Moving to Maynooth with DDs

[Bid876]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice please. We are moving to Maynooth next year and I'm just trying to get my head around the school enrollment process.

We have 3 DDs, will be 9, 7 & 3 when we move. The plan is to see the school year out in the UK, after a shit year I dont want to pulled them out and away from what they know. I'd rather if we are put into more lock downs or isolations they are somewhere where we know people.

Our youngest turns 4 in August and would be due to start school here in September, but apparently some Irish schools wont take a child unless they turn 4 before June 1st.

My DH is already in Ireland and moving into a house in Maynooth this week. He has said he thinks that we will have to wait until the school application process opens for all 3 girls as they wont be starting school until September, is this the case?

He has also been told to put the girls names down for all the schools just in case?

Dose anyone know exactly how the process works? Also any feedback on the primary schools in Maynooth would be appreciated.

We've been told Maynooth is nice to raise children, it's been hard as we (me & the girls) haven't had a chance to go out and see the place ourselves with Covid.

4 is too young to start JI really. Most kids start when they are 5 these days ime. I'd put the youngest into a preschool for the year and apply to start in 2022.

I agree with pp - 4 too young - huge emotional and social differences between 4 and 5

Hi, I live not very far from
Maynooth but do not know it well. As far as school admissions go each school can set their own policy and admissions rules (as in cut off date for a child being too young to apply that year) my understanding is that the child needs to have turned 5 by the end of year they start school. There tend to be fewer children in the November/ December birthdays turning 5 than turning 6 but obviously it depends on the child and how soon they are ready for school. Definitely put them down for all schools you are interested in. It costs nothing and you will need a bit of luck on your side for a school to have space to accept 2 older children as well as a JI in one intake. I cannot speak for maynooth schools as I know more about Lucan.
I am not sure if you are Irish and returning or British or something else altogether but in my experience we are a lot more chilled over here about schools I think that the vast majority are fine and schools with a very deprived intake seem to be fairly funded so that the educational experience of most children is the same the biggest difference is the parents and family background/ support. This changes when it comes to secondary but I would still believe that the family is the key to making the difference. HTH enjoy the move. Kildare is a lovely part of Ireland.

Thanks everyone.

When DD was born I was very worried about her starting school weeks after turning 4. I'm not any more. As a 3rd child she is ahead of her peers in a lot of ways, even her preschool have said she will be more than ready. My older DDs were both 4yr 5months and were very ready for school.

Saying that, I'd happily keep her home with me an extra year and just put her in preschool part time.

We are both British, both my parents are Irish though.

With an August birthday I'd say you'd be best doing another year of preschool. It might be a little bit harder to get a place, so I'd start looking now.

Thanks again.

Are there any repercussions for waiting a year to start school?

In England a child starts the September after they turn 4, even though they officially don’t have to start until they turn 5. Most people don’t defer because their child will be placed in their year group at some point. This can be that they will completely miss out on the reception year and go straight into year one or if the primary school let them start in reception then when it comes to high school they will be put into their correct year group. Either way the child misses out a school year somewhere along the line.

Parents also have to prove it is detrimental to the child to defer them a year.

Dose this happen in Ireland or will she stay in the same year group if we hold her back a year?

Kids in Ireland start school between 4 and 6. It's not like England where you must begin at 4. If she stayed out until 5, she'd still begin school in Junior Infants and not go straight into Senior.

As a class teacher, the vast majority of our junior infants these days are 5 on entry (or about to turn 5 in autumn at a push). Same with any school I know. Any just turned 4 year olds are too young for the cohort ime.

There are no disadvantages to her starting when she is 5 - only advantages in my experience. She will continue within the same year group. My DD was 5 years and 7 months starting JI.
I live in Ireland - born and raised in UK to Irish parents. The school system here is quite different - and in my experience much better for the child. Less pressure and happier teachers. Kids move up to secondary school later then in UK. My DD is only in 1st year and will turn 14 next year.

I'd definitely agree with the school culture being much healthier and happier here. The things I hear from people working in England are mind boggling, it's like night and day.

I’m already starting to feel at ease reading these posts, thank you.

My older 2 were born overseas where children start school at 5 and I always preferred that. It was the negative repercussions of deferring in the uk I never liked.

I hear lots of negative stories about British schools, but I think we’ve been very lucky with our current school, it’s nothing like the horror stories I’ve heard. Very loving and caring teachers and relaxed about most things.

Coming from a big Irish family I am very excited to be bring my children back to Ireland to grow up,

Just saw that she is an August birthday like my youngest definitely send her when she has just turned five. She is the third and there are sure to be other "thirds" in her class too. Let her have free pre school year somewhere local to you and then send her next year. As you are from Irish stock you may be RC but if not just be aware of the time RC schools allow for that and also the older kids are going to have to take up Irish which will be fun for you all. My DCs think it hilarious that their British daddy does not understand them as Gailge.
Also give some forward thought to secondary school and see how the informal feeder system works for pals etc. you have the advantage if you want to go privately that I think the waiting lists system will have closed by the time the youngest too are at it but your eldest may still be impacted. I would probably be more concerned about secondary than primary.

OP, would you consider moving during this school year instead of leaving it til summer? If would give your DC a chance to make friends, have kids to play with during the summer holidays, etc. if you moved earlier. That's what we did (deliberately) when we moved from the UK - DS started in new school in Ireland after the Easter hols, it was a a nice time to move as the good weather of summer was coming in for playing after school, and he had a network of friends by September.

In case you're not already aware, the school day in Ireland is much shorter than in England as the length of the school day is set centrally. For older kids, if they start at 9am they'll finish at 2:40... and infant classes will probably finish an hour earlier at 1:40. There will probably be some sort of after-school provision but they usually don't run until 6pm or anything. Just something to bear in mind if you'll need childcare.

Oh - meant to say that, after experience if both: I agree the Irish school system is much better for everyone concerned than the English system. Kids are happier and more relaxed, they get to stay kids for longer as they don't go to secondary til around age 13, and the teachers aren't burnt out husks from all the overwork...

@MarDhea we’ve thought about moving earlier but a number of things stopping us making the move. It has been hard on DDs with lockdowns and isolations but at least here they know people here so we’ve been able to do socially distance catch ups. Also DD1 was supposed to do her first holy communion last year, it has been put off till 2021, we want her to do with with all her friends, COVID permitting. She was also supposed to be May Queen last year but again COVID stopped that. She gets to be it in 2121, putting aside the amount of money I’ve already spent on everything I really don’t want to take it away from her again.

@BasicMadeira I’m RC DH isn’t, they currently go to RC school. Now I know that she will be with others her age and not have to skip a year at some stage I’m happy to delay her enrolment a year.

They will all love the fact neither of us can speak Irish haha it makes me think of the Guinness advert with Frank Kelly and the Chinese man speaking Gailge but no one can understand him 😂

Oh yes - 18 years of national school homework and I'd say I'm about SI level Irish 😂.

I’m nitpicking here but children don’t start school at 4 “in the UK”. Scottish children start at roughly 5. There is a difference.

Our youngest turns 4 in August and would be due to start school here in September, but apparently some Irish schools wont take a child unless they turn 4 before June 1st.

I live v close to Maynooth & work there.

OP, most primary schools won't accept children who are not 4 much sooner than 01 June. That's quite a way back.

Now, it would be unusual for a child who's not 4 by at least March before the start of the school year, to go to school.

It's nothing to do with how able they are. They'll be really out of sync with their year group.

Our youngest turns 4 in August and would be due to start school here in September, but apparently some Irish schools wont take a child unless they turn 4 before June 1st.

I'm not altogether sure what you mean about this?

You should contact suitable schools (there's only a few in Maynooth) and discuss their available places, and start the process now.

We've been told Maynooth is nice to raise children

It is OP.

It's a good spot. Rural enough that you've access to lovely walks, places to visit but a decent sized town. The University ensures there's a good level of activity.

You're on a trainline to Dublin & easy access to shopping centres etc.

Schools are very good - secondaries are hard to get into as population has grown & the schools haven't yet expanded (one was meant to but it stalled at a certain point).

Sorry - for some reason not all the previous posts loaded before I posted mine! Sorry for cross posts!

Good luck with the move!

I'd agree that an August birthday means it would be better to wait until she's five to start school. In my experience, children here tend to start around five, depending on birthdays of course. So a child who starts aged four will be probably be turning five over the next few months. All mine were five when they started (birthdays range from May to August). The teachers I know always advise holding them a year to parents who are unsure too (for example, parents whose children's birthdays fall in Feb/March, and who are deciding whether to send them aged 4.5 or 5.5).

When we moved to Ireland DS2 had turned 4 in the February, and he started in Junior Infants aged four and a half. A February birthday was considered borderline for starting school, but after discussion with the school we decided he was ready.

A child with an August birthday I'd definitely recommend leaving it a year. There'll be children up to 18 months older in the class, which is a big difference at that age.

@DramaAlpaca

When we moved to Ireland DS2 had turned 4 in the February, and he started in Junior Infants aged four and a half. A February birthday was considered borderline for starting school, but after discussion with the school we decided he was ready.

A child with an August birthday I'd definitely recommend leaving it a year. There'll be children up to 18 months older in the class, which is a big difference at that age.

I’d definitely wait. We moved back home with our UK-born child with an early summer birthday, who’d started school at not much past 4 in England, and he’s eighteen months younger than the majority of his classmates.

Hi OP!
My sister and parents all live in Maynooth and love it. My niece is 6 and in the Maynooth Educate Together school and she has only had positive experiences there.

Definitely wait until your youngest is 5 to start - that is much more the norm now. My youngest was 4.5 when she started in junior infants and half the class are over a year older than her which definitely has an impact at this stage.

My son has an august birthday and started at age 5 and that has worked very well all the way up through the years.

Good luck on your move! Feel free to DM me for any other questions on Maynooth

I don’t know maynooth well. However on the school point, no way would a school take a child that young where I am in Dublin.

The earliest would be turning four the March before the September start.