アイルランドの学校の体制

アイルランドに学校の体制について書きます。１つ目の学校のようなことは幼稚園です。幼稚園は任意けど、昨今ほとんどの子どもが幼稚園に行きます。幼稚園は半分ぐらいのは小学校の分です。他の半分は幼稚園だけです。小学校と繋がる幼稚園のほうが他の幼稚園よりよく授業に向かうです。

５歳ぐらい子どもが小学校を始めます。小学校の年の名前は「Junior Infants」と「Senior Infants」と「1st to 6th class」と言われます。この名前はちょっと古風です。今の英語で「infant」の意味は赤ちゃんみたいです。１８３０年代に名前は選択しました。その時に「infant」の意味は小さい子供みたいです。それに「1st class」の名前は小学校1年みたいだけど、３つ目の年です。

小学校のあとは高校です。高校の年の名前は「1st year」から「6th year」までです。課程は３つの分があります。１つ目は高校一年から高校三年までで、「Junior Cycle」というのです。１９８０年代まで、ほとんどの子どもたちがこの分だけに通います。次の文は任意です。高校３年のあと、直後５年を始められます。高校４年を通ったら、「Transition Year」や「4th year」と言われます。他の年は、全部の学校に課程はだいたい同じです。４年は学校による違います。ときどき、課外活動に向かう年で、他のときに、見直しの年です。最後に「Leaving Certificate」があって、高校５年や高校６年です。

Today I'll write about the school system in Ireland. The first school like thing is preschool. Preschool is optional, but these days most children go to preschool. For preschools, around half are part of primary schools. The other half are just preschools. The preschools connected to primary schools are usually more lesson focused than the other preschools.

Around 5 years old, children start primary school. The years in primary school are called Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1st to 6th class. These names are a little old fashioned. In current English, the meaning of infant is like "baby". The name was picked in the 1830s. At that time, the meaning of infant was like "small child". On top of that, the name of 1st class is like "the first year", but actually it's the third year.

After primary school, there is secondary school. The names of the years are 1st year until 6th year. The curriculum has 3 parts. The first part is from 1st year to third year, it's called Junior Cycle. Until the 1980s, most kids just attended this part. The next part is optional. After third year, you can go straight to 5th year. If you attend 4th year, it's called "Transition Year" or 4th year. For other years, in every school the curriculum is basically the same. 4th year is different depending on your school. Sometimes it's a year focused on extracurricular activities, at other times, it's a revision year. Finally, there's the leaving cert, which is the 5th and 6th year of secondary school.