Classroom to college: your essential Leaving Cert guide
The Leaving Certificate doesn't just test students; it can feel like the whole household is sitting the exams as kitchen counters are strewn with highlighters and dog-eared study notes.
So, how can you help your child prepare for the exams?
What's the best way to keep spirits from flagging? And how can you help ensure they pick the right study options after school?
READ MORE
Our new Classroom to College newsletter will include:
'Get seated 30 minutes beforehand': Leaving Cert
survival guide
from guidance counsellor Brian Mooney;
Exam diarists
from Athlone Community College who will share the highs and lows of the Leaving Cert exams;
Up-to-the-minute
reaction
to all the big exams with access to the exam papers;
Parents' diary
: Damian Cullen on trying to stay calm as the tempest approaches;
Analysis
of how the move to lower grades towards pre-pandemic norms will affect the class of 2025 in the CAO points race;
The
inside track
on alternative pathways available in further education and third level to help students fulfil their dream careers;
My Leaving
: entertainers, broadcasters and politicians recall their most vivid exam memories
When August comes, we'll provide expert advice on guidance on CAO offers, a live help desk staffed by our team of guidance counsellors to deal with readers' queries, and detailed guidance on the smart options in further education and training.
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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Sofra restaurant review: I'll be back to work through the rest of this menu
Sofra Address : Telephone : 01 558 6902 Cuisine : Turkish Website : Cost : €€ Everyone's banging on about 'live fire' these days, like they invented charcoal – which is fine by me, because some of them are running the best restaurants in the country – but it's worth noting that the Turks have been at it for centuries. At Sofra, the charcoal mangal runs hot behind glass – metal skewers resting inches from the coals, fat dripping to ash. Chopped lamb, minced lamb and chicken wings are stacked next to trays of pilaf, aubergine, tomato, tubs of dip and dolmas. With the Adana turning on the grill, the aroma hits you as you walk in. A stainless-steel cold station sits to the left of our table, loaded with dips, pickles, salads and sauces held in chilled trays. The room is long and narrow, glass-fronted, fluorescent-bright. You can see straight in from the pavement. Home-made ayran whirrs in a processor on the counter – a slow swirl of yoghurt and salt. READ MORE Hot dishes at Sofra Cafe and Grill restaurant. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Inside, it's part cafe, part canteen. Patterned tiles run the length of the floor. The brown leatherette banquettes and chairs are padded, the tables speckled stone – it's clean, durable and designed to be comfortable, but not built for lingering. Sofra's core menu runs on charcoal – skewered meats from the mangal served with rice or bulgur, two mezes, and salad – with the same proteins folded into dürüm wraps or rotated through hot counter specials, followed by soup, mezes and sides, add-ons, kids' menu, desserts, drinks and breakfast. We have ordered two mezes separately, the dolmas and babaganush, (€4 each); all other mezes come as sides to the two main courses, acılı adana (€16) and beyti (€18). [ Baba'de restaurant review: You won't eat like this anywhere else in Ireland Opens in new window ] Shepherd's salad is first – tomato, cucumber, onion, parsley, olive oil and isoc, sharp and fresh with real heat and a touch of sweetness. Babaganush is smoky in the right way – strands of roasted aubergine left intact, creamy but not slicked into paste. The hummus is thick and honest, made with chickpeas that taste soaked and cooked, not tipped out of a tin and tamed with garlic. Next to them, dolmas – stuffed vine leaves, lemony and cold – are stacked beside dried aubergine and pepper, shrivelled and dark from rehydration. Acılı means spicy in Turkish and the ezme, a salsa-style dish, is very lively, a finely chopped salad of roast peppers, crushed tomatoes and onions, laced with spice and herbs. There's a proper cacık – thick yoghurt with shaved cucumber – and a purple cabbage salad with raw carrot and lemon. The acılı Adana comes on a single metal plate – two long, rippled ridges of minced lamb, hand-shaped and blackened in places where the fat has caught fire. It sits on folded flatbread that's soaking up everything, beside a mound of orange bulgur, half a grilled tomato and one long, collapsed green chilli. The seasoning is perfect – spicy, heavy on the pepper, restrained on the salt – and the mangal char is deep and even. It is smoky, juicy and completely compelling. Flatbread at Sofra Cafe and Grill. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien The Beyti is even better. A lavash-wrapped kebab is sliced into even sections, each piece toasted and slightly crisp, topped with buttered tomato sauce and served with a cool pool of thick yoghurt. The sauce isn't sweet – it's savoury, low-acid, dense with paprika and a little fat. You get bite from the lavash, depth from the lamb, and softness from the yoghurt – a plate built on temperature, texture and restraint. Minced lamb skewers at Sofra Cafe and Grill. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien The bean stew – kuru fasulye – is a dish of white beans, slow-cooked with tomato, oil and chunks of tender lamb. It's simple, but that's the point. The beans are cooked through without collapsing, the broth has body and there's enough spice and oil to bring the whole thing above warm and comforting. We drink ayran and şalgam (€2.50 each). The ayram is a salty yoghurt-based drink, and the şalgam is a tangy, salty drink made from fermented purple carrots, turnips and bulgur, with savoury flavours. They both work well with the food. Sofra's exterior. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Dessert is katmer. It arrives sliced into triangles, dusted with pistachios, fanned along an oval plate. A fine dusting of sugar has created a shellac-like top layer on the papery phyllo pastry, which is filled with clotted cream. It is quite lovely with a complimentary cup of Turkish tea. What Sofra serves isn't new, but the precision is rare. The heat, the seasoning, the casual pacing. I get that not everyone loves a kebab shop. But I do. And I'll be back to work through the rest of the menu. Dinner for three with two drinks was €71. The verdict: 8.5/10 Charcoal mangal, standout Adana and beyti, and excellent meze. Food provenance: Lamb and beef, O'Farrell Meats; chicken (not free range), K & H Poultry. Vegetarian options: Mezes, eg dolma, sarma, çiğ köfte, falafel, and mercimek (lentil soup). Wheelchair access: Fully accessible with an accessible toilet. Music: Pharrell, Amy Winehouse and Turkish tunes.
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2 days ago
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Inspector Mouse
Sir, – The great Basil Fawlty came to mind as I read Marie O'Halloran's report of the most recent findings of inspections made by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (' Dublin Lidl store forced to close after rodent sighting, ' August 13th). Among the findings was that a 'live mouse' was observed running across the floor of a supermarket premises in south Dublin. Those inspectors miss nothing but surely full marks can be awarded only for a report of a dead mouse making the crossing. – Yours, etc, PAT O'BRIEN, READ MORE Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Extra.ie
All the important CAO dates to remember as Leaving Cert results loom
More than 60,000 students are set to receive their Leaving Certificate results next week, marking the end of second-level education. The Leaving Certificate results are released on Friday, August 22, with schools generally opening from 9am on the day of the results. Alternatively, students can access their results online from midday. Those looking to go to college will then have their sights set on the CAO offers, which will begin being released the week after results. More than 60,000 students are set to receive their Leaving Certificate results next week, marking the end of second-level education. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Here is everything you need to know… The first round of CAO offers will be available from 2pm on Wednesday, August 27. Students can access their offers online via the CAO website, and they will also receive a text message and email. If you have applied for level six/seven and level eight courses, you may be offered a course on both levels. You can only choose one. If an applicant is given their first choice, it will be the only offer they receive. If an applicant receives a lower preference in this round, there is a chance they could receive a higher offer in upcoming rounds. The first round of CAO offers will be available from 2pm on Wednesday, August 27. Students can access their offers online via the CAO website, and they will also receive a text message and email. Pic: Getty Images Those who do not get an offer in the first round will receive a 'Statement of Application' via email. This will give students instructions for checking all the data the CAO has on file. The deadline for accepting round one offers is 3pm on Tuesday, September 2. Recipients are advised to accept their offer as soon as possible. Once you accept an offer, you will receive an email of confirmation. Pic: Getty Images Applicants will receive offers from courses higher on their preference list in later rounds, even if they accept a lower preference course in the first round. Should you accept a new offer, the previous one will be automatically cancelled. Round two offers will be made available on Monday, September 8 at 2pm and will close again on Wednesday, September 10 at 3pm. The third round of offers will be released on Tuesday, September 16 at 10am and will close again on Thursday, September 18. Round four will be available on Tuesday, September 23 at 10am and will close on Thursday, September 25 at 3pm. You do not need to contact SUSI regarding your choice; the CAO will alert SUSI of the course students have accepted. If the course is different to the one SUSI accepted, the CAO will notify them of this change. If you accept a course not offered through the CAO, you will have to submit a 'course change notification' form through your SUSI account.
