Opinions on Gaelscoils/advice needed

[muuuuuumy1]

Hi all, my dd will be starting school next September. She is a bright sociable child who is really looking forward to "big school"
Our conundrum is that there is a good school walking distance to our house, however it is an Irish speaking school, dh & I havn't spoken a word of Irish since leaving school & even then it was basic Irish. We are not sure we can support especially when she moves into the higher classes.
However there is an absolutely fantastic school 10 minutes drive from the house & it has a great reputation & facilities.
Have any of you an experience of Gaelscoils & not having a grasp of the language?
Would we be crazy driving past a school every morning?
Our hearts are saying to go to the further away school as we love the activities it offers & the facilities however our heads are saying we are crazy driving to another school when the one on our doorstep is a very good school too except it's Irish speaking & our lack of confidence is holding us back.
Is there any advantages to attending an Irish speaking primary? Do kids suffer in other areas? She will be attending an English secondary.
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Ten minutes drive is nothing, you can walk that, so if you really prefer that then go there.
It can be hard to help with the homework etc if you don't have a word, but they usually run classes for parents. There are definite advantages to being bilingual in primary.

10 minutes drive can be quite a long distance. My DC's primary school is 8 mins drive away but it's all 50kmph roads so it would take nearly an hour to walk it.

Personally, I would go for the better school. I think it would be worth a short drive. Both of my DC needed more homework input from me than I had expected, and I would have been floundering if they had been doing it all through Irish (like you I have avoided it completely since I left school).

It's not possible to walk to the other school, it's 8km away on a country road... We would do the Irish classes after school but the thoughts of doing maths, geography, history etc fill me with dread. I think we would be fine until around 2nd/3rd class...
Such a hard decision really agonising over it & will need to have decision made by January... She won;t be going to an Irish secondary school if that makes a difference...

My sisters son went to a gaelscoil
She had no Irish either but managed it through some classes and an English Irish dictionary

He did really well in the school and went on to a English speaking secondary with no issues, has since graduated with a good leaving cert
He is very good at languages, not sure if the gaelscoil helped or if he was naturally inclined anyway though

Watching with interest as I was going to post something very similar! My irish is nowhere near fluent but conversation level, DH hasn't a notion or interest. My Dad is fluent so would be able to help but have the same worries about once 2nd/3rd class. Sorry not helpful at all!

Thanks for the replies, we are nearly convinced that the other school (that we need to drive to) will be a better fit for dc. We love the activities on offer, it has an excellent reputation plus we will be able to help with homework etc with gusto!
Feel sad about having to drive past a school which is literally 2 mins away but we need to think of the long term plus the fact they'll be going to an English speaking secondary...
Ruggerhug hope you come to a decision soon!

Glad you're sorted! we have a lot more time to get sorted. DH put DSs name down for his first only choice school before he was 7 weeks old . I'm trying to show better options nearby!

For what it's worth, DD just this week started in a junior infants in the local Gael Scoil. We both have forgotten all our Irish also, so we are aware that it's definitely a commitment and we'll have to go to the classes etc. We actually chose it over a more local school because the class sizes are small and it's very parent-driven which we like. Also I have read a lot of research that suggests it's good for overall brain development to be bi-lingual in childhood. And then finally I always enjoyed Irish as a kid myself and am looking forward to getting back into it.

She has had a fantastic first week, the school is fairly hard core total immersion (i.e. No English is spoken at all) but lots of the kids are not from Irish-speaking homes so they are all in the same boat and she doesn't seem phased so far (we have been doing our best over the summer to drop in the cupla focail). School says that by Easter most will be speaking comfortably in basic Irish. Also I was worried about her English suffering but apparently the kids from Gael Scoils do as well as their peers in English comprehension by around 2nd class.

Best of luck, sounds like you have 2 lovely schools to pick from so you won't go wrong either way.

Your lack of Irish isn't really a problem. There were loads of kids in my dc's primary whose parents didn't have Irish. Some of the parents were foreign so had never even done irish.

There are huge benefits to bilingualism for children in terms of cognitive development. Have a quick Google and you'll see. The English secondary is not an issue. Other than maths, there are no issues. For maths the 6th class teacher gave those going to English language secondary a sheet with a translation of terms (e.g. Triangle etc) for the entrance exam at the local secondary and none of them had any problems.

Ds1 finished secondary last year and got 2nd highest points in the school. Dd also got 2nd highest in JC that year. So it definitely didn't affect their abilities in secondary.

Thanks Cup of Tae & you made me, we are having another wobble & are now leaning towards Gaelscoil again. We have a few cavaets, we are quite worried about the level of English & Maths that they will have entering secondary. We read an awful lot at home with the dc & they have fantastic vocabulary & conversation skills so we hope that that won't be affected by the Irish. Also slightly worried about the science, history & geography terminology. However that said, all the parents we know in the school are so happy & many of them are in the same boat as ourselves.
They made me that's good to know that they give the english terms for the maths as well & your dc did so well, you must be very proud of them!
Cup of tae, that's great to hear that your dd is getting on so well, the one we are considering is also total immersion. No english until second half of Seniors.. What I am also worried about is the school holidays with time of for 2 mid terms, easter & long summer holidays I would be worried that the dc would forget what they have learned especially as dh & I wouldn't be able to converse to the level they would be at...

Gael scoil. Total nightmare for us as a two parent working family . DD went to a hardcore gaelscoil for juniors. She was in a silent world for virtually a whole yr plus she didnt have a cIue how to read by the June end. I came to my senses and moved her out to an english school that fits the whole family better. We even have laughs over her maths and her ' our news ' soooo much better moving forward into 1st class as of this yr. Tg.