Belfast schools

Well I do think it is lacking in emotional intelligence to describe children as rich & thick, especially when another poster has just posted about how they think it is a school which would meet OP’s needs.

I know people thought it was hilarious around the 1980s to use this phrase, but actually it isn’t particularly accurate these days, and no, my DS wouldn’t be aware that some people have such a chip on their shoulder that they feel the need to denigrate children and their school choices.

How is it an example of buying privilege?

I’m sure he’s already aware of it Nigella .

It’s a good school . I didn’t say it wasn’t . It is a good example of buying privilege.
Seems like I hit a nerve .

Campbell has a reputation for being rich and thick

I’ll make sure to mention that to DS.

Campbell are very upfront about being an all ability school - they have an A stream and a B stream, much in the same way that Lagan College has their grammar stream and non-grammar stream. Don’t let a lazy comment from a pp put you off considering it.

Last year they were reporting on the news that N Ireland had less funding per pupil than the rest of the UK. But still outperforming the rest of the UK in exams. Although I've no doubt that a different study might say the opposite.

My eldest child's school is falling apart at the seams; they have had to close the school on a couple of occasions for emergency repairs because it's unsafe, and this is only the second year they've been there. It's a voluntary grammar, and the controlled schools that we viewed were in far better condition. Which is weird because I thought one of the things about voluntary grammars was that they claimed to have access to more funding due to charging capital fees.

But, despite that little rant, I'm convinced that the education system works better here than in England. I've never heard of anyone here desperately scrambling to buy a house in a particular postcode to ensure they get a place at a particular school. And in my area at least, the non grammars are very good, they certainly don't throw kids on the scrapheap at 11 as people looking in from the outside seem to assume.

Prospective pupils still have to sit the transfer test though. Unless they pay to attend as a boarder I guess, similar to Armagh Royal, Victoria College etc.

But I definitely agree with you that our schools our excellent. My DS primary school had 45 children in P7 and less than half sat the transfer tests as they chose to attend the excellent local secondary school.

Campbell does have the reputation for being for the rich kids who buy their way in... that’s what happens when you have a system where many more ordinary kids can go to grammars solely on academic ability...

Campbell has a reputation for being rich and thick .

Charming way to describe children

I have several colleagues who attended (mostly doctors), and a few of my son’s friends DS attend. While it does have fees of £3000 a year and therefore has slightly lower entry requirements, I think “thick” is very unkind. Campbell’s lowest AQE grade they accepted in 2017 was 94, Methody was 95........

And this isn’t hearsay - I have professional reasons for knowing...

Try for the grammars, they aren’t as classed based as grammars in England...
I tell you one thing - In general NI schools are waaayyyy better than English ones. Smaller class numbers, better discipline, higher standards, not divided by class in the same way, really well qualified teachers, tons of school places, more money and investment in them too.

If they’ve spent more than 4 years of their primary education outside NI then they won’t have to sit the AQE / GL . I’m not sure who you’d contact to get confirmation of this . My friend’s daughter got a place in a local catholic girls’ grammar school by sitting their own entrance exam .
If you want a mixed school ( which I’d recommend ) then Methody is a good choice. Campbell has a reputation for being rich and thick .

Also hear great things about St Joseph and know a very happy first year there.

Long time ago, but I attended Rathmore Grammar, a Catholic grammar in south Belfast not far from Finaghy.

It’s a really academic school, but I benefited from an outstanding education, which more than equipped me for tertiary education at Cambridge.

I understand it’s still an excellent school, but not sure of entry criteria and whether students must still be practising Catholics.

I live in the Newtownbreda area.. I'm.also a primary teacher and my dh is a classroom assistant in Lagan. He really does love it and as others have said it is integrated and has both grammar and secondary streams.
Aquinas and OLSPCK are both excellent Catholic schools. My younger brother (treated as eldest child due to the large age gap meaning he has no siblings currently at school age.) is in 2nd year at OLSPCK. However it was his second choice. He wanted Aquinas - was in a feeder primary school, eldest child, grade A (very very high grade A) and within catchment area - he would have been able to walk. They were hugely oversubscribed in his year. In saying that he loves OLSPCK and its where we all went. St Josephs is a secondary in the area, next door to Aquinas and I've heard good things about it too.
I would steer clear of Breda high though.
Primary wise it also depends whether you want Catholic, integrated, state etc. Sticking to Newtownbreda area - Loughview and Forge are both integrated. Forge is on an old site and hoping to move to a new school in a couple of years. (Currently our top 2 choices for ds although we have another year to go before we decide)
St itas is probably the newest build school and gets excellent reviews. St Bernards is nearby although again older school building but a popular school. Cairnshill also in the area but some know much about it.
Generally where you live will be a criteria for getting in. There are often spaces in later years of primary due to there being a bit more flexibly of class size and movement between pupils at school.
Happy to help out if I can if you have any more questions.

@hopeishere - as a family who've lived around the world until recently we'd love if we didn't have to answer that! :D Ideally integrated but our shortlist is currently one COI, one Catholic and one Integrated.

@DaydreamingDay - thank you!! I'll send you a message now.

You need to look at individual schools criteria and whether you would apply under special provision if majority of education outside Northern Ireland.

Lol if you need any help please don't hesitate to PM me as I'm in the area and also in the education sector!

@dramalamma Magherafelt, Draperstown, Dungannon and Maghera all have stupendous schools, grammar, Catholic, secondary, state...you name it. They are absolutely excellent.

Whereabouts in mid Ulster? Do you want Protestant / Catholic / don't mind?

@DaydreamingDay - where are the best schools in mid Ulster? Got our results yesterday and still not a clue where we're sending DS! 🤦‍♀️ Feels like everyone else knows all the best schools but we've not lived here very long and feeling quite clueless!

If you have boys, I would second Campbell College. They are upfront about being a mixed ability school, but they will push each boy to their individual potential. Their pastoral approach is exceptional. They have a junior school too, but not necessary to have gone there to get into the senior school.

They really make learning fun and don't seem to be obsessed with constant tests.

Does it have to be Belfast? Mid Ulster has some of the top schools in the North...in the whole of the UK in fact.

There is still a massive gulf between secondaries and grammars. If your children are bright you really want them in one of the grammar schools.

I think that is only true in some areas. Although admittedly, the areas that the OP is referring to might be one of those areas.

But outside of Belfast there are areas where many non grammars have very good reputations on both achievement and behaviour. I'm not going to claim that all non grammars are churning out Oxbridge applicants, they're not, but honestly there are some fairly poor grammars and some really great non grammars.

Here you go

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/belfast-telegraph-transfer-test-guide-reveals-scores-accepted-by-every-northern-ireland-school-38890313.html

Yesterday's Belfast Telegraph has info on the likely scores they would need for grammar. Some schools eg Aquinas or OLSPCK are very, very hard to get into. And are probs 99% catholic if a mixed environment is important.