Some things happen in Irish schools that don’t occur elsewhere. If you relate to 8/10 of these things, you probably went to an Irish school.
Some things seem to happen in every single Irish school. It doesn’t matter if you and your friends went to different schools growing up; there will still be certain things across the board that unite you.
If you can relate to at least eight of the following items, then you definitely went to school in Ireland.
10. Téigh a chodladh – a little break for your teachers
If you didn’t have moments in junior infants where the teacher would make you “Téigh a chodladh”, then did you even go to an Irish primary school?
This Irish phrase means “go to sleep” and invites pupils to pop their heads down onto the table for a little nap.
9. The excitement when the library van arrived – the joy of being chosen to pick the books
Who can forget the absolute thrill of the school gates being opened for the library van? The teacher would then select only the best pupils to go out and help pick the books for their classroom library, which was basically a shelf. The exhilaration of it all!
8. Spending all your money at the book fair – so many bookmarks
The Scholastic Book Fair was one of the most exciting times of the year. Irish school kids would scrape their pennies together to spend at this annual event.
You could pick up books, posters, bookmarks, and even computer games at this fantastic event. If you got excited about the book fair, then you definitely went to school in Ireland.
7. The thrill of a sibling doing work experience – a real sense of importance
Irish secondary schools encourage their Transition Year students to participate in work experience. It’s only natural for some students to spend a week or two in their old primary school.
Some of us will remember the absolute notions that came when our older sibling or cousin returned for work placement in school. You’d feel like you were in the inner circle, hearing about all the staff room gossip.
6. Practicing your lines when you had to give a message to another teacher – the pressure was too much
Sometimes you were given the extraordinary task of delivering a message to another teacher. While this was a great accomplishment, the force of such a task was quite a lot.
You’d practice your lines repeatedly before knocking on the door, terrified of getting your words mixed up.
5. Being sent to another classroom when your teacher was out – and having great craic with the worksheets
Ah, God bless the good old days when you’d wait for your teacher to show up, only to find out they weren’t coming in. Your class would then be split up amongst the other teachers in the school.
This was especially exciting if you were in one of the older classes. Going from first class to sixth class is a considerable change; the furniture is about four times the size.
And the worksheets handed out to occupy you for the day were always the best of fun. Who else went straight for the colouring pages and word searches?
4. Getting to play with mála – and the murder when someone dropped it on the floor
It was always brilliant when the teacher got the mála out to play with. But there was always the warning not to drop it on the ground.
If you remember the teacher going mad at the poor person who smeared it into the carpet, you definitely went to school in Ireland.
3. Lining up – formation was very important
If you didn’t line up alphabetically by surname, then did it really happen? You definitely went to school in Ireland if you had to line up in the yard to return to your classroom once the bell rang. Particular brownie points to the class who could line up the quickest.
2. Going all out for the Credit Union Art Competition – and getting upset when you didn’t win
The Credit Union Art Competition was a surefire way to find out who definitely went to school in Ireland. Classes were given a unique theme to inspire them, and off they went to create the most spectacular of visions.
You were always convinced that you would win the whole thing until you were brought crashing down to reality and given a participation prize of one of those twisty pencils.
1. Screaming out Alive-O songs at the top of your lungs –‘Circle of Friends’ will always be a banger
The delight when the teacher whacked out the Alive-O CD was always off the charts. You have to hand it to the Alive-O people; they made catchy songs. ‘Circle of Friends’ will always blaze brightly in our hearts.
