From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

Looking Back, Moving Forward 211
Interestingly, another staff member in Barrack Street felt that students at
the school lacked ambition. Despite many intending to go to college, she
felt that student planning was far more short term:
Very few of them are going onto college, third level, there’s no ambition
there to do that, just immediate gratification rather than longterm
planning, that’s what’s going on in their heads. (Barrack Street,
staff, girls’ school, working-class intake)
When discussing how students in Barrack Street will do in the exams,
students were described as ‘not very academic’ but staff felt they will do
‘reasonably well’:
They’re very average and you’ve to struggle to get them through
now, so they will do reasonably well, that’s what we’re hoping for
them. They find, they find study difficult now. We have … some
students with special needs you know and that, so that’s difficult
enough for them, yeah, so we’re hoping that they will do reasonably
well. (Barrack Street, staff, girls’ school, working-class intake)
Despite the fact that some students had gone to college in previous years,
concern was expressed about this particular cohort of students:
A number of girls have gone to University, Institutes of Technology
and Post Leaving, very, very good results. This year, as I say,I’m worried
about going up in August to collect that envelope and looking at
the results. (Barrack Street, staff, girls’ school, working-class intake)
In Dawes Point, students were streamed at junior cycle and many of the
students from the highest stream class in sixth year had plans to go to
college and had applied for specific courses:
I want to become a pilot.
A teacher.
A barrister.
A teacher.
Engineer. (Dawes Point, boys’ school, working-class intake)