A normal school day in Ireland

My day usually begins around 6.30 a.m, when my alarm rings. Until then it takes me about fifteen minutes to wake up, to figure out who and where I am and to get up. Since Sunday I take care of the ponies on our farm. They must be feed in the morning and the evening. After I got up, I go out and feed them. I didn’t give them names until now, maybe you want to give some recommendations down in the comments below.

It’s then about 7:15 a.m and time for my breakfast. I eat some porridge or ham and cheese sandwich and drink the first cup of tea. My school bus arrives officially about 8:05 a.m but it varieties most of the time. Normally the bus comes about ten past eight. The distance between my house and Clifden Community School is 12km and we usually arrive at 8:20 a.m.

Like in every school in Ireland and the UK we have to wear a school uniform. It consists of a pair of black trousers, a white shirt and a grey school jumper, which is not necessary but most of the students wear them.

The school starts around 9 a.m. We have our first class from 9 a.m to 9:40 a.m, the second class from 9:40 a.m to 10:20 a.m and the third class from 10:20 a.m to 11 a.m. At eleven o’clock there is a twenty-minute break where we can eat some small rolls with chicken, cheese or ham. Also, the school offers free fruit. After another three classes, there is a longer break for 35 minutes. The school cantine cooks lunch which we can for 2€ per portion. They offer Chicken Curry, Wraps with Chicken and Cheese, Chicken Tikka, Pasta, and big Chicken rolls.

After lunchbreak, we have another three classes in hell before we can go home. We barely get homework so I can relax when I am home, practise accordion or study for school in Germany.

The Irish school system is slightly different to the German system. The school starts at 9 a.m instead of 7:45 a.m. But we have every day a long day except Friday where school ends at 1:20 p.m. The primary school in Ireland is two years longer than in Germany. The kids stay there for six years. the secondary school is only six years as well. They do there Junior Certificate in 3rd year. The 4th year is called Transition Year (TY). It is basically a year without real classes. We’ve done two work experiences so far (one in October and one in February) and there is another one in May. A lot of speakers came to our school to talk about first aid, road, and car safety and many other topics. The best speaker so far was a poetry slamer called Stephen Murray. We had three classes with him and he was absolutley hilarious. He founded a website called “Inspireland” where he publishes the poems from the school he goes to. I put a link to his website down below.

(https://inspireland.ie/2020/02/01/clifden-community-school-clifden-co-galway/)

But the most significant difference is the subjects. In Germany, they are teaching only the basic subjects like Maths, German, English, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Science, Biology, French, Latin and Art. In the Irish schools, they teach many more subjects like Psychology, Accounting (which is quite useful for the real world), Business, Home Economics, Agriculture Science and Woodwork. We also have at least five classes of computer lessons a week.

The only thing, I don’t like about the Irish school system is that the school ends so late. I noticed that I can’t focus properly after 2 o’clock. It is really difficult to teach because everyone, even the teachers are getting tired. But I think that German schools should really teach more practical subjects like Irish schools do. The TY is really good as well. It is a chance to go outside of school and do something that you normally won’t do. I think we should have a TY between 10th and 12th grade as well.