Girl's secondary schools Sth Dublin - Cluny

[KanyesVest]

Does anyone know anything about St Joseph's Cluny? Can't believe I'm worrying about where to send dd, she's only going into senior infants!

My dds go to cluny, what sort of info do you want? Its fee paying, all girls and has a good reputation locally. A lot of the girls go there from olgc and st brigids junior schools.

Thanks for replying. I was looking at the school website bit can't find much about extra curricular and sports involvement. Is there much choice? Thanks for the info on the feeders. Dd isn't in either, but it would be manageable for distance. I grew up near enough, and it had a great reputation 20+ years ago...it seems to be sustaining it in a way others haven't. Do you mind me asking if there were any particular reasons you chose it, especially over, eg Rathdowm?

There are lots of sports, hockey, basketball, tennis, badminton, running club, and athletics. Extra curricular activities include guitar, piano, drums, singing, and book club among others, you would have to pay for some of those. They also encourage the girls to get involved in charity work, green schools, etc. Rathdown is quite a bit more expensive and further away from our house. Its also not a feeder school as our dds school is Catholic. (although we are atheists). Its local and our daughters are happy there so thats the main thing for us. It is fairly academic and they encourage the girls to work hard which is good imo. Fees are about 4,500 a year, havent got the bill yet and not looking forward to it!

Thanks, all good to know. We are closer to rathdown, but I have more of a leaning towards Cluny. Dh went to a rural Christian brothers school, so it was a shock when I mentioned the fees. I have 6 years to work on him

I'd go to Loreto Dalkey or Holy Child Killiney over Cluny personally..

Any particular reasons, math? I hadn't thought much about them as they would be awkward to get to. I was thinking about loreto on the green, but was recently talking to someone who went there and said she never saw her friends outside school as they come from all over to the city centre.

It's very true that students at Loreto Stephen's Green come from all over the place, and that alone would militate against much socialising outside of school, but I think even so the management could do more to foster a sense of community there and it drops the ball (I have a DN there in the junior school, about to go to the secondary). The primary didn't even have a website until very recently. If you're even a little outside of the UMC-old girl from some RC school/ professional /white /Irish /Catholic at least in name mould you may find yourself ostracised a bit. (However, I suspect this is true for many of the more expensive girls' schools in Dublin - a little insular).

Loreto Dalkey and Holy Child Killiney are both in the top 20 in this ranking. (So is Rathdown). If you're in the vicinity of Rathdown, Killiney and Dalkey might be doable commutes. A lot depends on your specific location and how hard it would be to make a daily trek back and forth, but if all else was equal I would choose Colaiste Iosagain (Gaeilscoil) in Booterstown, which is ranked #1 on that list.

My cousins' children went to Newpark Comprehensive and did very well there. www.schooldays.ie/sch/newpark-comprehensive-school-rollnumber-81001I/college-progression. You may be in the catchment or they may accept students from outside it.

Thanks for the link, I had seen older ones, not that they change by much. I've a lot of experience of the top 10, but oddly don't know anyone who went to Cluny, which is what prompted my wonderings.

I agree Loreto Dalkey is a bargain compared to the other private schools. I hated having to commute in to town to get to school.

I don't think anybody can choose Colaiste Iosgain, they choose you!

Teresians is the third highest ranking school in Dublin. Everyone I know who went there absolutely hated it.

I know someone there at the moment and someone I knew in primary school went there too (but that was long ago). The girl who is there at the moment seems pretty harmless, and is doing fine but I wouldn't consider her mother my cup of tea at all, or her granny. They are a little like the parents of the girl I went to primary with, come to think of it. A bit flashy.

Very true there about Colaiste Iosagain

I have two teens in one of the schools mentioned on this thread, not Cluny! It is a fantastic school, and we are very happy with it, but we didn't choose it because of rankings, I personally think that's the wrong reason to choose a school. You need to find the school that suits your child, and the LC results and extra curriculars are often not a good indicator of whether it's the best school for your dc.

squoosh your comment made me laugh (and nod knowingly 😉)

Math I think many would have called most of the girls in my year, and school, flashy, and by recent accounts, getting flashier. I got on fine there, made brilliant friends, but my older sister hated every minute.

Interesting to hear about your friends' experiences of Teresians, squoosh. I only know one girl who went there, but it was 20+ years ago and I think she would have got on well anywhere. I was always jealous of their uniform - I loved the idea of being to pick my own kilt pattern shallow

I think DD will fit in anywhere, and she's bright, so it's things like the extra curriculars that are most interesting to me. I would like that if she has interests outside hockey and netball (the exclusive priorities where I went) she will be able to pursue them in school if she wishes. Two schools near us that would have had pretty bad reputations when I was going to school, seem to be doing really well at the moment, so I guess it's a movable feast for the next few years.

Given the admission criteria for Colaiste Iosagain, I'm starting to regret not taking the place I was offered. Still, at least we're not stuck for options.

It's funny how one sibling will take to a place like a duck to water but another will never really feel at home. Sometimes there's a different dynamic in a certain year group though.

Mathanxiety
Horses for courses

I know people who went to Teresians. ( Dh a southsider )
They loved it.
It's a teeny tiny school.
I think it became very popular with a very monied elite in Celtic Tiger times.
That would change a school.

How does St Columba's compare (fee -wise) with the other private schools. Most are in the region of 7-8k a year but I can't see on the website how much St Columba's is. Their class sizes are really small.

St Columba's is way more expensive than all the other private schools. About 13K per annum I think.

Here's a list from 2014 so a little out of date.

www.independent.ie/irish-news/education/private-schools-pupil-numbers-and-day-fees-30592044.html

Not sure i understand that list. It says columbas 298 and st andrew's 976 in the fees column but that sounds more like pupil numbers!

You must be reading it wrong.
It was fine for me. Columba's College is over €12,000.
Faints

13k a year is in the region of what i thought though. Small class sizes dont come cheap.

PuffPastry, I had the same moment. If you're on your phone, you need to turn it landscape to see the fees columns.

On my phone, but no matter how hard i look at the article linked, i cant see any mention of 12k!

????
I had no problem.