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A Basic Guide to the Irish School System

Having been in Ireland for about five months and going to school here for just as long, I feel I now have an idea of how the school system works. So, I have decided to create a little guide for those of you who intend to study in Ireland , or for those of you back home who like to understand what I’m talking about half the time.

First of all, the Levels in an Irish School System.

I’m a little embarrassed to say it wasn’t until this week that I actually got this all figured out, and I needed two people to explain it to me! However, it’s really not that complicated.

Have a look at this chart for level differences between the USA and Ireland:

Presentation Secondary School sign in Ireland. Photo by Kayla Trowbridge.

While in the US most school systems have elementary school, middle school (or junior high), and high school, in Ireland its primary school (1st class through 6th class), and then Secondary school. In Ireland, the primary school you go to does not determine the secondary school you will attend. In this town, you have the option of going to an all boys school, an all girls school, a mixed school, or there is the option of going to an all Irish school.

There are two major tests an Irish student has to take during secondary school, in addition to exams and normal tests. These are the Junior Cert and the Leaving Cert. The Junior Cert is taken at the end of 3rd year, and they get their results at the beginning of either 4th year (if they chose to take that level) or 5th year. Then, at the end of 6th year they take the Leaving Cert. They must earn a certain number of points depending on the major they want in college.

Kayla’s school in Ireland.

The Irish Grading System Explained.

When I got my exam results back at first, I didn’t realize that the percentages were different as well as the letter grade. This led to quite a bit of confusion and distress! Luckily, I found this handy little guide on the Internet ! If you’re an American student abroad, there are a lot of online charts and calculators that will help you get a better idea of what your grade will transfer to.

Here’s an Irish to American grade comparison:

So there you have it! An extremely simple guide to give you an idea of what the Irish school system is like!

Thank you Kayla!    See more of Greenheart Travel’s High School Abroad programs in other countries HERE!

What do you think your grade would be if you attended school in Ireland?

81 thoughts on " a basic guide to the irish school system ".

Hello, Can you please tell me what is grade 11 (British Curriculum) equivalent to in Ireland? My son was born in March 2006. German national with very good english commands. I was thinking of sending him to Ireland for his 12th grade, and hopefully after to college. Does EU nationals pay fees?

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This blog is very informative

Hey, Im from India and Im in 11th grade here and I hope to join 5th year their. I’m born in August 2005. Will I be able to join in the second semister after doing my first term in india?

Hi Ren, Our study abroad in Ireland program requires students to have Canadian or U.S. citizenship. You can learn more about our eligibility requirements here: https://greenhearttravel.org/program/teen/high-school-abroad/england#/tab/eligibility

yes you should be able to.

That is incorrect – primary school lasts for 8 years in Ireland ages 5-12. Before that children start early years education for 2 years (ages 3-4) Early Years 1 age 3 Early Years 2 age 4

Primary School Junior Infants age 5 Senior Infants age 6 First Class age 7 2nd age 8 3rd age 9 4th age 10 5th age 11 6th age 12

Secondary School 1st Year age 13 2nd Year age 14 3rd Year age 15 (state exam year) 4th Year age 16 5th Year age 17 6th Year age 18 (state exam year)

Primary school is for Junior Infants through to 6th class – i.e. it starts earlier & not at 1st class as listed above. We also have playschool/ Montessori which is a preschool for 3-4 year olds.

The general order of education in Ireland is:-

– Playschool/ Montessori – Primary School (sometimes referred to as National School) – Secondary School (some secondary schools are also referred to as college e.g. Loreto College, St. Michaels College etc) – Third level i.e. College/ University

Hello, can anyone kindly please provide advice as to what the equivalent in Ireland would be for year 8 in UK? The child has October birthday and he is currently year 8. Thank you!

Ok everyone here has been kind to try and explain the Irish system and compare it to American grades. But it wasn’t helpful. I’m more confused now then before. A break at 4 th year? How long is high school? 4 years or 6 years? The US has high school runs from 9 th, 10 th, 11 th, & 12 th grade. Then the kids go to college. What years are high school in Ireland?

In Ireland, there are 6 years in high school (Secondary School). Before that is Primary school which is also 6 years long, lasting from 1st to 6th grade (1st class to 6th class).

What about junior and senior infants?

Junior infants and senior infants are also part of primary school, so he’s wrong. You start primary school in junior infants at age 4/5/6 depending on parents. So it goes; Junior infants Senior infants 1st class 2nd class 3rd class 4th class 5th class 6th class

Then Secondary School; 1st year 2nd year 3rd year (State Examination known as the Junior Cert) (You can also legally leave school to work after completing your Junior Cert) 4th year (Transition Year is skippable (so you would go straight into 5th year) basically a break year where you don’t do much work but instead do things such as referee training or different workshops) 5th year 6th year (State Examination known as the Leaving Cert or Senior Cert)

Then Third Level Education (College/ University)

High school is 6 years in total in Ireland! Irish high schools (or secondary schools as we call them here) run from 1st year to 6th year or in US grades, from Seventh Grade to Twelfth Grade! The fourth year of secondary school or 10th grade is optional in some schools in Ireland! hope this helps 🙂

High school in Ireland is 1st year to 6th year but most people just call that lc (leaving cert ) where u graduate at the same age as American students do and you go to college so yes it’s 6 years long but you have an option to do 4th year and if you do that year it’s 6 years but if you don’t then it’s 5 years

We don’t have highschool..7th grade to 12th grade is secondary school (1st year to 6th year). 3rd year is basically 9th grade but you don’t switch schools.. you still stay at the same school

So Im gonna try and explain… High school starts at 9th grade correct? Which is equivalent to 3rd year. Now technically that would be your start to high school. So high school would be 3 or 4 years depending if you do 4th year or not (which I am going to get into)but we don’t have ‘high school'( Explanation next.). America splits their school years to elementary, middle and high school correct? We in Ireland split it into Primary and secondary school. Primary from junior infants (kindegarten) – 6th class (6th grade). And secondary school from (7th grade)1st year- 6th year(senior). If that’s confusing basically 6th grade and down is primary school 7th grade and up is secondary school. 4th year: It’s not really a break you still go to school and do like English, maths, irish( you won’t have to do Irish if you move here at age like 13 and up) you travel to countries and places, work, learn life skills, organise fundraisers stuff like that in school and outside school. As for the learning part you would still learn the same curriculum by 6th yr whether you do TY or not. The only thing I can’t really answer is how we can do 1 less school year than America and still learn the same however it’s not rushed. I hope this answers your questions. Also if you didn’t TY (transition yr/4th yr) you would graduate a year early like 17 a few even 16 because they were born in like July which again does depend on the month you were born in the school year. Last bit is (in my secondary school at least) there are only 60 places in TY and about 210 people in each year group (yep my school is big lol) so you would have to be quick to register to secure your place. Hope it helps! Any questions please contact me!

7th grade to 12th grade are secondary/high school in Ireland, so 6 years. As an Irish person, I find the American system confusing, so I’m sure you feel the same way!!

Secondary school (high school) here is either 5 or 6 years. All students do three years (1st year, 2nd year and 3rd year) before sitting the Junior Certificate exams. Then most schools have an optional 4th year (called Transition year) which is generally not academically focused. Students will do work experience, various trips, project work etc. Then after 4th year (or directly after 3rd year if a student does not choose to do 4th year) they go into the “senior cycle” which is 5th and 6th year where they study for the Leaving Certificate. Most students will take 7 exam subjects and they sit the exam in the June just as they finish 6th year.

After Junior cert (exams at the end of 3rd year).. you don’t have a break at fourth year.. but you do have the option to skip 4th year and go straight Into 5th year to start preparing for the leaving cert (which you do at the end of 6th year)

Fourth year is not focused on exams and more hands on and interpersonal learning.. I.e.. work experience.. drama.. arts.. ecdl training etc..

You would normally start First year at 12/13 and graduate 6th year 16/17 or even 18 depending on weather you skipped transition year (4th year) or not..

I skipped transition year and sat my leaving cert exams (end of 6th year) at 16 years old. I started college at 17.

The length of Secondary school (high school) is 5/6 years… again depending on weather you skip transition year or not.

Hope this helps

Secondary school = 5/6 years

First year (12/13 years old) Second Year (13/14 years old) Third Year (14/15 years old)

Sit Junior Cert state exams end of third year

Fourth Year (15/16 years old) not compulsory… choice of skipping and going straight into Fifth Year

Fifth Year (15/16) or (16/17) years old

Sixth Year (16/17) or (17/18) years old

Sit Leaving Cert state exams and graduate secondary school (high school) at completion of Sixth Year

As someone born and living in ireland I can try and explain it as best I can. In the American School system there are 3 stages which are Elementary School,Middle School then High School.

The Irish school system follows 2 stages: Primary School and Secondary School.

The closest comparison to American High school is Irish Secondary School (3rd year to 6th year)

Because Irish schools have 2 stages instead of 3, its tough to make direct comparisons.

4th year, now thats a whole other thing, but the best way to describe it is a gap year (that used to be optional but now is a requirement). Many people use this as a way to unwind and have a less stressful year, as the year before (3rd year) was all about exams to determine what subjects to take going forward.

Students will do things like Charity Work, trips away and abroad, work experience with business’ that they wish to work in at a future date.

Hope this answers some questions for you

Secondary school is for 6 years, in every secondary school there is a 1st,2nd,3rd,4th,5th and 6th year but in some school they allow the student to decide themselves if they want to do 4th year, in 4th year you dont do the normal work, you go on trips abroad and around the county and you do work experience too.

4th year or transition year an optional year that is really a break after you do your Junior Cert. For the most part the year is designed around giving students life skills, incorporating a work experience program. There are also many trips available to the students, foreign and local, aimed at giving a more hands on aspect to learning. Secondary school is 5 or 6 years if you do 4th year. It’s from 1st to 6th year.

So 4th Year (or Transition Year) is kind of like an optional gap year, except you’re still in school. You still have classes, but you also do work experience one day a week, go on lots more trips, and have tons of opportunities for independent learning and similar. Rather than “high school”, we have secondary school, which is First Year to Sixth Year, and is either five or six years long (depending on if you take TY). You start First Year usually as a 12 year old, and most finish Sixth Year as an 18 year old. At the end of Sixth Year you take a series of exams covering seven subjects known as the Leaving Certificate. Your points are calculated based on your best six subjects. If you’re going to college or university, these points will determine where you can go, as different courses in different institutions require different numbers of points, e.g. a doctor usually requires 600 points. Hope this clears things up, but if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

So 4th Year (or Transition Year) is kind of like an optional gap year, except you’re still in school. You still have classes, but you also do work experience one day a week, go on lots more trips, and have tons of opportunities for independent learning and similar.

basically 4th year is a thing we call transition year. it’s a break from all the heavy studying and instead we have job opportunities. our respective schools which have connections with local businesses give us job opportunities that can help us create a resume when we leave school. for us secondary school is ur 7th grade to 12th grade and ur first year in college. 6 years altogether but 5 if you don’t do transition year making it only 7th-12th grade. hope this helped!

Ok so we have 1st year to 6th year but if you choose you can take an extra year for a transition year which is work experience. And then collage. I hope this helped a little

Ok so 4th year is also known as Transition Year (or TY) and that’s OPTIONAL. So in Ireland it’s either 5 years or 6 years of secondary school.

Theresa, 4th year is predominantly an optional year in Ireland. In general secondary school consists of 3 years & 2 years. The first 3 years (1st – 3rd) are referred to as ‘Junior Cert(ificate)’ cycle, as a state exam (the Junior Cert) is taken at the end of 3rd year. The final 2 years (5th & 6th) are referred to as the ‘Leaving Cert(ificate)’ cycle, as at the end of the 6th year the state exam (the Leaving Cert) is taken. This final exam is the main route to going onto 3rd level (College/Uni) as points are allocated to grades achieved. 3rd level works on a point system e.g. Medicine = 580 points 4th Year, also referred to as ‘Transition Year/ TY’ is optional in the majority of secondary schools & is between the Junior Cert & Leaving Cert cycle. It is in this year that students focus on non-academic subjects, covering life skills (cooking, first-aid, driving etc), sporting events, voluntary work in the community & structured work experience. Students often opt to do this year as they’re either feeling burnt out after studying for the Junior Cert, they’re young & their parents often feel it’s a good opportunity for them to mature before the serious Leaving Cert/ going to Uni/College or the student is unsure of what career path they want to follow in Uni/College so this year allows them the opportunity to try different professions/jobs. All 5/6 years are covered by secondary school i.e. you go to the one secondary school for all 5/6yrs

So basically in secondary school you have an option to do 5 or 6 years. Transition year (4th year) is an option and I kind of like a gap year we’re you go on all sorts of trips. I hope this helps 😊

Hi Theresa I’m Irish and I can see how you could be confused. Secondary School is six years but you can choose to skip 4th year. 4th year is when you get out there and get some experience before choosing your major. I hope that answered your question.

You start Primary School at around age 4-5 and start in junior infants, then next year it’s senior infants, then 1st class, 2nd class (The year you’d make your first holy communion) , 3rd class, 4th class, 5th class, 6th class and then the next year you go to Secondary school and that starts 1st year, then 2nd year, 3rd year (we do exams in 3rd year called junior very), 4th year (is an option year in most schools you can skip the year if you want and go straight to 5th) 5th year and then 6th year (were we do our final exams called the Leaving cert) .. after all this you then go to college based off the points you get in your leaving cert, each course in each college has different points to get accepted… and way back to the start before you start Primary school in junior infants very child is entitled to 2 free years in preschool… and the majority of our primary, secondary schooling is free just minimal free, college can be the same too or if not (based on the families income) then you pay a fraction of what college/uni prices are in America .. Hope this helps

Irish secondary school is either 5 or 6 years in total. There’s 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year ,5th year and 6th year. However 4th is optional, student can skip 4th year and go straight from 3rd year to 5th year. Students typically start 1st year at the age of 12/13 and students in 6th/final year of secondary school are roughly 18 years old

We don’t have high school exactly; that’s the American system. We have primary and secondary school. Primary school is 8 years. Secondary school is either 5 or 6, depending on whether or not you do 4th year/Transition Year.

Primary school is from Junior Infants (4/5 years old) to 6th class (12 years old) and secondary school is from 1st year (12/13 years old) to 6th year (about 16-19 years old). After that, you can go on to college, assuming you get the grades needed in your Leaving Cert., obviously. If you don’t, you can repeat.

4th year isn’t exactly a break. It’s an option year that you can choose to skip, so at 15, you can go into 4th year or you can go straight from 3rd to 5th year. 1st-3rd year involves studying for the Junior Cert. and 5th and 6th year for the Leaving Cert. There is no exam on the work done in 4th year, which is why it’s considered “a break.” It’s a year that often includes things like project work, maybe a school play, trips, teambuilding, work experience, that sort of thing. It also depends largely on the school. In some, it is compulsory.

Can anyone let me know can a young person still attend secondary school to complete their leaving certificate in Ireland if they are over 18 ? Or would they attend further education college ?

In short they can if they are under the age of 21. Some do make the decision to return to secondary school to get their points from the Leaving Cert and access continued free third level education.

If over 21, they may attend a college of further education which has a link in to a third level college or university. In effect they would take one to two years study in the college of further education which would bypass the first year of the college/uni course.

Both approaches can be supported by applying for the Back to Education support scheme.

My information assumes Irish residency so if not an Irish citizen or naturalised resident of the country it may be slightly more difficult.

Hello, can anyone kindly please provide advice as to what the equivalent in Ireland would be for 2nd grade and 6th grade in NY? Both children have July birthdays and the just completed 1st and 5th grade in NY, respectively. Thank you!

Hi Mariel, 2nd grade = 2nd class and 6th grade is 6th class (which is your final year in a primary school) you would then move on to 1st year in secondary school

They would be going into 2nd Class and 6th Class

On the table it says that Junior Infants is 4-5 years old, this was the case a few years ago but nowadays I think it is more commonly 5-6 years old. People don’t really start Junior Infants at the age of 6, but often people turn 6 while they are still in Junior Infants. People used to start primary school at 4 and sometimes even 3, but most of the time now, people wait until their child is 5 before sending them to primary school. As a result of this, most people are 18-19 doing their leaving cert (also considering most people do TY) and people doing their Junior Cert are usually 15-16.

I think that the percentage grade is for Ireland, not the U.S. Also, here is the U.S grades and percentages.

A: 94-100% A-: 90-93% B+: 87-89% B: 83-86% B-: 80-82% C+: 77-79% C: 73-76% C-: 70-72% D+: 67-69% D: 63-66% D-: 60-62% F: 0-59%

I was held back in 2nd class in 2010 I’m 18 years old in sixth year my mates born in 2001/2002 keep telling me if I didn’t get heldback I would be going to college or be graduating in 2019 I feel really sad because they might see as a year younger and I won’t be able to fate anyone around my age.

Just pointing out that you said primary school is 1st-6th class but its actually Junior Infants to 6th class.

Transition year (TY) You have to pay for but you also get to do lots of things with by your school (go on trips abroad), You also get to do work experience which is also put on your Leaving Cert.

To all those wondering how and why fourth year in Ireland is optional… Here is why. In third and sixth year in Ireland there are big exams called the Junior Certificate ( Third Year) and the Leaving Certificate ( Sixth Year). In Fourth year, ( also known as TY , Transition Year) you do work experience ( get a small job, but do not get paid) and you go on many trips and tours, and you barely have any work. This is for a little break after the Junior Certificate. Once Transition Year is over, you move on to Fifth Year, which is like any other year. Then you move on to Sixth Year, the Leaving Certificate. Then you have to usher school. ( A little extra information about school here, Junior Infants to Sixth Class is in Primary School and First Year to Sixth year is in Secondary School. ) P.S I am only eleven years of age ( in fifth class ) so some of this information might not be EXACTLY correct but I am 99.99% sure of it. Thanks for reading!

Transition years is for students to get experiance in different areas to help them deside what subjects to choose for their Leaving Certiciface and what they might want to do in College or work.

Your American grades are wrong. 90-100 A 80-89 B 70-79 C 60-69 D 59 and below is Failing

I think it’s giving the Irish grade, the percentage associated with the Irish grade, and the American equivalent of the *Irish grade* not of the percentage represented. Had me confused for a second too, XD

The American grades given by Math Man are not incorrect. It just depends on the school system you are in.

In Maryland, our children had a grading system like Suzanne mentioned, ie: 90-100 is an A. However, now our children are in a Nebraska school and the grading scale is exactly what Math Man wrote.

They are not wrong Suzanne you should note the word comparisons it’s simply means and 80 % our side is worth an A when compared to grades on your sides. This is plainly because we get harder exams than American exams so they try to balance it as much as they can to make things fair

4th year is optional? Please explain this. Do they not earn credits?

No such thing as credits here. You do one big exam for each subject at the end of your final year in school (Leaving Certificate Exam) and that determines your college place. College is applied for anonymously through a Central Applications System (CAO) and you list your college course preferences and you are offered a place based on your exam results. The only instances where it is not anonymous is in the case where an audition is required.in the case of studying drama or music.

Its a year when we do work experience and have a trip abroad, you don’t get anything extra from doing it

It is designed to act as a bridge between the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes. There is no state examination at the end of Transition Year. Assessment is usually carried out on an ongoing basis and can include school-based assessment of projects or portfolios, oral, aural, practical and written activities. Its debatable wether or not its worthwile to do 4th year. And no, you dont earn credits. So if you decide not to do 4th year, you go straight from 3rd to 5th year. Hope this helps

In a lot of schools, it is mandatory as it provides a good experience as you partake in work experience as well but in some schools it is optional. You also partake in other activities, like I know in my school the TY’s do the school musical, they go on a trip to an outdoor adventure centre, they go on a trip to Europe. You also do day courses like maybe first aid or something like that. You also do some community service. TY is also a chance to try new subjects and can help the student decide what subjects they would like to do for the leaving cert. ( Again I don’t know about other schools but Ido know that that is what is like in my school)

In all Irish secondary schools it is optional and we don’t have to do it if we don’t want to most Irish student would like to to it because it is a break from regular school and is a lot of fun so if an Irish student wanted to do transition year they could and if they did not want to do transition year they do not have to as it is an optional year

No in some secondary schools it is mandatory for students to complete all 6 years of school. It is only mandatory in very few schools though.

Actually it’s always optional, just a lot harder to get. I’m in a school where it’s technically mandatory but you can appeal and go straight to 5th year. They don’t tell you that you can appeal though so few people know and it’s a real hassle to get done.

4th hear is optional as it is like a transition from junior cert third year to fifth year which is preparation for the leaving cert thats why 4 th hear is also know as ty transition year ty is a laid back year where you go on trip and prepare for your leaving cert if you started school a year early you can do ty as an extra year to make sure if your going to college or getting a job that you have an extra year on you in my school we don’t have a ty at all as the school is small and we don’t have enough rooms but most of the time it’s optional of you wanted to do ty in my school you would switch to a different school for the one year of transition year and move back to my school after if you want

Yes 4th year or transition year (ty) is optional it’s sorta like a gap/break year when you do fun activities and don’t do as much work as other years. They have this as the previous year you had the junior cert and in 5th year you begin preparing for the Leaving cert so it’s a break. But you have to pay to be in this year. Whats a credit? Please explain this!!

i’m in Ireland and yes- In TY or 4th year / transition year its basically a calm year where we get ready for the next stage in life but we have the choice to skip it

I don’t really know what credits is but if you scroll up you can see my explanation of TY(4th year) 🙂

We don’t do credits in Ireland. It’s optional as a break after our big exams in third year.

Thanks for the information you have give. planning to move to Ireland with my two kids from India in May 2020, The elder one will be completing 6th class in march 2020, Age will be 12 years in November 2020, so will he be taken in 7th class in Ireland. please help

No ‘7th’ class here. At she 13-he/she will go into the final year of primary school – 6th class. The following year they will enter Secondary School into 1st year.

I am from Ireland and if he completes 6th class in March then he will go into Secondary School as a first year

Hi em if he’s only turning 12 in November he should probably start 6th class in September 2020

if your older child is turning 12 in November 2020, he/she should be going into 6th class not 1st year.

If you re moving with children, you ll be happy to know that school is free for every child in Ireland, and the high quality of our education in Ireland is a point of national pride. With our guide, we make learning about our schools as easy as A-B-C.

Hi I’m Sam I recently moved to Ireland and my kids are back home in South Africa grade 7 and 10 but going to grade 8 and 11 next year confused a bit here what should I do about school next year because I really need the grade 8 here but school only starts in September here please explain

So ye it seems your academic year is from January to December. But here in ireland and ohter countries like UK and USa its generally from end of August or September to June. Or May depending if they are in primary or secondary. Since both your kids are in secondary school they would be finish at the end of May then they will have June, July,August off back for school at the end of the month. So I would advice your children to either re do their year or wait till August 2020 for the new year. Just realsing your comment was last year so you should be good.

Primary school actually has eight years or at least that’s what they do in my part of the country , which is junior infants-6th class, and before primary school there is usually a kind of preschool that could be called montasori, Kresh, (etc…).

That is the education system in the whole of Ireland but it is now obligatory that all children complete a year of creche/preschool/playschool/Montessori before they enter Primary School

Yeah you’re right, but it’s optional, isn’t it? You’re not required to do it, although most people do it.

Where did you get the american letter grades? Cause wherever they were from, their C is an F where I am

Hey, I think I remember you from a while back since I go to the same school you went to during your stay in Ireland. Pretty sure I once saw you at Culture Day representing the US? Not sure, but I remember there was a US stand next to the Polish one that I helped with. Wild how I found you here, since I was just looking up what the US equivalents to the Irish years are 😂

Can anyone help me with finding out the difference in years in Greece? I am moving over to Ireland soon and am looking for help!

Thanks for the guidance.

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'Why I believe homework should be banned', by one primary school student

As the discussion around state exams through the Covid-19 shutdown continues, a separate debate about the very need for homework itself rumbles on. Over the years, many have argued that homework for students in busy modern-day family structures is no longer workable.

This year, the Green Party sought to open a discussion about the banning of homework in future. Here, primary school pupil Misha McEnaney, a fifth class student from Dublin, outlines why he believes homework is more of a hindrance than a help.

IRISH CHILDREN SPEND around 274.5 hours on homework in a year. Is it a waste of time? Generally speaking, homework does not improve academic performance among children, although it may improve academic skills among older students especially lower-achieving kids. Homework also creates stress among students who could be doing other things.

I think it is a waste of time. Here’s why I think so. 

Many students think homework is extremely boring and hard so it increases our stress levels. You might fight with your family or friends and that gives the impression you are angry and irritated when often it’s just because your homework is increasing your stress.

Also, a study by scholar Denise Pope at Stanford shows that out of 4,300 students at high-performance schools, 60% stated that their homework was their primary source of stress.

Movement is more important

I believe that homework eliminates time when you could be exercising, playing sports, carrying out hobbies, reading etc. So when your friends are playing outside or something exciting or important is happening you can’t go out because you’re stuck inside doing your homework. 

Homework messes up your sleep cycles and it causes you to be more tired. After school when you’re tired from working you still have to do your homework, so you don’t deliver your full concentration and that makes your performance not as acceptable as it should be. This can cause your grade to go down and so that defeats the whole point of education to become better and smarter. 

A study from teenink.com shows that students perform best in school when they receive 10–12 hours of sleep each night, while only 15% of teenagers in America reported themselves sleeping eight hours or more on school nights, according to the national sleep foundation of America. Sleep disruption is very bad for our health.

Teacher trust

If you’re completely booked up for the day doing sports or other activities you have no time to do your homework. Your teachers start to trust you less and less and this develops a bad view of you when it’s not entirely your fault. 

It’s also repetitive so you’re doing the same work at school and there’s no effectiveness, it’s not going in. So all that homework becomes a waste because you have already completed it at school. You can also easily get distracted.

Homework takes away revision time for tests and that can affect the test scores. That develops a bad reputation for the student and for the school. The parents then assume that the teaching at the school is bad and they might move school. So the kid might lose friends and over time the school becomes less liked and popular.

All because there is too much homework. 

Bad for the mood

If you don’t sleep enough it can cause mood swings which can affect students’ performance and relationships. To think we can stop all of this by just banning homework makes me wonder why schools still give out homework at all.

People who believe that homework should not be banned have reasonable points and arguments. They believe that doing homework at home can be better for the students and they would receive higher results. 

They also think the parents of the students will have an idea of what type of work they are doing in the classroom, at what scale the student is doing their work and how the student is doing that work. There is absolutely no reason why parents shouldn’t know what the student’s work is like. 

Some people believe that homework boosts interaction between a student and his or her teacher. Homework might develop their presentation skills. They believe that homework is “a remedy against weaknesses”. These can all be done at school. They believe it teaches the students responsibility because they have to make sure that they do their work and not lose it or destroy it. 

They think the students learn much more new information as well as in school. So people think it teaches the students important life skills. They also think it keeps the students busy and entertained. I would argue that these should all be the responsibility of parents, not school.

A shift in the debate

The Green Party in Ireland has promised to explore the banning of homework for primary school children. They also vow to review primary and secondary schools curriculum “to meet the needs of the 21st century”. Catherine Martin, deputy leader of the Green Party, said that “the phasing out of homework is something that definitely should be explored”. 

“This isn’t new, this has been on our policy for the past several years. And I think we really need to have a conversation on how best to develop the creative juices of our children, or really change how we do homework, homework could be, ‘go home and draw a picture of something that means a lot to you’,” she said.

“They’re so young, especially up to the age of seven or eight, it’s a conversation that we need to have”. 

She used the example of Loreto Primary School in Rathfarnham, Dublin, which is currently trialling a “no-homework” programme for all classes except sixth. Ms Martin said that they had found the pilot scheme “amazing” and children were spending a lot more time with their families as a result. 

Mental health considerations

Psychotherapist Mary McHugh believes that we are reducing children’s natural “curious, imaginative and creative” tendencies by “pressuring them to conform”. 

“Our children from the age of three, are being trained to sit still and from five upwards, it’s expected that this is the norm.” McHugh also says that “stress is showing up at an alarming scale and we’re still applying more pressure academically younger and younger”. 

Let’s look at Finland. In Finland, there is no homework in all schools. Finland agrees that there should be no homework because it increases stress, it wastes time etc. Finnish students regularly top the charts on global education metric systems.

Some 93% of Finnish students graduate from secondary school compared to 75% in the USA and 78% in Canada. About two in every three students in Finland go to college which is the highest rate in Europe. The students’ test scores dominate everyone else.  These are the scores for the PISA test (Program for International Student Assessment) 2006.  There are other reasons why Finland’s education system is so good but no homework is definitely an important one. 

Homework increases stress levels among students. It replaces time for hobbies and sports. It messes up your sleep. It can’t always be done and that causes trouble. It’s repetitive. You can develop health problems from lack of sleep.

It takes away time for studying and also when you don’t get enough sleep you can get mood swings and that can affect performance and relationships. There are reasonable arguments for why people who believe that homework shouldn’t be banned are wrong.

We have seen that the Green Party also thinks that homework should be banned and that some schools have already trialled it. We have looked at Finland banning homework and we have seen the impact it has made compared to other countries. This is why I think homework should be banned, not just in my school but in all schools. 

Misha McEnaney is a fifth class student at St Mary’s College, Rathmines, Dublin.

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Overview of the Irish education system

Education in ireland, pre-school education, primary education, post-primary education, special needs education for students with disabilities, further and adult education, third-level education.

The Irish education system is made up of primary school and post-primary school (also know as secondary school). You must ensure that your child gets a certain minimum education from the age of 6 to 16 or until they have completed 3 years of post-primary education.

Primary and post-primary schools must provide places based on their school admissions policy and admissions notice .

Many people continue on after post-primary to further education and third-level education . State-funded education is available at all levels, unless you choose to send your child to a private school.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme provides free early childhood care and education for children of pre-school age.

Other than the ECCE, pre-school education is usually provided by privately funded childcare services. However, the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents to meet the costs of private childcare.

The Department of Education also funds some pre-school initiatives focused on children at risk .

Children do not have to attend school until the age of 6.

Usually, children start primary school when they are 5 years of age. They start in September - the beginning of the school year.

The Irish primary school curriculum is child-centred.

Generally, children are required to study Irish in school. Some children may be exempted from learning Irish in school .

Find out more about choosing a primary school for your child.

Post-primary education is provided by different types of post-primary schools .

Post-primary education has 2 stages:

• Junior Cycle – age 12 to 15 (approximately)
• Senior Cycle - age 16 to 18 (approximately)

Junior Cycle and examinations

Students generally start the Junior Cycle at the age of 12 and take the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) examination at the end of 3 years.

Senior Cycle and examinations

Children can have a 2 or 3-year Senior Cycle. The Senior Cycle is 3 years, if you opt to include Transition Year .

The Transition year allows students to experience a wide range of educational instruction and work experience.

During their final 2 years in the Senior Cycle , students take one of 3 programmes, each leading to a State examination:

• Established Leaving Certificate
• Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme
• Leaving Certificate Applied

The established Leaving Certificate is the main basis on which students are allocated places in universities, institutes of technology and colleges of education.

The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme has elements of the established Leaving Certificate but concentrates on technical subjects and includes additional modules with a vocational focus.

The Leaving Certificate Applied Programme aims to prepare students for adult and working life through relevant learning experiences. It is for students who wish to follow a practical or vocational programme. It is not recognised for direct entry to third-level courses but it can enable students to take Post-Leaving Certificate courses .

Educational provision for students with special educational needs ranges from additional support in mainstream schools to specialist support in special schools. A student with a disability may be enrolled in a:

• Mainstream class with additional support
• Special class in a mainstream school
• Special school

After post-primary school many students move on to further education or third level (see third-level education below). The National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) has 10 levels of education and allows you to compare the different standards and levels of education available to you across the education system.

Educational Training Board programmes

The Education and Training Boards (ETBs) run a range of adult and further education and training programmes nationwide including Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses . PLCs offer technical and practical education as well as a route to higher and third-level education.

Other programmes offered through ETBs include the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (second-chance education for adults); Youthreach for early school-leavers; other literacy and basic education; and self-funded evening adult programmes.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships provide on-the-job training and off-the job education. Apprenticeships are offered in traditional craft trades such as plumbing and electrical engineering but also new apprenticeships such as ICT, finance, software development and hospitality.

You must be at least 16 years of age and may need a minimum grade in Junior Cycle or equivalent exam.

Springboard+

Springboard+ provides free higher education courses for people who are unemployed (or were self-employed) and those looking to return to the workforce.

If you are working, you may have to pay a contribution towards course fees. Generally, courses are part-time for one year and offered at Level 6 to 9 on the NFQ. Courses offered include ICT, medical technologies, cybersecurity and sustainable energy.

Third-level education is made up of a number of sectors that are substantially funded by the State.

• University sector
• Technological sector
• Colleges of education

Universities in general are autonomous and self-governing. They offer degree programmes at bachelor, masters and doctorate level.

The technological sector includes technological universities (TUs) and institutes of technology (ITs) which provide programmes of education and training in areas such as business, science, engineering, linguistics and music to certificate, diploma and degree levels.

The colleges of education specialise in training for primary school teachers. Training for post-primary teachers is provided by many third-level institutions. Qualifax provides detailed information on programmes for teacher training .

In December 2022, the Government announced plans to develop joint further and higher education degree programmes. From September 2023, students may start some degree programmes in further education and progress to higher education.

Related documents

• Irish Constitution and education The Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) contains specific articles on education, religion, and the family, which affect how education is organised. 2127.1016
• Case studies: Choosing between the student grant and Back to Education Allowance. Three case studies exploring the choices available to people getting Jobseeker’s Allowance, One-Parent Family Payment and Disability Allowance. 1980.2183
• Further Education and Training (FET) allowances If you get a place on a Further Education and Training (FET) training course you may be paid an allowance. 1953.0801

If you have a question about this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 0818 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm).

You can also contact your local Citizens Information Centre .

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Irish students do WAY more homework than kids in other countries

IT’S OFFICIAL – IRISH kids have it tough.

Irish students have the second highest amount of homework to get through outside of class when compared to the rest of the world – according to a new study.

The data, compiled by the OECD on 15 year-old students, shows Irish school-goers do an average of 7.3 hours of homework per week – well ahead of every single other country in the study, apart from Italy.

The Italians are the only country ahead of Ireland on the list, with students there putting up with a massive 8.7 hours a week.

As the graph by Forbes shows, we are ahead of the US, France, Germany and nearly every other nation that was part of the worldwide study.

Finland highest education EU ranking yet only 2.8hrs homework p/wk. Ireland 2nd highest 7.3hrs http://t.co/8qRkeTuDd4 pic.twitter.com/501LMCyOi2 — Olivia O'Sullivan (@oliviaos) February 19, 2015

Quite the, eh, achievement for Ireland?

More  16 reasons you should always read over your kid’s homework>

More  student devises ingenious way of scoring 100% on exam>.

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What's the right amount of homework?

IS IT a bore for the kids, another layer of labour for frazzled mums — or a crucial route to academic success?

Children’s homework and the time it takes are problems for parents — homework is described as the “thorniest issue” at primary school, by a representative of the Irish National Teachers’ organisation.

Most schools have a homework policy, because parents are puzzled. One primary school, in Kildare, runs homework information meetings for parents, at their request, while one second-level school clarifies what’s expected of first years. When Jen Maher’s eldest, Olive, started at second level, Jen joined the Parents’ Council to become familiar with the homework system. Olive is now in transition year at Colaiste na Toirbhirte in Bandon, and her youngest sister, Alice, is in first year. Jen says a responsible attitude to homework is crucial. Her children are expected to be conscientious.

“It’s a leap from primary school to first year, with all the extra subjects and teachers and that can be difficult,” Jen says. Alice spends one to one-and-a-half hours on her homework, while, in Junior Cert, Olive “did three or more hours a night. I’m happy with what they’re doing,” Jen says. “I never went rooting to see what homework they had, but they knew they were expected to be responsible about it.”

By second-level, many students are less open about their lives, so it’s a good idea to join a network of other parents. “I joined the Parents’ Council to see how things operated,” says Maher. “I found it was a great help, because there were parents there whose children were ahead of mine in the school system, and that was a godsend.”

Carolyn O’Flaherty, deputy principal at the 540-pupil school, holds special information meetings. “Sometimes, parents would have queries about how much homework their children should be doing and how they should be doing it. We tend to be very conscious that it’s very different for first years coming from the primary school system. They could have between 10 to 12 different teachers here, and there may be anxiety around what different teachers expect of homework,” she says.

For the first few weeks of term, the teachers start the homework in class to familiarise students: “After a while, the first years work independently. We would, generally, feel they should have between one and one-and-a-half hours per night at first year. We emphasise the use of the journal, in organising homework, and stress to parents how important it is that they go through the journal and check on the homework — this facilitates communication between parent and student on homework.”

Second-years are expected to do between one-and-a-half to two hours, and Junior Certs two to three hours. In fifth and sixth year, three to four hours a night is the norm, she says. The quality of the homework is more important than the length of time it takes.

Students should not do homework in front of the TV or with a mobile phone nearby. “Homework develops good habits of the mind, takes the stress out of exams, is very good discipline and facilitates independent learning,” Ms O’Flaherty says.

In the evenings, second level students should go back over material they covered in class that day — even if they have been allocated no homework, says Bernie Judge, education officer with the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland.

Parents should not accept the excuse that their child doesn’t need to study because they have no tests coming up. “Consistent application is necessary. Don’t accept that they’re not getting any homework. If they have no writing to do, they should be going over notes,” she says.

Children should leave phones downstairs while they are studying upstairs. But the bedroom is not always the best place for study — it’s private and they may not be doing the work they claim to be doing.

Last September, a homework journal was introduced for the 340 pupils of headmistress Breda Fay’s school, Scoil Choca Naofa, in Kilcock. The school now also runs ‘homework information mornings’ for parents. A homework club has also been established. The journal shows parents what homework has been allocated and how long the child is taking to do it — thus facilitating a conversation with the teacher should homework need to be adjusted.

Fay says the majority of parents were happy with the time their children spent on homework — 10 minutes of paired reading or colouring at junior infant and senior infant level, 20 minutes in first class, half an hour in third and fourth class, and under 45 minutes in fifth and sixth class.

Homework is not a major issue in the Fitzgerald household, in Killahin, near Tralee, in Co Kerry, where mum Geraldine expects her daughters Linda (12) and Shauna (7) to do their best, but is relaxed: “I’m very lucky, because the girls go to a country school with only 30 pupils and they get great attention. The majority of their work is done at school,” she says, though Linda does an hour’s homework every night and Shauna does half an hour.

“They sit in the kitchen doing their homework, while I make the dinner. I’m very relaxed, I don’t push them, I tell them to do their best, but that, at the end of the day, there’s more to life than homework.

“I know of parents in other schools who spend two hours, or more, doing homework with primary level students — I think that’s way too much.”

If you’re worried that your child is not doing his or her homework or is not able for it, says Peter Mullan, of the INTO, contact the school. “Homework is one of the thorniest issues at primary level — it’s added stress and can be time-sapping. It can be resented by children and parents, so it’s very worthwhile for people to understand the value of it,” he says. Research shows that children who get maths homework three or four times a week score higher than children who don’t.

DON’T BE TOO FUSSY

Research has shown a positive relationship between homework and achievements, says Professor Kathy Hall, Professor of Education at UCC. “Time spent on homework yields results,” she says, cautioning homework should be relevant; ideally done independently and without parental support.

Hall believes the primary school years are a golden opportunity to help children develop good study habits. Regular homework is an excellent way to develop self-discipline, time management and a sense of responsibility towards work and study, she says.

If, however, homework takes away from personal time or family well-being, it generates a lot of anxiety, she warns: “Homework should be at a level of easy difficulty, it should not be about being stuck.”

Check your child’s homework journal and attend parent-teacher meetings, she counsels — but parents should avoid a rigid or regimented approach to homework or over-emphasis on perfection.

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National Parents Council (NPC)

Your child and school - faqs.

Here you can find out answers to questions you might have about your child and school.

A split class is one where two or more levels are taught together (e.g. 3rd class and 4th class) by the same teacher in the same classroom. This may be necessary in a smaller school where pupil numbers don't allow for separate classes at all levels or in a larger school where the intake might fluctuate. The Principal is responsible for the allocation of teachers to classes. ESRI research (2014) which used data on 8,568 nine-year-old children from the Growing Up in Ireland study showed that children in a split class “did not perform any better nor any worse than children in single-grade classes”. It is believed that older children benefit by having the work they covered in the previous year reinforced and the younger children experience a broader spectrum of information, allowing many of them to advance. The Principal has to decide what is the best way to split the classes, where necessary, and in some cases it is by age, some alphabetically. In some cases the children may be given an opportunity to pick one or two friends that they would like to be in the same class. The parents association may also have a role to play in exploring the social impact of a split class on the children. The best thing to do is to talk to the Principal and he/she will be able to explain why they had to split the class and which system they used to decide on which children go into which class.

The Special Education Teaching allocation model provides that all schools will have a basic allocation to assist pupils who have learning and literacy difficulties, including those arising from English as an Additional Language (EAL) needs. Additional support is available for schools with high concentrations of pupils that require language support.

A Learning Support Teacher service is available to all primary schools and the Department of Education and Science has produced Learning Support Guidelines. These guidelines explain the aims and activities of learning support programmes. They include the procedures for identifying and selecting children who might be having difficulty with their school work curriculum and who need supplemental teaching. It is the learning support teachers who provide this extra teaching. Children who continue to have difficulty coping with their school work, can be psychologically assessed by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) and may be eligible for Resource Teacher support.

No, the children are entitled to the full curriculum which includes a minimum of one hour per week of PE.

No teacher can be required to administer medicine or drugs to a pupil.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) and the Catholic Primary School Management Association (CPSMA) advise that the parent(s) of the pupil concerned should write to the school's board of management requesting the board to authorise a member of the teaching staff to administer the medication.

The request should also contain written instructions of the procedure to be followed in administering the medication. The board of management, having considered the matter, may authorise a teacher to administer medication to a pupil.

If the teacher is so authorised she/he should be properly instructed by the board of management. A teacher should not administer medication without the specific authorisation of the board.

In administering medication to pupils, teachers should exercise the standard of care of a reasonable and prudent parent.

The board of management should inform the schools insurers accordingly.

The board of management should seek an indemnity from the parents in respect of any liability that may arise regarding the administration of the medication.

It is important that boards of management request parents to ensure that teachers be made aware in writing of any medical condition suffered by any children in their class.

Children who have epilepsy, diabetes, or are prone to anaphylactic shock syndrome may have an incidence attack at any time and it is vital therefore to identify the symptoms in order that treatment can be given by an appropriate person if necessary.

The first thing you should do is speak to the child's teacher. If you think it is something which could be solved in a few minutes you should speak to the teacher either at the beginning or end of the school day. If it would take a little longer you should ask for an appointment with the teacher and outline the nature of the problem if possible. When you meet the teacher explain the problem as clearly and calmly as possible. Be prepared to work with the teacher and your child to resolve the problem. If the problem cannot be resolved at this level, the next step is to involve the Principal. You should make an appointment and bring with you any paperwork which may be relevant. If the problem remains unresolved the next step is to contact the Board of Management of the school.

More detailed information about any concerns you might have about bullying or child protection can be found at this link https://www.education.ie/en/Parents/Information/Complaints-Bullying-Child-Protection-Discrimination/

If you need any help with this please call the NPC Helpline Tel: 01 8874477 or email: [email protected]

The first thing you should do is speak to your child's teacher. Quite often a teacher can deal with this in the classroom and the problem can be resolved there and then. If the problem persists you should ask for a copy of the school's anti-bullying policy and check if it is being followed. If it is not being followed you should follow the procedure as outlined above in Q6. As a family you can support your child by listening to them and letting them know that you are on their side. You should reassure them that they haven't done anything wrong and that you will do all you can to make the bullying stop. You should also do all you can to build up their self esteem whether that's by encouraging activities they are involved in, or introducing them to other groups of children etc. Click here for the NPC leaflet on Bullying, click here to go to the Department of Education and Skills Anti Bullying Procedures for primary and post primary schools

Irish is an integral part of the curriculum in all primary schools. There are some exceptional circumstances where a child may be exempted from studying Irish.

Exempting a pupil from the study of Irish should be considered only in exceptional circumstances. The decision to exempt a pupil from the study of Irish is an important decision that has implications for his/her access to the curriculum and his/her future learning. The decision to grant an exemption from the study of Irish is made by the principal teacher, but it must be made following detailed discussion with the pupil’s parent(s)/guardian(s), the class teacher, special education teachers, and the pupil.

The only exceptional circumstances in which a school may consider granting an exemption from the study of Irish are set out in Section 2.2 of Circular 0054/2022  in the case of primary schools and in Section 2.2 of Circular 0055/2022  for post - primary schools.

In certain circumstances that are outlined in the circular an exemption may be granted to:

• A student, aged at least 12, moving from abroad without previous experience of learning the Irish language or a student who have completed their primary education abroad.
• A student who experiences significant literacy difficulties which are an obstacle to their learning across the curriculum.
• A student who experiences a high level of multiple and persistent needs that are a significant barrier to the student’s participation and engagement in their learning and school life.
• A student in a recognised special school or class or who was previously enrolled in a recognised special school or class or who has a recommendation and has been deemed eligible for a place in a recognised special school and/or in a special class in a mainstream school.
• A student whose parent(s)/guardian(s) is a/are diplomatic or consular representative(s) of another country to Ireland irrespective of age or educational history It is recommended that the parent(s)/guardian(s) discuss with the school whether the school believes that there is sufficient evidence to support an application for an exemption from the study of Irish.

It is the Department’s policy that all students (including those granted an exemption) are provided with opportunities to participate in Irish language and cultural activities at a level appropriate to their learning needs, to the greatest extent possible, and in a meaningful way

Yes. If you are not satisfied with the decision made by the school to refuse your application, then it is open to you to make an appeal. You should complete the Irish Exemption Appeal Form on the Department’s website and return it to the Department of Education within 30 calendar days from the date you were notified of the decision of the school not to grant an exemption.

There is no need to send in any other documentation as the department will be contacting the school to request the documentation that was used in the decision to refuse the exemption.

An Irish Exemption Appeal form can be submitted by e-mail to: [email protected] or by post to Schools Financial and Database Section, Department of Education, Cornamaddy, Athlone, Co.  Westmeath, N37 X659

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) have lots of information about the various subjects at all levels. Click here to get detailed information on their website about each of the subject areas.

The curriculum refers to the programme of study your child will follow through their primary school years. It is presented in seven areas, some of which are further subdivided into subjects. The development of curriculum for Religious education remains the responsibility of the different church authorities. However, the Minister for Education and Skills has asked the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to develop a religion and ethics programme for schools. Click here for further information on the Education about Religion and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics curriculum. Click here for information on all of the curricular areas.

This is a document which outlines the behaviour expected of all members of the school community. It should be prepared in consultation with all members of the school community including pupils and parents. It should be available to all parents and you may be asked to sign it when your child starts school. Corporal or physical punishment is illegal in Irish schools. Click here to find out more about Developing a School's Code of Behaviour.

Schools set their own policy in relation to homework. For example, in some schools children from first to sixth class are given homework each week night. Other schools give a small amount of reading or maths to infant classes. If your child does get homework, you should give them space and encouragement to do it. If they need it, offer your help. Take time to talk with your child about what they do in school each day. Set aside a quiet time where your child is sitting comfortably at a table and will not be distracted by television or other noise. Homework time should include time for oral as well as written work. Oral work - speaking and repeating what they have learned - is particularly helpful in the early years. Encourage your child to keep their text books and exercise books clean and tidy. If your child is working on their own, be available to help and show an interest in what they're doing. Praise your child's efforts whenever you can. Try to be patient with your child. If your child is having ongoing problems with homework discuss this with the teacher. If your child can't do their homework for any reason, let the teacher know. Write a short note explaining why or arrange a meeting with the teacher. Click here to download the NPC Homework leaflet

The amount of homework and the time to be allocated to it are key features of the school's homework policy. Parents need to be fully familiar with this policy, so as to manage the time allocated at home by the child. It is important that the target time for homework for their child's class is known to parents. They can then intervene if the child takes a significantly longer time to complete the tasks set, and can alert the teacher to the difficulties being encountered.

Click here to download the NPC Homework leaflet.

It is very important for your child to have good home-school communication. Parents are the primary educators of their children and their co-operation and support are essential to the school. In some schools Home-School community Liaison Officers are appointed from among the teaching staff to encourage parents to participate more fully in their children's education and to become more involved in the life of the school. This scheme is restricted to a small number of schools. Click here for further information on the HSCL scheme.

Primary schools in Ireland are funded on the basis of a Capitation Grant Scheme which is decided in the Budget by the Government every year. That means the school's Board of Management gets a certain amount of money allocated for each child that they have enrolled in the school. This money is used to pay all expenses, such as electricity, oil, insurance, telephone, etc. As costs rise, this is often not enough to cover all the costs. Some schools ask parents for a voluntary contribution to help towards these costs. This of course has to be on a voluntary basis and you are under no obligation to pay it. No child or family should be named or shamed for not contributing.

In each school year there will be one formal parent/teacher meeting held in each primary school. This will usually take place at the end of the school day and the school will close 15 minutes early to facilitate this. The school will let you know the date and time of the meeting. This is an important meeting and you should do your best to attend. At the meeting you can see examples of your child's work and discuss your child's progress with the class teacher. Going to these meetings also shows your child that you are interested in how they are doing. If you are concerned about your child's progress at any stage during the year, you can arrange to speak to the class teacher. If you cannot attend the formal parent/teacher meeting then you should let the teacher know and you should be offered a suitable and convenient alternative. Click here to read the Department of Education and Science Circular PC 14/04: Arrangements for Parent/Teacher and Staff meetings.

Schools generally communicate with parents by sending notes home with the child. These notes can be written in the child's homework diary or printed on a separate sheet. You should check your child's school bag each day for notes.

Under the Education Act, 1998 the school must provide reports for each child. The school must allow parents to have access to their child's school record. The school should have a procedure to keep parents informed about matters relating to the school. The Act states “the Principal and teachers shall regularly evaluate students and periodically report the results of the evaluation to the students and their parents”. Under the Education (Welfare) Act, if a student leaves one school to go to another, the Principal of the first school must give information about the child to the new school. This information may include attendance or other relevant matters relating to the child's progress. You should receive a written report from your child's school at some point(s) during the year. This report will give you information on your child's progress and achievement in school in four key areas.

1. Your child as a learner how your child likes learning in school how your child works with other children, or on his/her own how your child keeps trying at work, even when it is hard how well your child works in school or at home

2. Your child's social and personal development if your child appears happy in school how he/she behaves how he/she gets on with other children in the classroom and in the playground

3. Your child's learning across the curriculum how he/she is getting on in English, Gaeilge, Mathematics, and in the other subject areas whether he/she needs a little or a lot of help with school work whether your child needs a little or a lot of help with homework

4. You and your child's learning how you might be able to help your child to do better in school things you can do at home to help with your child's learning

For tip sheets on ways you can help your child to learn, check the NCCA website www.ncca.ie

For further information or to download an information sheet on your child's school report click here to go to the NCCA website

Other items which should be included in your child's report include: Standardised test results - when applicable should be included in your child's report. The purpose of the standardised test is to check how your child is performing in literacy (English) and numeracy (maths). The tests must be carried out at the end of first class or the beginning of Second and again at the end of fifth or the beginning of sixth class. Parents must be informed of the result of the test. The result of a standardised test will appear as a number. Your child's teacher will write a short comment explaining to you what this number means. Comments - The teacher may draw attention to something (s)he would like to talk to you about. The teacher might use this space to draw attention to, or praise your child for some special achievement or quality. For further information on Standardised Tests see the NCCA website www.ncca.ie

If a request is made then it would be appropriate to comply with the request and to supply copies of school reports to both guardians. Again, in the absence of a request, a school would have to consider the particular circumstances but, given that it would be likely that there would be relatively little expense and difficulty in arranging for copies of the reports to be sent to both guardians it would seem sensible to have a policy which provides for copies of reports to be sent to each guardian.

Supervision before and after school is an issue of concern in many schools, the Board of Management has a duty of care for all children including periods of time where children are on the school premises outside of the official 5 hours and 40 minutes contact time, i.e. when the children assemble for school and when they are dismissed at the end of the school day. It is up to the management of the school to ensure that all children and staff are in a safe environment. To this end the Board of Management must prepare a safety statement which would highlight any areas of particular concern. However the staff of the School are not required by their contract to provide supervision outside of the official 5 hours and 40 minutes contact time. NPC have been negotiating with the Department for a number of years on this issue and we were delighted when it was particularly suggested as one of the ways a school could use their extra hour per teacher per week as per the CrokePark Agreement. The provision, with effect from the start of the 2010/11 school year, of an additional hour per week to be available to facilitate, at the discretion of management, school planning, continuous professional development, induction, substitution and supervision (including supervision immediately before and after school times). The Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) says: Based on Case Law precedence and the advice of Allianz Insurance, it appears that it can be reasonably expected that children will be on school premises for up to 10 minutes before and after school, allowing for normal access and departure in an orderly fashion. Once the school allows access to the premises, the School authorities have a duty to supervise. The same applies to pupils staying on after school. It is not reasonable to leave children standing on the sides of busy roads in inclement weather where the traffic poses a danger. The geography of every school is different, but regardless of design, the Board of Management’s (BoM's) responsibility relates to the entire premises and not just the school building or designated playgrounds. Some Solutions suggested by the IPPN (Irish Primary Principals’ Network) include: Engage the Parents’ Association (PA) in discussion re. Before & After School Children’s Safety. Outline the BoM’s difficulty in relation to this matter Engage the PA in discussion re. the link between the school opening time and the pattern of children being on school premises for lengthy periods in advance. Having consulted with parents through the Parents’ Association & individually and having consulted with staff, the BoM should consider the feasibility of altering the school opening time to minimize the amount of time children spend unsupervised on the school premises. The BoM to engage the PA in discussion re providing a Rota of parents to supervise the safety of children before & after school. The BoM and the PA should negotiate with transport providers and seek more practical collection and drop-off times for children. Where transport providers are either unwilling or unable to show flexibility, encourage parents to engage in car pooling.

There are no specific allowances for space per child in a classroom, neither are there rules regarding the maximum number of children in a classroom. It is up to the management of the school to ensure that all children and staff are in a safe environment. To this end the Board of Management must prepare a safety statement which would highlight any areas of particular concern. If you are concerned you should raise the issue with the class teacher / Principal.

The Principal has the responsibility to organize supervision at break and lunchtime. It is up to the management of the school to ensure that all children and staff are in a safe environment. To this end the Board of Management must prepare a safety statement which would highlight any areas of particular concern. There is a system for supervision which teachers can opt into and be paid for this work separate from their salary. Most teachers have opted into this. The principal organises a suitable Rota. Some of the additional time agreed under the Croke Park Agreement can also be used for supervision if necessary. If you have a concern you should raise this with the Principal.

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What Is Irish Gaelic? How Is It Taught In Irish Schools? Is It a Living Language or Not?

• allychevalier
• Categories : Social studies help cultures, governments & more
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

What Is Irish Gaelic?

If you’ve ever visited the Emerald Isle, you’ve probably seen it referred to by yet another name—Éire. This name comes from Ireland’s

first official language, Irish Gaelic or simply Irish. Irish is native to both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, the remainder of the article will refer primarily to Irish as it is spoken in the Republic of Ireland unless otherwise noted.

As the full name Irish Gaelic suggests, Irish is a dialect of Gaelic, along with Scottish Gaelic and a few other flavors. They are sometimes also referred to as the Celtic languages. They form an entirely different branch of the Indo-European language family, and so differ drastically from English, French, Spanish and other mainstream European languages. Irish uses the same Latin alphabet as English, plus the odd accent.

There are three main flavors of Irish, following from the three historical regions of Ireland: Ulster, Connacht and Munster. They are notably different from each other in accent, and also somewhat in grammar, slang and vocabulary. There is also an “official” Irish that is taught in schools and used by the government for formal Irish documents.

Irish has evolved much over the years, from the times of primitive tribes through multiple invasions and occupations, all the way up to the present day, where this article picks up.

Even liberal estimates of how many people speak Irish as their native language present a bleak pictures: That’s three percent of Ireland’s total population, somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000. There’s more to this story than a few numbers, however.

Irish In Schools: Encouraged–Or Not?

How does one encourage use of a language? This is done from the very beginning: by teaching it at school, of course. Or so the Irish government thought. Every Irish schoolchild is to begin learning Irish from a young age, continuing throughout their primary and secondary education. So why don’t more Irish people actually speak Irish?

Most students—and their schools—don’t take the language seriously, resulting in poor teachers, poor teaching—and poor learning. There are often few, if any repercussions for students who get bad marks in their Irish classes, either from their parents or from the school. Fluency in Irish is not a major issue with colleges either, so those students seeking higher education feel little pressure to bother with the traditional language of their country. Only jobs that are directly related to Irish require actual fluency, though many state jobs require a primitive knowledge of Irish—for instance, members of the police force, the Garda, need to know how to arrest someone in Irish.

Nor could merely learning a language in school ever make you fluent. Schools tend to teach formal Irish grammar and deemphasize practical conversational skills, which could encourage more use of the language on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, students learn an official version of Irish that is vastly different from the Irish that was ever spoken as a true everyday language.

There are also many loopholes to avoid learning Irish as a child. Many parents still send their children to boarding schools in nearby England, or will bring their whole family there for the duration of childhood. Even if a child only missed a year or two of the language, it’s easy to get out of the entire requirement. Any type of learning disability, even in the mildest forms, can get you out of learning Irish as well. As a result, many Irish citizens never even learn Irish, let alone fluently.

Still Spoken: The Gaeltacht

There are places where Irish is still spoken as a truly living, breathing language by a majority of the people. These are collectively known as the Gaeltacht. They are officially defined by the government to be places where Irish is the majority language, though there have been critics of the official list who argue that many of the areas are added and subtracted for political, not linguistic, reasons. A recent 2002 government study has suggested creating a more complex system for identifying Gaeltacht regions, mostly by zones depending on the percentage of the population who actually use Irish, though little has been done since.

The majority of the Gaeltacht areas are on the various peninsulas on the west coast of Ireland, which are historically more isolated from the rest of Ireland, and so the gradual Anglicization was less present. However, there are a few pockets within the mainland of Ireland as well. Gaeltacht areas also tend to have poorer soil for farming and their ruggedness makes them difficult to develop, stunting the development of the areas while ironically protecting the area’s linguistic purity.

The three flavors of Irish, Ulster, Connacht and Munster are all still represented by native speakers to this day.

The Gaeltacht areas have been dwindling, however, over time. Influxes of everything from tourists to holiday homes to broadband Internet are making Irish less important in daily life—resulting in less and less day-to-day use of the language even among native speakers. Many Irishmen move to the cities for jobs, which means using English—not Irish—on a daily basis for their work and with their friends.

A growing movement within the largest cities of the island of Ireland, Belfast and Ireland is the “Urban Gaeltacht,” where Irish-speaking communities are constructed within the city center for those who wish to speak Irish on a daily basis.

Still Alive: Signs, Symbols And Places

Irish Gaelic is by no means dead, however. It finds its way into the everyday life of everyday Irishmen through a variety of mediums.

The most visible of these are the signs. Most government signs make an effort to be at least bilingual, displaying mixed English and Irish, but it’s not uncommon to find all-Irish (or all English) signs throughout the country.

The names you know from Ireland, cities such as Cork, Galway, and Limerick, are all just slightly Anglicized versions of the original Irish names, Corcaigh, Gaillimh and Luimneach respectively–altered, but the Irish roots still show.

Many Irishmen, even if they themselves can’t speak Irish, will still use many Irish words in everyday conversation. For example, the Irish police force, the Garda, retains its Irish name, and people will still use the proper Gaelic pluralization for the word, Gardaí. Another example: the Irish senate is usually referred to by its proper Irish name, the Dáil. Irishmen will ask each other, “What’s the craic?” often misunderstood by other English speakers as crack , to see what’s up.

Many Irishmen will also passively listen to Irish Gaelic radio stations and television shows, most popularly the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta but also the government-run Irish television station Teilifís na Gaeilge or TG4 . It’s estimated that anywhere between three and eight percent of Ireland’s population use such Irish language media on a daily basis—which isn’t enough for many newspapers and radio stations, as more have shut down in recent years than have started up. Many software applications are also available in Irish, from Firefox to certain distros of Linux.

The people themselves still remain proudly Irish, from names like Killian to dancing all night at the Róisín Dubh nightclub to tattooing Éire across the chest to buying a Claddagh heart ring. No, they don’t all speak the language; no, they don’t all know how to decline for the genitive case or conjugate in the conditional tense—but the spirit of the language is still there.

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Homework In The Irish Context

Published 17 Jun 2024

It is clear from the international research that homework is a contentious issue. Rudman (2014) claims that decisions around homework should be made within the cultural context in which it is being given. In Ireland, homework has long been a feature of school life. Although it is not compulsory, most primary school children in Ireland receive regular homework (Williams et al., 2009), and most schools have a homework policy. In the introduction to the Primary School Curriculum, however, homework is referred to only once, simply as one among several informal tools for assessment (NCCA, 1999, p.18). The NCCA published its guidelines for assessment in primary schools in 2007. In this document, homework is mentioned only eight times, and, as Martin Stuart (2017, para. 10) notes, it is “always as an object of the sentence, never the subject”. Stuart goes on to claim that “the official line in Ireland seems to be that homework is a good thing, so good that it doesn’t need looking into or indeed even departmental research, policies or guidance.” (Stuart, 2017, para. 11)

Perhaps owing to this apparent lack of interest from the Department of Education, empirical research on homework in the Irish context is scant. Some progress has been made in recent years, however, with the longitudinal study Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) including questions regarding homework, and the National Parents’ Council (NPC) commissioning research on parental involvement at the primary school level (O’Toole et al., 2019). It is from the former study that we can ascertain the frequency of homework in Ireland (96% of children do homework four days a week) and the high levels of parental involvement (almost two thirds of parents ‘regularly’ or ‘always’ help their child with their homework). The GUI researchers also learned that socio-economic factors seem to have a significant influence on homework completion, as do family composition (single-parent or not, number of siblings) and gender (boys are less likely to complete homework) (Williams et al., 2009).

Jackson & Harbison (2014) conducted a small-scale study in which they analysed the homework policies of three Irish primary schools, as well as distributing questionnaires to a convenience sample of 90 parents, aimed at uncovering their “understanding of the utility of homework” (Jackson & Harbison, 2014, p. 51). In their discussion of the findings, the researchers argue that despite positive attitudes of parents to homework, too little attention is paid in Ireland to the type of homework that is given. Purposeful homework is essential, they maintain, as is communication between the school and parents with regards to homework policies. While the authors heavily criticise the absence of children’s voices from the debate on homework, they themselves exclude children from their study, focussing instead on parental attitudes and policy documents.

Martin Stuart, an experienced Irish primary school teacher, wrote a 2017 paper reviewing the homework literature and assessing Irish homework practices in light of his findings. He concluded that the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to homework is failing many pupils and families, and he heavily criticised the Department of Education and Skills for the neglect it has shown in providing no guidance for teachers with regards to homework. Based on Stuart’s suggestion that homework be re-framed as ‘non-school opportunities’, he helped to develop his school’s new homework policy, in consultation with parents. This policy includes sections on differentiation, content and duration of homework, as well as the individual responsibilities of parents, teachers and children.

Read also: Nothing is impossible with EduBirdie homework help !

Parental Attitudes and Involvement

Research conducted by Cooper et al. (1998) suggests that parents’ attitudes towards homework have a stronger influence on pupils’ perception than their teachers. Growing Up in Ireland indicated that Irish parents see homework as a valuable link between home and school (Smyth, 2017), and the belief that homework is of value is reflected in the high levels of parental involvement in homework in Ireland. As Rudman (2014) contends, parents often see homework as the only way to be involved in their children’s education. However, while parents value the home-school link that homework can provide, they often find homework practices to be frustrating and badly thought-out (Rudman, 2014).

Jackson and Harbison’s study on the utility of homework in Irish primary classrooms (2014) seems to confirm this. This research found that there was almost unanimous agreement among parents on the value of homework. At the same time, 65% of the respondents expressed feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy when it came to supporting their children with their homework. There was also a strong indication that homework caused friction at home, with almost two thirds of parents replying that it caused upset between child and parent.

Hoover-Dempsey and her colleagues (2001) conducted a meta-analysis of almost 60 studies based around parental involvement in homework. They identified three major reasons that parents become involved in their children’s homework: “they believe that they should be involved, they believe that their involvement will make a positive difference, and they perceive invitations to involvement” (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2001, p. 201). The researchers found, however, that studies yielded mixed results (both positive and negative relationships) when examining parental involvement’s influence on academic achievement. Notwithstanding this, the authors assert that “a solitary emphasis on student achievement is unfortunate” because “the most critical outcomes associated with parental involvement in homework may be found in the attitudes, ideas, and behaviours enacted by students in the course of school learning” (Hoover-Dempsey et al, 2001, p. 204). They argue that positive attitudes towards learning, developing self-regulation and perceptions of personal competence are far more important outcomes of parental involvement in homework. In their conclusion, they call for more research to be done on the content, processes, and outcomes of parental involvement, and for information and guidance for parents to be provided by schools.

Vatterot (2009) also suggests that formal methods for parents and teachers to communicate about homework should be established. Some examples she lists are a ‘home schedule card’, a short homework survey at the beginning of the school year, and a standard feedback checklist to be used as a cover-sheet for all homework assignments.

Effective Homework

According to Epstein and Van Voorhis (2001, p. 191) when teachers design purposeful homework with clear and meaningful goals, “more students complete their homework and benefit from the results.” Teachers should clearly state the learning intention – “the ultimate goal of the assignment” (Vatterot, 2011, p. 1) – and the success criteria when assigning homework. Marzano & Pickering (2007) stress that appropriate levels of difficulty will maximise the chance that pupils will complete and benefit from homework. This implies that differentiated homework should be considered, although Rudman (2014), drawing on research done by Cooper (1989), questions the value of the additional work by teachers that would necessarily go into individualised homework versus the perceived benefits.

Vatterot (2011), identifies four ways in which homework can support learning; pre-learning, checking for understanding, practice and processing. She stresses that teachers should not (mistakenly or otherwise) assign new learning for homework. What is often assigned as practice, she claims, is in fact new learning for the children. This places an unfair burden on parents who may not be familiar with the material. It can also lead to the internalisation of misconceptions in the children. For this reason, practice work should only be assigned when the teacher has confidence that the children fully understand the concept they are working on.

In addition to having a clear academic purpose (which in turn should influence the type of homework given), Vatterot elaborates on four characteristics inherent in quality homework:

• Efficiency: efficient tasks do not take an inordinate amount of time and show evidence of the child’s learning. They must also be adequately explained and scaffolded.
• Ownership: tasks that are meaningful to children are more likely to be completed. They often include an element of choice and allow for the child’s opinion to be expressed, or for them to share something about themselves. A vital component to this is the child’s ability to self-assess, a skill which must be scaffolded in the classroom.
• Competence: Tasks that allow the pupil to experience success foster a positive attitude towards learning. Homework that cannot be completed without help is deemed ineffective by Vatterot. She suggests differentiation in three areas; amount and difficulty of work, amount of scaffolding, and learning style/interest of the pupil. Making homework time-based instead of task-based can be a simple means of differentiating for busy teachers.
• Aesthetics: Vatterot contends that the way homework is presented has an influence on children’s motivation. Uncluttered and visually appealing worksheets are particularly important to young learners and academically challenged pupils.

Focusing on the policy aspect of the homework question, Jackson and Harbison (2014, p. 50) argue that Irish homework policies should be ‘concise and unambiguous’ and they should take the age of the pupils into account. Importantly, parents should be involved in the creation of schools’ homework policy, and their role in supporting their children should be made clear to them (Van Voorhis, 2004). In Ireland, National Assessment reports commissioned by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) (Eivers et al., 2010; Kavanagh et al., 2015) have indicated that parental confidence and clear guidelines for homework are linked to higher achievement among pupils.

In the words of Martin Stuart (2017, para. 23), “there is a need for parents to get a real voice, not a token voice, in formulating the homework policy for their children if they are to look positively on homework and help motivate the child.”

It is clear from a review of the literature on homework that research on the topic has resulted in conflicting and often inconclusive results. There is a common thread throughout the research suggesting that the effectiveness of homework is highly contingent on not only the age of the pupils, but also the type and amount of homework assigned, as well as the parental supports in place for it.

In the Irish context, empirical research is very limited. The Department of Education and Skills provide no guidelines for homework practices. Policy documents are drawn up on a school-by-school basis, and parents may not be aware of their school’s policy.

The case against homework is popularised by the Irish media, but what little empirical research has been done suggests that parents are, on the whole, positively disposed towards it. At the same time, many parents seem to be unsure of their role when it comes to supporting their child with homework, and they report family conflict arising from its enforcement.

In light of the above, it seems reasonable to suggest that further research needs to be conducted on homework in Ireland. Since parents are essential in ensuring that their children engage with, and benefit from homework, it is vital that any such research includes their voices. Rudman (2014, p. 25) claims that in order meet the homework needs of children and families, we must look to findings derived from small-scale research projects which examine “the particular issues and challenges within each learning community.” With this in mind, the current study aims to uncover the attitudes and experiences of parents with regards to homework practices in a DEIS band 1 suburban Dublin school.  

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President Michael D Higgins calls for homework to be banned in Ireland

The country’s favourite leader has given hope to a new generation of students that the bane of their afterschool evenings could be scrapped.

• 13:32, 20 JAN 2023
• Updated 14:54, 20 JAN 2023

President Michal D Higgins has called for homework to be banned.

President Higgins argues that this would make time for young people to engage in more creative pursuits outside school hours.

The former Arts Minister believes that school activities should end at the school gate.

He was speaking to RTE’s news2day current affairs and news programme for children on the occasion of the programme’s 20th birthday.

When asked what his opinion of homework President Higgins said: “I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things.”

To mark the show’s two decades on air, students from St Kevin’s National School, Littleton, County Tipperary put questions from RTÉ news2day viewers to President Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin.

In a wide-ranging interview, the children asked the President questions like, what was your favourite sport when you were in school?

When you were nine years old what did you want to be?

And when did you decide you wanted to be President?

The students also asked the President about his dogs, his official trips abroad, his favourite subject in school, differences between now and when he was a child and his favourite book. The President also spoke to the children about his love of handball and the importance of friendship in their lives.

RTÉ news2day will broadcast some of the President’s interview as part of Friday afternoon’s birthday celebrations at 4.20pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ News channel and the full interview will be available later on Friday evening on the RTÉ Player.

In a message to the children of Ireland and the viewers of RTÉ news2day, President Michael D. Higgins gave this advice: “To stay curious about everything and I think it’s important to make sure you don’t miss the joy of sharing information.

“And I think an important thing is friendship and to make sure that there’s no one left without friendship and that people belong. And we will all do individual things... but I think friendships that you make will in fact always be great memories and that is so important.

“And also have the courage to stand your own ground and let other children be allowed the space of standing their ground too because none of us are the same.

“We’re all unique but at the same time we have a lot going for us.”

President Higgins also encouraged the children of Ireland to speak the Irish language.

He encouraged them to speak Irish in a fun way and to feel free to use whatever bits of the language that they have.

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Afternoon angst: is homework really necessary?

Forcing primary school children to do set homework does not improve academic outcomes and causes stress to both children and their parents, say educators.

US analysis of research found that, for children aged under 11, there was no link between homework and improved academic achievement. Photograph: iStock

It’s hard to know who hates homework more: teachers who have to set and correct it, children who have to do it or parents who struggle to make sure it’s done.

Yet, most persevere, with the belief it’s a necessary and beneficial part of schooling. Or is it?

The current system of primary school homework in Ireland is a "scandal", according to one Dublin teacher who has studied the effectiveness of home assignments.

It is failing children, teachers and parents "and you could say it is failing the country", says Martin Stuart, a teacher who specialises in learning support at Talbot Senior National School in Clondalkin, Dublin. "Kids are not enjoying the learning and they are more stressed than they should be."

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After reviewing international research for a post-graduate diploma at DCU, Stuart led a revamp of his school’s homework policy through consultation with other teachers, special needs assistants, pupils and parents. Schools are free to devise their own approach to homework and while they are not obliged to have a published policy on the matter, the Department of Education says having one and reviewing it regularly would be considered best practice.

“It is not teachers’ fault that homework is the way it is at the moment,” says Stuart. He blames the department for its lack of guidance for teachers and support for parents.

“This scandal includes the department’s apparent indifference to overwhelming research that homework has zero effect on achievement for under 11s,” he says.

Reference to such research is included in a new study commissioned by the National Parents Council Primary (NPC). Entitled "Parental Involvement, Engagement and Partnership in their Children's Education during the Primary School Years", some of its findings will be presented at the NPC's annual conference in Dublin this Saturday, June 8th.

Academic achievement

One US analysis of research found that, for children aged under 11, there was no link between homework and improved academic achievement. Another study pinpointed how positive outcomes for homework depended on its appropriateness and suitability for the child, as well as clarity of content and purpose.

The literature on homework suggests the key to academic success does not rely on the amount of homework but rather on how students engage on homework

"The literature on homework suggests the key to academic success does not rely on the amount of homework but rather on how students engage on homework," comment the authors of the Irish study, which was funded by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

This is not the first time the parents’ council has tried to kickstart debate around homework. It conducted an online survey of more than 5,000 parents in 2016, the results of which illustrated the extent of homework angst in Irish homes.

Some 58 per cent of parents of children in the four to seven age group said doing school assignments at home caused the children stress some or all of the time. That rose to 65 per cent among parents of older primary-school children. Almost one-third of parents (31 per cent) said homework caused grief for the whole family.

Three years on, the NCP's chief executive, Áine Lynch, hopes that with this new research in an Irish context by a team at the Marino Institute of Education, "we have a sense now of where we need to go".  "We know from all the research that the home-learning environment is really, really important for children in terms of their outcomes," she says. "When we look at the attitudes towards homework, we are almost setting up the home-learning environment to be one that is negative."

The notion of just abolishing homework for younger children is gathering popular support. But the parents’ council believes that if homework is used properly to link home and school learning, it can have a very positive impact on children.

“They will see that their home and school is connected and they will see that the important adults in their lives are connected.”

Stuart is not in favour either of scrapping homework for under 11s. Rather, he sees great potential if schools would only change their approach.

“If you give kids choice, they can excel and they want to excel. Then they are very proud of themselves and they love showing off and they love learning.

“But if you give everybody the same homework, and aim for the middle of the class, then you are going to have many kids who are becoming discouraged, so that is demolishing their natural love of learning.”

Reduce stress

That’s why “enjoyment” is an explicit aim of his school’s new homework policy, which was ratified by the board of management last October. It is intended to reduce stress and increase the level of learning among the approximately 300 pupils.

“Instead of guidelines for how long homework should take – as teachers always underestimate that – we have introduced time limits,” explains Stuart, who will speak at the NPC conference. “So, children and parents are free to stop after 30-40 minutes in 3rd and 4th class and after 40-50 minutes in 5th and 6th class.”

The question of providing choice is up to each individual teacher in the school’s 14 classes, ranging from 3rd class to 6th class. While some teachers offer options, others don’t yet.

"It's the number one thing kids want," says Stuart, who has set up a website (effectiveforall.blogspot.com) to share his findings and ideas.

Homework choice can come in the level of challenge and/or in the content. Or it may be in the way students demonstrates their learning. For example, some are creating YouTube videos, such as an “eye witness” report from the French Revolution.

“Nobody told them to do that, or suggested it,” says Stuart. “They are having fun, really getting into it and learning lots.”

The role of parents in effective homework is to be a sounding board for their children, he says.

“They are not meant to be teachers and they shouldn’t be expected to police homework. But what would be beneficial, and this is proven, is asking questions that help children clarify and summarise what they learned, such as ‘What did you learn in maths? Tell me. Show me’.”

The Clondalkin school is in the process of consulting parents for a review of the new policy one year on but Stuart can report that “there have been very few parents coming in during the year complaining about homework”.

Martin Stuart with pupils at Talbot Senior National School in Clondalkin, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan for The Irish Times.

All the indications from pupils’ feedback so far is that the attitude to homework is improving.

“We have found enjoyment is up, but not enough, and stress is down, but not enough,” he says. “The kids like the content more, which is great, but still not enough. We still have lots to do.”

To improve matters, you need to ask the right questions of children and really listen to what they’re saying.

Kids are crying out for more exercise homework and art homework – fun activity that also boosts learning

“Kids are crying out for more exercise homework and art homework – fun activity that also boosts learning.”

Stuart believes that questioning of the traditional approach to homework offers a huge opportunity. If Minister for Education Joe McHugh wants to be “a hero”, it wouldn’t take much for his department to produce guidelines, he suggests.

“There are already research-based guidelines out there but Ireland doesn’t have any so teachers aren’t taught them. Teachers do what is traditional to them and, unless you’re taught something better, it just continues as is.”

What teachers need, he continues, is a summary of research and guidelines on how to do homework; exemplars on what is and isn’t good; a menu of ideas for various class levels and subjects and a way to assess what the pupil has done.

The department’s inspectors, he contends, never ask about homework because, in the absence of any guidelines to follow, they are not required to.

A word-search on the 10 most recent whole-school evaluation reports of primary schools on the department’s website shows that nine had no mention of homework, while one suggested a school needed to get more feedback from parents on issues such as homework.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education confirms there are no department circulars or guidelines regarding homework for primary school pupils. “While inspectors might talk to teachers and pupils about homework, the evaluation of the implementation of homework policies and practices is not an integral part of the inspector’s evaluation process.”

Currently, he adds, there are no plans to formulate guidelines/policy on homework in primary schools.

Stuart believes that in years to come, Ireland will have official homework guidelines. So why not now?

“I want children to experience the love of learning; to experience success and not discouragement. To have homework that is enjoyable and not stressful,” he adds. “It wouldn’t take much.”

Lynch echoes Stuart’s comments on the need to pool ideas for more creative homework, rather than leaving it up to individual teachers.

“You go into schools and there are many, many examples of teachers doing really good things, but they’re just in that class,” she says.

“We spend a huge amount of time and resources on developing the curriculum in school yet we know from the research that up until between ages seven and nine, what happens in the home has more of an impact on the learning outcome for children than what happens in school and we don’t spend any time on how to support teachers to support this link.”

Home-learning curriculum

The NPC would like to see development of a home-learning curriculum, with more creative learning linked to the home rather than just doing more of the same from the classroom. To devise homework that draws on the many learning opportunities outside school.

“Some of the things that are already happening in families, when they are done with intention, are really good teaching opportunities,” Lynch says. “The thing is the teachers are not being supported to find those opportunities and the parents are too busy to notice them.”

For example, asking the child to teach the parent something they learned in school that day. “If they teach it, the learning is ingrained.”

Lynch also reminds parents they can have a say in schools’ homework policies through their parents’ association (PA), which should be meeting the principal regularly. She would like to see PAs putting it on the agenda for discussion in the wake of the conference.

After all, it’s in everybody’s interest if homework can become much more about the “buzz” of learning, rather than a dreaded weekday drudge.

The NPC's education conference "Tomorrow's World: Parents supporting children's futures" takes place at the National College of Ireland, Dublin 1, this Saturday, June 8th, 10.30am-4pm. All parents of primary-school children are welcome to attend and admission is free. See npc.ie to register

Tears and meltdowns: parents’ homework stories

Hilary Lawrence never found it easy to get her eldest child to do maths homework and they would often end up in an hour-long stand-off in the kitchen, with her pleading with the six-year-old to "just do it, why are we still here, why aren't you just doing it . . ."

After a particularly bad evening, when both had been crying "I can't do this anymore", she mentioned it to her daughter's teacher at the Educate Together School in Carrigaline, Co Cork. The teacher was shocked and said this was never the intention and if her daughter wouldn't do it after 10 minutes, she should just stop and report back.

Lawrence can laugh at the memory now as she explains this was a turning point for her adopting a more relaxed attitude to the completion of homework by her two children, now aged nine and 11. She tries to avoid having any arguments over it now.

“Generally, they are very good. They’ll come home, take a break and then do homework.” But if there are days where they’re very tired and cranky and it’s becoming a battle, Lawrence will tell them they needn’t do it but suggests they do something else, such as reading, writing a story or drawing pictures about something they are particularly interested in.

She will then write a note to say homework wasn’t completed and to explain what was done instead. “They are happy enough about that because it’s not happening every day.”

Teachers have always explained “homework is a revision thing”, she says, “so obviously it’s not vital to the future of their education that they do their homework. But when they get to secondary school it won’t be revision, it will be part of the learning process. So, I think the important thing is that they learn the responsibility of coming home and having to do it.”

She recognises there are issues with the current nature of homework, which is why she is flexible about it, but she still values it as a way of showing children the importance of independent learning and how nobody can do it for you.

Meanwhile for Miriam Meredith, the mother of four children aged 20, 10, nine and four, issues over homework was one of the reasons she took her two middle children out of school to educate them at home in Co Laois.

Matters came to a head for her second youngest child, who has a diagnosis of ASD and ADHD, while he was in second class. He was doing fine academically at school but he would really struggle with homework that involved things like putting words into sentences, or comprehension.

“It could take him over two hours to do homework,” says Meredith. She explained this to staff at the school who all said that wasn’t right but she felt nothing was being done in the long-term to sort the situation.

Although she gave her son movement breaks every 10-15 minutes, as he would get at school, he was still having meltdowns over homework, which was taking up all afternoon and meant he couldn’t go out and play with friends. He would be shouting in frustration that he didn’t want to do the work and asking why he had to do it.

“It was really out of character for him,” she says. It got to a point last June where she felt neither of the children was happy at school and that “life was too short for this”.

Considering the grief homework was causing, Meredith’s decision to home-school her children might sound counter-intuitive but she reports her son “has come on so much” over the last year. “I get things that would capture his imagination.”

When he was in school, he had an aversion to reading but now he really wants to learn. “A lot of the books that were sent home he had no interest in.”

Children need time running around, she adds, “exploring and figuring things out in a natural setting”.

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Why did Poland get rid of homework in primary schools?

Eastern Europe Reporter

Nine-year-old Franek Duś from the southern Polish town of Tarnowskie Góry loves Real Madrid and wants to be an engineer when he grows up.

Franek used to spend two hours per evening doing his homework but, since the start of this month, he is one of 3.1 million primary school pupils in Poland who no longer has to open his books when he gets home from school.

That is because the Polish government has dispensed with compulsory homework for primary schools.

"It's just cool and you have more time for your hobbies, like playing football and meeting friends," Franek told RTÉ News.

His mother, Ewa Duś, is relieved too.

"I think it’s a great idea because we had already discussed during meetings at school that there was way too much homework," said Ms Duś.

"He seems more happy and I see that the atmosphere at home is way better," she said.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centre-right Civic Coalition, which makes up the largest group within a four-party pro-EU coalition government, had promised to scrap homework at primary school level during last year’s general election campaign.

Critics of the current curriculum argue that it is overloaded with content and that homework was taking up too much of children's free time after school.

Four months after the government’s formation, the party followed through on its promise to cut homework.

Education minister Barbara Nowacka said, in March, that the new rules will give students "more time to consolidate their knowledge, prepare for tests, read books, and, more importantly, pursue their passions and rest".

Ms Nowacka also said that the new rules will create a "level playing field" for students.

"It is very common for children to do homework with their parents. Not all parents have the competence to learn mathematics, chemistry and physics with their children," she said in February.

Children in Poland attend primary school from ages seven to 15, after four years of preschool which begins at three years of age.

The new regulations mean that homework is now off limits for grades one to three when pupils are aged seven to 10.

For grades four to eight, when students are typically 11 to 15 years old, teachers can continue to issue homework but it cannot be graded, and it is not compulsory for students to complete the tasks either.

Exercises that improve fine motor skills such as painting and hand-writing practice are still compulsory.

Poland’s ministry of education issued schools across the country with guidelines on how to implement the changes but, coming in the middle of the academic year, the change still took many teachers and parents by surprise.

"The decision to limit homework was done too rashly," Slawomir Broniarz, the President of the Polish Teachers Union (ZNP), told RTÉ News.

The union, which represents more than 200,000 Polish school teachers, is not against the decision to stop homework for the first three years of primary school, but still sees benefits in assigning children practical tasks at home such as improving their writing skills.

However, Mr Broniarz believes that homework should still be given to older pupils in grades 4 to 8.

"Homework teaches responsibility, commitment and teaches how to plan your own time. It is also a way for teachers to observe what students learn from their classes," he said.

A number of education experts in Poland view the government’s decision as a first step towards rebalancing a curriculum that is already overloaded with a lot of content.

Some teachers, often short of time to teach everything on the syllabus within class hours, were using homework as a way of covering material.

Another Polish student I spoke to, 13-year-old Tomek Dzieciolowski from Warsaw, was not so thrilled about the new no-homework policy.

"In my opinion, it's a stupid idea because homework was a way of teaching kids," said Tomek, who used to spend around 30 minutes per day on his homework.

"It’s kind of a big change because now you can't get any grades also from projects."

Tomek’s mother, Justyna Rutkowska, said that the "whole thinking" towards education in Poland needed to change and felt that banning homework alone was not the solution.

"The compulsory material is overloaded, there is too much. Teachers have no time at school to fulfil it," she said, adding that reading material was skewed towards Polish classical literature that has little to do with children's experiences today.

Surveys show that teachers in Poland overwhelmingly favour retaining homework, though many agree that the volume of homework should be reduced in primary schools.

Tom McGrath, principal at the British Primary School of Wilanow in Warsaw and a native of Co Limerick, told RTÉ News that homework has a valuable role in "reinforcing" material taught in the classroom without it becoming "overly burdensome".

The new rules in Poland on homework, he believes, are "a signal of intent" from the Polish government of "a change in style and, eventually, substance" towards creating a skills-based curriculum, that is more holistic in its approach.

Poland’s education system is no stranger to sudden changes.

The country’s previous nationalist Law and Justice government, which ruled from 2015 to 2023, brought back the current 8-year primary school system from ages 7 to 15, which had been scrapped in 1999.

In the interim, a middle school system had been in place.

However, such changes to the school system do not appear to have had a negative impact on the performance of Polish primary school students, who score high on PISA tests, the international study used to assess the education levels of 15-year-olds in OECD countries.

The tests measure performance in maths, reading and science, and more students in Poland, than on average across OECD countries, were top performers in at least one subject according to data from 2022.

15-year-olds in Ireland also scored above the OECD average in all three subjects, and ace reading tests in particular.

In Finland, where children also start formal primary school at seven, teachers set very little compulsory homework. Yet, Finnish students are top performers on PISA tests.

There has been some discussion in Ireland in recent years too over whether homework is beneficial to children’s educational development.

Lorraine Harbison, an associate professor at DCU who focuses on primary school mathematics teaching, said that homework is used "for reward or punishment, which isn't good to even to begin with".

Ten years ago, she co-authored a limited study on the utility of homework in Irish primary school classrooms.

The study found that "homework that is too difficult and too long to complete, or is seen to be inappropriate or of no relevance to the child, may actually have an adverse effect".

Ms Harbison said she favoured more project-based homework that encouraged pupils to "work skillfully" and to "read for understanding".

The Department of Education does not issue schools with guidelines on how much homework is appropriate.

In a reply to TD questions in February 2021, at the height of Covid-19 pandemic, Minister for Education Norma Foley wrote: "It is a matter for each school, at local level to arrive at its own homework policy. In keeping with good practice, the process of drafting a homework policy should involve consultation with teachers, parents and students".

Taking those comments onboard, it seems that Irish schools have a lot of leeway to experiment with different approaches to homework, provided that parents are supportive of any plan.

In Ireland, pupils' views towards homework becomes more negative between 4th and 5th class, from ages nine to 11.

That is according to an ongoing study by UCD’s School of Education entitled the Children’s School Lives project, which is following the experiences of 4,000 children across Ireland as they progress through primary school.

Homework is one pillar of the study, which is expected to conclude in 2026.

By 5th class, about half of primary school students surveyed held a negative view towards homework.

This change in attitude occurs at a time - the end of the primary system in Ireland - when teachers also expect pupils to be capable of completing more homework tasks.

The same study found that parents of primary school pupils in Ireland hold overwhelming positive views towards homework.

"For parents, they see homework as an important indicator of how their children are doing in school," said Dympna Devine, Full Professor of Education at UCD's School of Education, who leads the study.

It is far too early to know if Poland's decision to limit homework will bring positive benefits for children.

"It is not an opportunity for children to sit down at the computer or a console with games," said Mr Broniaz, the president of the Polish teacher's union.

He thinks that schools could play a role in providing a space for children to use their free time.

Since the homework ban came into effect in Poland earlier this month, there have been reports of parents asking teachers to continue giving homework.

But most children are enjoying their extra free time in the evenings.

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Do Irish schools have lockers?

Do the students have lockers to put their books, coats, etc in? Or do they bring their textbooks to school everyday? Or download them onto a laptop/tablet? I know she’ll have to wear a uniform

It’s for a story I’m writing and main character who’s a 16 year old Australian girl, is starting school in Dublin because of her father’s work