# Schooling in Northern Ireland



## Han2275 (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi ladies,  
I am hoping someone will be able to give me a bit of advice re schooling in NI. We currently live in England but are planning to move to the Enniskillen area. DP is originally from Cavan and we would like to bring up the boys in Ireland where we can afford the home we want in a village location that we can't afford here. We are hoping to be moved by next september when DS1 starts school, we just need to sell our home which is currently proving to be very difficult  . Many more schools in Ireland than in England are religious based. The boys are christened catholic. DP tells stories of her childhood when you only went to the school of your religious denomination and she never had any friends out of that school. That was obviously some years ago and things have changed a lot but would I still have to put the boys in a catholic school or do schools not really worry too much these days? We just want the boys to go to the best school in the area. 
Also, I will need to register DS1 here in january just incase we haven't moved by september  . Is january the same cut off point for registering in NI? I can also access Ofsted reports for schools over here. What is the equivalent for NI? DS1 also gets 15 hours funded a week and DS2 will also from the term after his 3rd birthday. If that the same in NI?
Sorry for so many questions, I'm just finding it really hard to make these decisions when we are so far away


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## Tessykins (Feb 15, 2010)

Hi Han

Congrats on your two beautiful boys!  I'm a secondary school teacher here in NI so hopefully I can answer some of your questions.

I'm not sure about cut off dates for registering or funding details but, with regards to religion etc, many schools in NI are faith schools; Catholic schools are often referred to as maintained and protestant as controlled, you do not have to send your kids to a catholic school - they can go to a protestant one.  There are also now plenty of integrated schools (all faith), though I'm not sure how many in Enniskillen.  I think your decision to send them to the best one for them should take priority, but if religion is an issue for you then you could decide on the right one.

There is no OFSTED in NI but there is DENI (dept of education) - you can read recent inspectorate reports on their website.

Hope this helps, I really don't know much about primary education but I hope I've given you some pointers!


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## Han2275 (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks for your helpful reply  

Religion holds no importance to me to be honest! The boys are catholic as it was important to DP. I was brought up C of E but consider myself to  be a lapsed agnostic  . We have talked about the move to Ireland for a long time now and I will admit, I found the it very hard to understand and come to terms with the importance of religion in ireland  . I am pleased about what you have told me about schooling in NI. Obviously I totally respect DPs decisions re the boys' religious upbringing but I don't want it to have to be the reason for our schooling decisions. I have heard that NI has some of the best schools in the UK


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## wee emma (Nov 15, 2007)

http://northernireland.schooljotter.com/enniskillen/Contact+Us

here's an integrated one 

http://www.etini.gov.uk/index/inspection-reports/inspection-reports-primary/inspection-reports-primary-2011/short-inspection-enniskillen-integrated-primary-school-and-nursery-unit.pdf

and here's its report


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## Han2275 (Oct 3, 2010)

Just a quick update  

Had a family visit to Ireland last week and made a visit to the local school in Lisnaskea where we hope to live just outside of. It is traditionally a catholic school but the head teacher really made us feel comfortable about how the main ethos of the school is respecting each other  . The school was clearly a happy and bright place with much smaller class sizes than over here in England which is a great plus. DS1 joined in with the children for a while and we couldn't get him to leave  . He wants to start next week rather than next year  . Another big tick in the box for us, and further confirmation that this move is the right thing for our family. Just need to sell our house


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