Belfast schools

[mwah79]

Hi there. I’m really interested in your comments. We live in an area of SE London, which has a fantastic community feel and we are friends with lots of the parents our kids hang around with. In addition, as we’ve been in London for 20 yrs we have lots of friends who have become our family. Our DS (8&10) are in an excellent school and I can walk to work. Our life is pretty nice but we are very busy and broke all the time. We have no savings for the future. We do own a house and would hopefully make £130000 profit from the sale. We are seriously considering a move back to Belfast to be close to family and for a slower pace of life. Our DC are not used to exam based academia and had many years of learning through play. They don’t really do any homework. We’ll take them to a museum or gallery based on their current topic.
I think our eldest might struggle with arriving back and being thrown straight into exam prep. Can I ask your advice about primary and secondary schools? Do our kids need to get into a Gramnar? They are both very bright but if there are good secondary schools I think we’d boycott the exam process. We are considering Ballyhackamore, Newtonbreda Finaghy. Is there any info. on catchment areas or feeder schools? Thanks in advance.

I’m from there, haven’t lived there for 10 years but a lot of friends do. 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.

Thanks so much. I was worried that might be the case.

In NI we are very fortunate that most secondary schools are very good. However, in the areas you are looking at (South/East Belfast) there are less good non-grammar options for boys. Ashfield Boys High gets a good name, as does Lagan College, but both are massively oversubscribed. In Newtonbreda, the main high school is Breda Academy and it doesn’t have the best reputation in terms of academic achievement or behaviour.

There are lots of great grammar schools in these areas though - RBAI (Inst), Methody, Wellington and Campbell College (the latter charges around £3000 per year). You will likely be exempt from having to sit the AQE/GL transfer tests, but the schools might want evidence of academic achievement. If you are on a Facebook, join the AQE and GL support group - there have been similar posts from people in the same boat as you.

A lot of the exam prep also takes place in the equivalent of Y5, my nephews in state school P6 are already in the thick of it.

I like the traditional approach because my husband and I responded very well to exams. However our alternatives were either a bad state school where we were in London or a series of very pushy, expensive private schools that test aggressively the children applying before they begin. So NI grammars seem like a good compromise for us - excellent education, a good choice of schools, but yes, academic in approach.

The benefit of NI is also that if working less and commuting less, theres more time and energy to get out walking, to the beach, get a dog, do creative or active pursuits etc.

Oh and my kids had homework from P1 and it is taken very seriously by all.

Would highly recommend Lagan College. It is popular and for good reason. Integrated in all ways, religion, gender and has a grammar "stream" . Entrance for this stream can be via the AQE/GL exams. Perfect school for total family inclusion. Also has super facilities, possibly due to its integrated status.

Agree with motherofdoodles that Lagan sounds like the best fit I can think of.

Thanks for your input. Lagan College sounds great. The boys are both exceeding pupils at school but we think that, as they are kids, they should be allowed to be so. For that reason they are not used to buckling down and going through tests. The eldest will have SATs next year but that doesn't really dictate where he will go to school. They are more a measurement of the Primary school's success. Are catchment areas important in Belfast, or is it all based on the transfer tests? For example, if we did decide to put him up for the tests would he be in the catchment for Aquinas and Lagan College as a back up? Thanks in advance.

Depends where you would be living and whether the primary school you get them into is a feeder school for those. We are in Newtownbreda and in the catchment area for both Aquinas and Lagan, and our primary school is a feeder school. An A grade in the the GL is needed for entry into Aquinas and even then some applicants don’t get it, depends on other criteria too. We were told to put down at least 4 or 5 schools on the application form. I have heard that you should put Lagan first on the form if you want to have a chance to get it. You can mark your application “grammar stream” if that’s what you are aiming for, I’m not sure if the next grammar school on your list would then be considered if your child didn’t get into the grammar stream at Lagan or if the all-ability stream at Lagan would be considered before that. Joining the FB group is your best bet, they are very knowledgeable 😀 Good luck!

http://www.lagancollege.com/admissions/
Maybe this will help. Children come from all over both the city and outside it to Lagan because of its reputation and integrated education status ( outside NI just known as "normal" education!🤣) disclosure: my two both go there, one studying gcse one A levels. V different people, both achieving well, both very happy, and living about 17 miles from the school. Although difficult to get into (should def be placed first on your list to have a chance) places do seem to crop up through the years. From my observation this has been due to children whose parents are in NI for periods for work then leave the country. They cater very well for all children with an enormous range of both academic and vocational courses. Sorry it sounds like they're paying me! Truly though , with two very different children it has suited our family so well! My husband and I both educated at single sex Catholic grammar schools ( very high achieving and difficult to gain entry to) and this inclusive form of education is just heaven to us! However I'm sure every parent will have wonderful stories of their DCs schools too. Good luck with the move.

I've 3 kids - 2 in grammar (funny enough very near Finaghy) and one in primary school still. My youngest is in between your two. Your primary school choice will be based on your catchment area, depends obviously on spaces. My older kids both travel to school, in fact most kids I know travel to their preferred post primary school.
Mine sit both the AQE and GL exams. Obviously schools have feeder primary schools but the exam result is usually the top criteria and then primary schools etc are used further down the criteria lists. We're coming to the end of open days for post primary at the minute, transfer test results are out this weekend.

I know lots of people I went to school with who have moved back or are in the process of moving back, as soon as their kids hit a few years before secondary education the call back seems to be stronger .
And yes homework is king from the start of primary school to the end. The key year as mentioned is P6. The transfer tests are all done by mid Dec of P7.

Grammar school places can be like hens teeth even with the results. I know 2 kids that didn't get into Aquinas this year with As. My kids did really well and I still put four schools down and my second one had a sibling there already. There is some movement around the start of years 10 and 11 ( 3rd and 4th year in old money).

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

@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!

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

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

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!

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

@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.

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.

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.

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