Belvedere College - School Academic Structure

School Academic Structure

In Belvedere the years and classes are divided in a non standard way, reflecting the Jesuit ethos of the school and the steps towards full education. At the beginning of the academic year 2007–08, the names of the years were changed and are now the same as other Jesuit schools in Ireland.

Secondary school:

  • First Year: Elements
  • Second Year: Rudiments
  • Third Year: Grammar
  • Fourth Year: Syntax
  • Fifth Year: Poetry
  • Sixth Year: Rhetoric
  • Discontinued seventh year: Philosophy, taught to those who were too young to attend University.

Furthermore, in each year there are six classes or houses:

  • Loyola (L) - after St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.
  • Aylmer (A) - after Fr. Charles Aylmer, a former Headmaster of the school.
  • Xavier (X) - after St. Francis Xavier, the famous Jesuit missionary to India and Japan, and the school's patron.
  • Kenney (K) - after Fr. Tom Kenney SJ, an early Belvedere rector.
  • Finlay (F) - after Fr. George Finlay SJ, the first rector of the school, often known as the "second founder" of Belvedere.
  • Scully (S) - after Fr. Tom Scully SJ, former Physics teachers in Belvedere.

and formerly, but now discontinued:

  • Dempsey (D) - after George Dempsey, James Joyce's English teacher

So, if a student is placed in Loyola form in first year, he is in Elements Loyola, or EL. He will stay in Loyola until he graduates, from Rhetoric Loyola, or RL.

When the preparatory school was open, the naming system was different in the secondary school.

  • First Year: First Grammar (1G)
  • Second Year: Third Syntax (3S)
  • Third Year: Second Syntax (2S)
  • Fourth Year: First Syntax (1S)
  • Fifth Year: Poetry
  • Sixth Year: Rhetoric

The classes were also different and with only four classes per year they were named 1, 1A, 2 and 2A, reflecting academic streaming (see below). The college's preparatory house, too, had its own naming conventions. The house was composed of the four years of school following first holy communion:

Primary school (now closed):

  • Third Class: Elements (Ele)
  • Fourth Class: Rudiments (Rud)
  • Fifth Class: Third Grammar (3G)
  • Sixth Class: Second Grammar (2G)

Within the junior school the class names were as follows:

  • Elements - Clonard and Durrow (previously Knights and Warriors)
  • Rudiments - Tara and Kells (previously Lions and Tigers)
  • Third Grammar - Ulster, Munster and Connaught (previously Pilots, Explorers and Scouts)
  • Second Grammar - Xavier, Aylmer and Loyola (previously Falcons, Hawks and Eagles)

Until the 1970s, both Second Grammar and senior school years were divided into classes according to an ability spectrum. In the primary school 2G Falcons was the top stream and in the senior school, the top two classes tended to take the classics and more honours Leaving Cert courses. Such streaming continued in the senior school throughout the 1980s.

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