Daughter Number Four has barely started fifth class and already the secondary school discussion has intensified. This is partially fuelled by her friend group \u2013 they are terrified they won\u2019t all go to the same place \u2013 but also by the system itself.<\/p>\n
Without really thinking about it, we have meekly obeyed the notifications from the national school to attend the various secondary school open days, as have many of the other parents. We keep bumping into them. Some seem to have already made up their minds; others don\u2019t seem so sure: perhaps anticipating a difficult conversation with their child, or the other parent, who might have other ideas. <\/p>\n
All the schools have been lovely: especially the students who volunteered to shyly stand at the door and greet the adults or demonstrate their skills at science or bun-making. Everyone trying to project the best impression. Irish secondary schools don\u2019t nakedly compete for students like in some other countries, but presumably they do like to see their application numbers increasing: a sign that they are doing something right and burnishing their all-important reputation as a Good School. For many parents, word of mouth can be the deciding factor.<\/p>\n
Pleasant as the school visits have been, none of them have been that useful in determining where Daughter Number Four might flourish, and most importantly, be happy. There\u2019s no metric by which to make that judgment.<\/p>\n
It can be easier to come to a decision if the child has a particular interest in art or judo or learning Mandarin. But few 10-year-olds have developed such ambitions. There are various lists (including one published by The Irish Times) that relay what percentage of each school\u2019s pupils go on to third-level education. But that\u2019s a highly generalised piece of information that may have no relevance to Daughter Number Four in a few years\u2019 time. Out of her four siblings, only one of them has a job connected to what she studied at university. The rest are doing just fine, but it has had little to do with how many points they got in the Leaving Cert.<\/p>\n