DonabatePortrane.net

i'm the first person to say that college is not the be all and end all. not everyone is suited to college and will of course go on to have very successful careers. i'm not a fan of the LC curriculum in it's current form having not really changed to reflect the times in over 50 years.

Not everyone is suited to a trade either. As it happens, most if not all trades these days require third level qualifications anyway.

That being said though, for many people third level is important and is their best chance of getting a job.

My point is that I want to give my kids the best chance and best options available to them. If they decide they don't want to go to college when the time comes, then so be it. However I want them to have the option.

At 57%, which appears to be far far below the national average, the option doesn't appear great to me. It gives the outward appearance of a school that doesn't perform well. Believe it or not, the majority of parents want to send their kids to a well performing school. The article was brought to my attention by neighbours of mine yesterday, so there is definatelly concern. Even taking trades/year out etc into consideration, it still appears to be very low.

My old school which is in a standard working class area catchment area recevied a score of 92%. Maybe I'm being unfair in making the comparison, but it's what I have to go on.

Now maybe there is an explanation for the low score. Maybe it's to do with it only being the second year of leaving cert. After all there was a vast improvement from last years figure of 37%.

That's why I was hoping that someone with more knowledge than me of such things might be abe to shed some light. I will of course be talking it over with the relevent people/person at the school as well.

Hi all, just to say maybe tables don't account for students who just didn't study of which I know 3! They would tell you themselves they could + should have done more , this is not the schools fault!! Parents and teachers can only try to influence students to study, you can't make them. These lads are happy enough working locally and maybe when they're ready will go to college/uni !! Stop bashing the school its not perfect but no school is .....

Good point Gandalf.

Who's bashing the school? I was asking a question if people had an opinion or if they know the reason for the low figure.

Whatever way you look at it its a low figure and yes on the surface of it I have concerns. If there is a perfectly good explanation for it then great.

micropoodle wrote:i'm the first person to say that college is not the be all and end all. not everyone is suited to college and will of course go on to have very successful careers. i'm not a fan of the LC curriculum in it's current form having not really changed to reflect the times in over 50 years.

Not everyone is suited to a trade either. As it happens, most if not all trades these days require third level qualifications anyway.

That being said though, for many people third level is important and is their best chance of getting a job.

My point is that I want to give my kids the best chance and best options available to them. If they decide they don't want to go to college when the time comes, then so be it. However I want them to have the option.

At 57%, which appears to be far far below the national average, the option doesn't appear great to me. It gives the outward appearance of a school that doesn't perform well. Believe it or not, the majority of parents want to send their kids to a well performing school. The article was brought to my attention by neighbours of mine yesterday, so there is definatelly concern. Even taking trades/year out etc into consideration, it still appears to be very low.

My old school which is in a standard working class area catchment area recevied a score of 92%. Maybe I'm being unfair in making the comparison, but it's what I have to go on.

Now maybe there is an explanation for the low score. Maybe it's to do with it only being the second year of leaving cert. After all there was a vast improvement from last years figure of 37%.

That's why I was hoping that someone with more knowledge than me of such things might be abe to shed some light. I will of course be talking it over with the relevent people/person at the school as well.

Ok so here are your options:
1. Send your kids to another school. This means they will spend 1 hour extra a day travelling when they could have been studying or playing sport.

2. Send your kids to the DCC and if you are worried about a subject for whatever reason get grinds in the institute.

3. Send your kids to DCC and for 6th year, if you are really worried, take your kid out and send them to the institute.

4. Relax. It's still a new school and the demographic of Donabate is changing. On Vincent Browne recently it was reported as an affluent area. Heck we have a Tennis club on the way. This is because - thankfully - a number of professionals have moved to the area, especially in the last 10 - 15 years. Most of these professionals will have been riding over the last ten years and have kids who they have high aspirations for. That's good news for everyone. The gene pool is getting better and better, every week at the moment. When the gene pool gets better, the grades do.

This is because - thankfully - a number of professionals have moved to the area, especially in the last 10 - 15 years. Most of these professionals will have been riding over the last ten years and have kids who they have high aspirations for. That's good news for everyone. The gene pool is getting better and better, every week at the moment. When the gene pool gets better, the grades do.

Ah brilliant, the local yokels are interbread idiots, the parish can only be saved by the rising tide of professional type interlopers! how terribly colonial!

I think a major issue is being overlooked here. Good results are achieved through hard work and this alone.
It does not matter how intelligent a student is, diligence and hard work are essential to a student's success.
In 6th year, the student is greatly responsible for his/her own learning. The next person responsible is the student's teacher who facilitates the learning. Lastly the parents are responsible to facilitate the study environment at home. Unless there are buy ins from all the responsible parties then good results are unlikely to come. The question is which party(ies) are responsible if the results have been bad?
The board of management may be able to shed some light on the low rate of college entry if people are concerned.

sorry micropoodle but if i have CONCERNS i go to relevant body to dicuss mine ! i dont put on a public forum in a negative light. have you contacted school,vec or any other body to dicuss your concerns? whatever you say its bashing !! i have two children attending school and am very happy with their grades and whats more they are very happy in the school. so you have been given options by mr stupid maybe you should consider them ...

In fairness to Micropoodle they have in their previous post said they will be talking to the school also. I hardly think sharing a concern is "bashing". Should we all just extol the virtues of everything Donabate related here?

I'm hoping mr stupid's suggestions are somewhat tongue in cheek as I don't think expensive private education/grinds is a particularly good solution. Would it not be better to push to raise standards rather than accept them and pay elsewhere?

No need to apologise gandalf. If you ha actually read my posts you would see that I said I would be discussing it with the relevant people. I'm in the process of doing this.

I'm delighted your kids are doing well. Genuinely delighted. This is exactly what I wanted to hear from this post.

Again if you read my actual posts you would see I was not bashing the school. I was expressing my disappointment at the figure I saw in comparison to what I would have expected. It's a genuine concern I have and I am fully entitled to have this concern. Hopefully my children will thank me for being concerned about their education when they are older.

I'm certainly not the only one with this concern. Far far from it

as it happens i wasnt apologising for my post,and i did read your post ! i still think its bashing in a round about way . my point is why put negative information on a public forum (that you heard about from your neighbour) before actually talking to relevant bodies!! you obviously dont have children in the school and maybe have never seen what a wonderful facilility we have on our doorstep, everybody wants whats best for their kids and as a new school its up to students, teachers, and parents to support and work together for the benefit of all !!!

I knew you weren't apologising

I have one child in 1st year and 2 more due in the next few years.

I know what my options are and I have explored many but not because of school performance, just because I like to be informed.

I clearly wasn't bashing but I suppose that doesn't suit your argument. Maybe we should close this forum down and follow your idea of not discussing things on a community forum?

I'm the type of person who questions things. I don't accept what I'm told without informing myself. I have every right to question the performance of a public school. Every right.

My neighbour by the way wasn't gossiping. They informed me of the existence of the report which I then checked out for myself.

I welcome your opinion of course but I don't agree with you trying to stifle discussion. My question was to ask what people's thoughts were and if people in the know understand why the figure was so low.

My child too is doing great in the school so far but that doesn't mean I'm complacent. I want that to continue and want to know why that figure is in my opinion low.

I'm am not trying to stifle discussion, you say you are not the type of person to not be informed but how informed were you on your first post ?? No contact with school, vec, teachers ??? Post away but be informed that's all I ask. Complacent is not a term I would attach to myself and as a member of parents council i know the goings on in the school and be assured this question will be asked .but as I said its up to students, teachers + parents !!!

The whole point of my first post was to become informed. Sure that's why I posted it. That's the whole point of attempting to be informed.

The school are in the process of being asked but my point is regardless of what they say I would like the opinions of the community.

I appreciate you asking the question via the parents council also. Still want other people's opinions also. That's all

Just a suggeston, it might be better to look at results achieved by the school for the last two years rather than percentage that went to college. Also, its important to remember that the school is still establishing itself and that will take a few more years.

If you go in to the school website and click on latest news, page 6, there is a break down of results achieved in leaving cert 2015. Overall the results were very good with some really high achievers.

Also on page 16, titled recent publication, there is an breakdown for leaving cert 2014 correcting inaccuracies of a publication.

We are very lucky to have DCC on our doorstep. There will be teachers that are excellent and others that your child may not work well with, no different to any other school. Every parent wants only the best for their child and the decision is for them to make. However, I will be keeping mine locally.

Ted wrote:In fairness to Micropoodle they have in their previous post said they will be talking to the school also. I hardly think sharing a concern is "bashing". Should we all just extol the virtues of everything Donabate related here?

I'm hoping mr stupid's suggestions are somewhat tongue in cheek as I don't think expensive private education/grinds is a particularly good solution. Would it not be better to push to raise standards rather than accept them and pay elsewhere?

How about an IQ test for anyone who wants to buy a house in Beresford? Let's keep the gene pool moving in the right direction.

*must resist urge to Godwin*

Donabate eugenics programme maybe...

I think part of the issue may be the classes not being graded. Each of the students had an entrance exam, but then the classes are made up of mixed intelligence / attitude. My child is hard working and eager to learn, but a lot of the classes are being disrupted by uninterested students. No matter how hard the student works, or the effort made by the teacher, one disruptive, uninterested student can ruin a class - and have a long term effect. Also, a lot of class time can be spent going over certain points until the whole class grasps the concept before the teacher can move on. I feel the classes should be sorted according to results of the entrance exam and have students of equal ability in each class. Then the students can aim for higher better results when they have the time and resources that suit their goals.

To be honest it's not just Donabate, nearly all of Dublin is at it. We are taking the best boggers, Polish, you name it giving them a job a place to live.

The facts are that DCC is doing is best. Last year 36-40% went to a Third Level College and this year it is 57% went to College. This is an average of approx. 48-50%. Therefore 1 in every two students in DCC get enough points to progress to College over the last two years. We all know that a small percentage of Leaving Certs do not go on to College for various reasons that is the same in all the other Colleges that were ahead of DCC in the League Tables for North County Dublin. We all as Parents had great expectations for DCC, the first few years were wonderful, things changed and we all have to learn how to work around these changes for our children sake.

"DCC doing its best" 50% going on to College over the last two years is a disaster, and all the excuses in the world cannot explain the fact that a new school with excellent facilities in a middle class area come last in North Dublin.

james wrote:"DCC doing its best" 50% going on to College over the last two years is a disaster, and all the excuses in the world cannot explain the fact that a new school with excellent facilities in a middle class area come last in North Dublin.

Pretty blunt response James. I take it you mean the teachers are at fault?

OK so 57% went onto further education.
This does not mean 43% failed I presume.
Did this 43% not get enough points to go onto their selected course?
Or did they even apply for a course?
Maybe some students decided to take a year out and travel before continuing on with their education...

How did all students score in the leaving - if these 43% scored abysmally bad then that does paint a bad picture for the school - if they got quite good/average scores then the percentage who goes onto further education really doesn't mean squat!!!

People are right to ask questions. It is their children's education after all. Having said that, it is a very crude measure of a schools success. There could be many reasons why the rate is "low". Students didn't get the course they wanted so decide to repeat. Students take a gap year. Students have no interest in college. Students study abroad. Students get a job. The problem with statistics is that they can tell whatever story you want. For example, the percentage of students attending university rather than the wider 3rd Level colleges and institutes of technology is higher than Portmarnock and Loreto in Swords (both of which rank in the top 20 of North County Dublin).

I don't have kids in the school. Yet! But while I would look at these figures, I would be much more interested in talking to the school directly and other parents.

Hi SMcG

Thats exactly the point I made four days ago, all that so called league table proves is that 57% of the students went onto level 3, it does not prove that the other 43% couldn't have done so, if they had wanted to.

As a measure of how good the school is, it's crap!!

DH