NI schools......looking for others experiences

[beechie12]

TalkPrimary education

NI schools......looking for people's experiences4

Today 19:41beechie12

I live near Belfast and myself and DH are hoping to bring up our 3 children with both a British and Irish identity if possible. We were brought up one catholic one protestant but generally share a basic Christian faith and attend church/chapel a few times per year. My eldest is in p3 in a controlled school and happy there but coming up to applying for preschool for my next DC I am leaning towards an integrated school as while DS'S school is excellent it has more of a British culture and I would like the childen to be exposed to some Irish culture too ie. St patricks day, GAA etc. I find this hard to do with DS as he naturally wants to do what his school friends are doing. We moved house in p1 and couldn't get into an integrated then and am wondering is it worth splitting them up or should I just continue with them all in the controlled school. Was wondering what others experiences are. Logistically it should work ok at diff schools as DS loves breakfast club and throughout their school lives they will have diff finishings times ie 2pm and 3pm. But on the other hand it would be nice for them to have that shared experience. Thanks in advance and thanks to mumsguiltisabitch for pointing me towards Craic net! Love it.

[ShinyStella]

It depends where the schools are
Many schools, regardless of type, are mixed - so in some areas a 'Catholic' school will have children from many different religions. Catholic schools tend to be the better schools too, check out inspection reports for the schools in your area.

[Cakescakescakes]

I wouldn’t split them up. Imagine being the child who feels they have to go to the school you don’t like?