and Aldi managerial salaries for example. There's nothing stopping those young people who are working in Supervalu from working towards management and college whilst they are working.

Oh here we go. As I have already stated, there is no problem with anyone working in Supervalue or any other retail outlet.My post is relevant because my point is while this survey is a very poor reflection on the school it might be a situation where by certain students in the school have no interest in going to college and therefore the finger of blame cannot be pointed at the school.

Donabate Hatter wrote:
Hi Jack

You make an extremely good point, surely we need to see what the actual results were, the fact that only 1 in 3 went onto college prove nothing in relation to the actual exam results!!

AlanD wrote:
This is not a good point at all. This is clutching at straws. It would be bizarre to assert that the leaving cert results were in anyway comparable to other schools where pupils were three times more likely to go on to college.

Err well I think it is, I'm not clutching at anything and the fact is none of us know what the results actually were, and you know what they say 'don't believe everything you see in a paper'

Err.

Yes, maybe you are right thinking that 37% of our students going to college while over in Malahide CC it's 85% means nothing at all about results. Fair play to your imagination

There are plenty of references online to apologies and corrections to past figures. I imagine there is something wrong with these figures. It's a pity the school hasn't made comment to at least say they are looking into it.
But then I suppose they are busy doing other things right now. Like blocking the through road with their cars and putting kids lives in danger.

As a parent of a DPCC graduate who is in college, I am inclined to agree with the poster who suggested that parents may have a role to play. It would be interesting to learn how many parents of this cohort have 3rd level educations.

Also, I'm no sociologist, but
in my estimation, Donabate / Portrane is full of middles income earners who have been deeply affected by the recession and yet whose children wouldn't qualify for grants. This may have been a factor.

Are some posters missing the point, The 37% second last for Donabate is terrible or as one person put it "There is something wrong with the figures". If it is 20% out which is hard to believe and instead 57% really went on to College. The figure would still be terrible. Why are you three times more likely to go to College if you go to Malahide than Donabate? Why has happened?

I don't know the percentages, but I do know that it's proven that you are more likely to go to college if your parents did. It's really easy to find fault and point fingers at the school but there is more to this issue than that.

Is there any way to find out how many peninsula kids that graduated in 2013 went on to 3rd level?

Current and upcoming parents should insist the VEC appear at a meeting this week to account for such bad results. Cllr. Adrian Henchy is listed as a Board Member. Maybe he could organise it.

Where can a list of the people on the Board of Management be seen?

It was the VEC's website I was looking at, www.ddletb.ie. I'm not sure about the school's board, but after 3 principals and these results, I think the VEC itself should be called to account. Only parents can get a result here. Even if the school's management is conscientious and attempts to follow up, it isn't their children at stake.

I think it is the duty of the local Board of Management need to inform us if there is a mistake with the figures and to give us the correct ones. If the figures are correct they need to reassure us that the LC results were comparable with other schools in the area and we can then surmise that the school is not the problem.

As a parent with three future pupils - I emailed DCC to see if there was any explanation for the results. No response - nearly a week now. Says all I need to know really..

Tried to call them four times yesterday - but no one answered the phone!

Somebody mentioned that going to college depends alot on parental influence and expectations. I believe stats show this is true. The main waves of university educated young professionals didn't arrive here until after 2002ish. Their kids will only be sitting their leaving cert in a few years time. Might be just a timing thing.

Vlad the Impaler wrote:Somebody mentioned that going to college depends alot on parental influence and expectations. I believe stats show this is true. The main waves of university educated young professionals didn't arrive here until after 2002ish. Their kids will only be sitting their leaving cert in a few years time. Might be just a timing thing.

No surprise the selection of cheese has got better in SuperValue since then. Before the middle class upswing the only cheese was Tayto's Cheese and Onion.

The first time I visited Donabate in 1997, there wasn't even a SuperValu.