De La Salle College,

, County Waterford, Ireland

"Terrible school like a prison can’t even go out for lunch"

"The De La Salle College Grease was a bobbysoxer wowsville."

"It looks like a great school, rich in history- at least on the first visit. Impressed"

"Worst school in waterford went here myself 20 yr ago major mistake"

"Unfortunately the scoring system jumps from poor to good, neither are suitable to De La Salle. Instead, I would say it is merely average. The school's management leaves a lot to be desired, constant intercom interuptions, regular half days/days off, badly organising time tables seemingly without logic, a useless career guidance councillor, redundant swipe-in system (as the names are then checked later on anyway) and the now infamous half a million debt. But moreso than that, numerous teachers are simply not up to, what I would consider, an acceptable standard of teaching. As I was leaving the school a number of the newer teachers were, after some research, not qualified for the subjects they were teaching, Maths was a particular casualty. And unfortunately, the vast majority of teachers in my experience fall under the category of "bad" as opposed to "good or better". Some exceptional teachers are in the school of course, Ms. Flannery, Ms.Hewison, Mr. Brosnan, Ms. McDonagh and Mr. Munroe are all what I would consider superb teachers but they are, as noted, the exception, not the rule. Far too many teachers rely simply upon reading the book and supplying notes, showing no enthusiasm or actual understanding of what they are teaching. My numerous encounters with the school management have left me with the impression that they are rude and unhelpful. After making an inquiry about renting a locker over the phone, my request was met with a bitterly sarcastic reply followed by a snapping insult. When I attempted to follow up this conversation and to actually get an answer, my existence was denied as the phone call had "not happened", that I "never contacted [them]" and it took another two weeks until a locker was acquired. The school itself is an impressive building but unfortunately the modernisation effort has been in vain as numerous teachers are completely unable to use the interactive electronic boards. Vital facilities such as a working intercom, periodical testing for learning difficulties, assistance with regard to study methods and assistance for those with learning difficulties are either absent or a low standard. The school deserves recognition for its large amount of sporting facilities, six laboratories in total (with a seventh that was planned when I was attending the school) and its recent accomodation for those of us who require wheelchairs. The lockers are problematic, having recently been moved from a single room to being spread out over an entire two floors there is no accomodation for students with lockers on the timetable, students instead expected to use them at lunch and before/after school, rendering them useless. Unfortunately, the few exceptional teachers are the only real advantages the school has over other schools but as sorry as I am to say it, I don't think it is worth sending your child to the school as I'm sure there are exceptional teachers in other schools too. It simply is not worth it."