GROWING UP IN IRELAND. KEY FINDINGS: COHORT ’08 AT 9 YEARS OLD. NO. 2 SCHOOL AND LEARNING. Cohort '08 November 2018

This series of Key Findings draws on information provided by the Cohort ‘08 9-year-old and his or her Primary Caregiver (usually the mother, and henceforth in this report referred to as the mother). The series is based on the 7,563 9-year-olds whose families participated in the study at ages 9 months, 3 years, 5 years and 9 years old. This Key Findings report is the second in a series from this latest round of data collection from Cohort ’08 at 9 years of age. It looks at children’s attitudes to school and specific school subjects and relates these to their family context and to their skills and dispositions at the age of 5. At the time of the survey, almost all children were in school. Of these, 9% were in second class, 66% were in third class and 24% were in fourth class.1 Out-of-school learning is also examined and mothers’ reports of their support for, and involvement in, their child’s education are discussed