The Primary Convent School

Here is a picture of my school. The building on the left is the Primary Convent school where I teach! The middle is where the offices and staff lounges are located. There is also another building connected on the right which is the special ed school.

The schools in Ireland are very different than the United States. The Primary Convent school in Listowel is an all girls school. The Primary school, our elementary school, goes from Junior Infants through 6th class, or Kindergarten through 6th grade. And then students go onto the Secondary school which is 7th grade through your senior year in high school. The students entire schooling, from Junior Infants until their 6th year (Senior Year) at the Secnondary level, is to prepare them for a huge exam they take to get into a University.
School does not start until 9:30am and goes until 3pm. There is a break at 10:30am where students go into the yard to play, and teachers have a tea break. The girls also have lunch at 12:30pm, and they eat their lunches right in the classroom. Older students 'mind' the younger ones while they eat so that teachers can eat their lunches in the staff room. There is also 2 bathrooms in each classroom.

Students in Ireland are extremely respectful of their teachers and other staff members. They stand up and speak in Irish everytime an adult enters the room. I am not sure what they are saying, but one of the girls said they are saying 'Welcome and God Bless'. But I believe that there is some that I am missing there.

The students in Ireland do not go to a different teacher for their elective classes in the Primary School. Each teacher teaches music, art, and Irish in their classroom. Students will have Phy Ed about two days a week. A man comes in to teach that and it may be Irish dancing, rugby, or Gaelic Football. They call their gym a hall. But it is very similiar to our gym. There are no computer labs, but rather one or two computers in each room that the students take turns using.

The Primary Convent school is divided into 2 separate buildings. One is for the regular classes, Junior Infants through 6th class. The other half of the building is for Special Ed students. They have an entire wing of a building for these students. They are all of the students in the area, boys and girls, who have special needs.