moving to Dublin with 4 year old

[knitknit00]

Hi all,
we currently live in London and are considering a move to Dublin for work reasons. It's not easy with a 4 year old toddler and any advice on areas and schools is very welcome. At the moment we know that rents are higher than London, there's no tube but the trams are good, and that state schools are nearly all catholic and prioritize baptised children, especially those who belong to the nearest parish I seem to gather. (Ps This was pretty shocking and a real cold shower: how anachronistic...). Any advice on private schools and areas?
many thanks!

Educate together are tough to get into. There's usually waiting lists. So apply now!!

If you're looking long term - depending on if you've a boy or girl - and where you plan to live - you might think about secondary now too. South side can be a pain in the neck - though if you're thinking fee paying it's not so hard.

Schooldays.ie lists schools by area. Which is helpful.

Children are often about 5 starting school. Primary school day is shorter; there are no school lunches; you buy all school books; theres a voluntary contribution which varies school to school in amount.

@StripySocksAndDocs Thanks for your post! Especially the details you are describing at the bottom are really interesting. I assumed there would be school lunches and that the school day would be of the same length! So do you pack your own lunch? And how long is the day? Many thanks!

@Vibe2018 thanks for the link! I'll read it. I think they are on the right track with this but they really need to hurry up. I think it hurts the economy. It's difficult if you can't move freely with your family between countries and have to depend on expensive private schools. Thanks again!

The primary school day is approximately 9.30am - 2.15pm tor the first two years, and then 9.30am - 3.15pm for all the other years. All children take their own packed lunch and pencil cases etc, and you have to buy or rent your child's school books for the year. Parents pay a 'voluntary' financial contribution to the school, and you may also need to pay for a school bus ticket if you are on a school bus route (but this is possibly more relevant for a more rural area).
I have found the state schools here to be quite traditional in terms of academics, religious ethos, uniform requirements etc, but also very welcoming and child-centred too.

As to where you should live, that completely depends on your budget. If you can afford 600k upwards you could start looking at small houses the Southern suburbs (not the best bits though), a reasonable house in a good suburb would be 800k at least. Your main problem for buying or renting is availability - the market moves slowly, especially at the lower end of the family home market.

As far as schools, names are put down at birth but if your child is Protestant they would get priority in C of I schools, and since there is a shortage of Protestants in many areas waiting lists would be less of a problem.

In some ways Catholic schools in Ireland make less of a palaver about it than where I live in London - in my Dublin school it was just understood that we were all Catholic (except for the token Protestant, Caroline). Apart from the morning hymns Jesus was rarely mentioned.

@kat, that isn't exactly correct. Schools have the flexibility to choose a start time (to a certain degree). The day has to be 5 hours 40 mins long and many choose to start 8:50 ish. Infant classes go home an hour earlier, yes.

Tbqh as an Irish teacher I really think your child should go to school once they are past 5. Most of ours do now and there's a clear difference between them and the 4 year olds. Check out the free preschool scheme and see if you would be entitled to anything.

Imo (and from what I've observed from online) our school system is more relaxed, less pressured and less stressful for staff and students. The Catholic thing is a la carte depending on school you are in - some do the bare minimum of religion, some do more.

Yes, you will have to pack a lunch (unless in some private schools) and your child will be learning Irish along with the other curriculum subjects. And I'd pay the voluntary contribution, schools are hugely underfunded.

Oh, and primary summer holidays are for July and August. Afaik the English schools are in for part of July.

It'll depend when they start. Say school starts at 9. Junior and Senior Infants (the first two primary years) will finish at 1.30. Other primary year 1st Class through to 6th Class end at 2.30. (Primary is a year longer. It's like Scotland here.)

There may or may not be a breakfast club and after school. Generally there isn't.

lunch is a packed one. Eaten in classroom. A few schools have free sandwiches.

One thing that might different (depending on your current local primarys) is primary school children get homework each day.

Also there aren't SATs here. There's tests at the end of each year, but they aren't made big of. Drumcondras are more to monitor progress.

Secondary is started usually the achademic year they turn 13 in. Secondary school day will be something like 8.30 to 4 (Not exact that example). The junior cert year will fall a year before the school year they'd do GCSEs (hope I'm explaining that OK!!). Leaving Cert will be done the same time A levels might (if they do Transition Year - which may be optional).

I forget another difference - summer holiday are longer. Primary is July and August. In secondary it's June, July and August.

Also on the religion side of things. Whilst a massive amount of schools are Catholic on most schools the religion isn't particularly strong, especially if it's not attached to a parish. Though if you're are in a Catholic school communion year it'll be notable.

There's Irish language school. Lessons are taught through Irish in these. In all other schools Irish is a compulsory subject - in primary and secondary. There maybe an exemption if there's a learning difficulty. But even then it's difficult to get.

I took an age to type that- many cross posts!!!

One of my dcs primary starts at 8.30. So times vary.

Everything is so expensive in Ireland and you get very little from the state. Child benefit is universal though and paid at a rate of €140 per month.

GP care is free for under 6's but otherwise it's about €50 per visit. You will have to pay for all medications up to a max of €144 per month/family. Healthcare is a two-tier system, advisable to pay for health insurance for access to services.

As mentioned above, you need to provide everything that your child needs for school- uniform, text books, copybooks, lunches, snacks, school trips. You will probably have to pay an annual fee for art/craft supplies and photocopying etc. There is also the annual "voluntary" contribution, which varies from school to school. School holidays last about 8 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas and Easter, 1 week half term in October, 2-5 days half term in February. Before and after school care is provided by private crèches or childminders. Childminders do not have to be registered but have to notify the HSE that they are looking after children. From what I read on here childminders are much less formal than the UK, pretty much anyone can start up.

I can't recommend any schools or areas. Public transport is nothing like London though.

Hope that helps

All the schools information you've been given so far is pretty spot on. You really need to figure out where you would live and then we can advise about schools in that area. If you are going to be working in Dublin 2, because the public transport system is radial it will be very easily accessible from most of the inner and outer suburbs. Can you give us an indication of the kind of area you'd like to live in. Tawdry's estimates of house costs are a bit on the high side. In general, though people believe Dublin is divided North/South in terms of "naice" areas and, accordingly, house prices, in fact with a few exceptions the divide is more East/West with areas in the East (along the seafront) being considered better/more desirable/more expensive :) In some ways a bit like London the inner suburbs generally have Victorian and early 1900's housing stock and although they are very vibrant as areas and very desirable places to live, the housing is often quite small with small plot sizes. The next circle of suburbs were built in the 1950's/60's/70's and have larger, generally well-built housing, larger plot sizes but often not much in the way of a local high street/village although neighbourhood shopping centres surrounded by parking fulfill the shopping need ;) People will be happy to fill you in on here regarding any particular area you are looking at but it's very difficult to cover everything about a city of a million people :)

Working in D2 I’d live in one of these places:
Big budget: ballsbridge/donnybrook
Medium budget: foxrock/cabinteely

Sorry, yes I was only talking about the South Dublin suburbs - you can buy a house in a perfectly nice area elsewhere for less.

However if you are moving for work rather than family reasons I am assuming they are making it worth your while financially!

Just a few things. The Catholic thing only kicks in if the school is oversubscribed. My dc are not Catholic and it has never been an issue and they have gone to Catholic schools..a few of them. Every school does not have a voluntary contribution. I teach in a Primary School that doesn't and know others that don't. It's completely up to the school. I'm sure op that whatever country you moved to there would be an adjustment time so maybe don't make too many comments about the lrish system until you actually experience it.

D 2 try and be close to the luas line south side and commuting in will be a doddle. Traffic is a complete nightmare so bussing it in could be long /squashed and horrible.
Dublin has got more cosmopolitan definately
I wouldn't rush into a school. Put your childs name down for every school in the vicinity and by the time your Dc is finished preschool you will have met and chatted to local mums who will know all the pros snd cons if them all ! Dc better at 5 going in.

Yes I'd agree that if you're working in D2 then live in areas along the luas green line. These areas are pricer (because they are on the luas line) but as as been said if you're moving for work the assumption would be there's financial reasons!!

Thank you all so much fir all this precious info and advice. Sorry I can't thank you individually now but I'm swamped with stuff to read! many thanks again. Hope this is useful for other people moving to Dublin so please keep posting. Any info you might need on London please send me a message! xxx

I wouldnt burn bridges in london ie selling up until you like it in Dublin ( which im sure u know already - not trying to be lecturey much !!) I live 3 hrs from my family and have met lots of mums but only since the kids went to school. Its a great opener iykwim !!

Can I ask you all a more specific question regarding rental costs? Taking for example a 2 bed flat, how much would that roughly go for in a nice area with good connections? For example in a very nice north London area an average 2 bed would be around 2000-2300£ pcm, bills excluded.

Check daft.ie
Rent is extremely high. Mediocre 2 bed apartment in a nice area - €2000 minimum I'd say. 2 bed apartment in a bad area €1600. Nice areas are generally south county Dublin - Dalkey, glasthule, sandycove, glenageary, Monkstown , Blackrock , foxrock ,. Actually, there's loads now I'm typing!

Search Dublin city and Dublin county on daft. Put in 2 bed apartment min price c. €1700 max €2500 or whatever your max is. Then explore the area on Google, the nice places will be immediately obvious!

Once you have a general area in mind check back here for more specific advice. Where's the job? (Area I mean)

Daft.ie is your only man ! Checj the luas green line then do an advanced search on for rent in those areass. Its the dublin equivalent of right move

Check out south county Dublin but disregard Tallaght

Please don't write off nearly a half of the city by disregarding the Northside! I'm a bit shocked by how many posters seem unaware or completely discount as an option many of the lovely areas with good housing and schools on the DART line northbound.....The DART (electrified commuter rail system) will bring you right into Dublin 2 every 5-10 mins......have a look at Clontarf and Sutton. Malahide a bit further out but seaside village with everything there!

what's wrong is wrong and definetly discriminating is. I feel the need to say it. Also I think some people put a nationalistic spin on comments and get their knickers in a twist without concentrating on the actual issue at hand, which is very human and understandable though.

I know the thread has moved on, but seriously, do not patronise people when you get to Ireland.

Your best bet is to look at the Luas map and also the Dart and bus routes when figuring out where to live. Dart and Luas preferable to bus...

You could go out as far as Greystones on the south side (in Co Wicklow) and still get to Dublin 2 daily.

St Kilian's German School/ St Kilians Deutsche Schule might interest you. www.kilians.com/
It's multinational and interdenominational.

If you want a shot at a private secondary school for your child, you may need to go on a waiting list asap.

Otherwise, secondary schools you might like to look into are Kings Hospital, St. Andrews College, Newpark Comprehensive, Mount Temple Comprehensive, and St Kilian's goes all the way through to 18.

King's Hos is private, also St Andrews (which also has a junior school, multidenominational but with preference to Presbyterian and other protestant children).

St Andrews offers the International Baccalaureate.