Hello to my lovely readers!
Before this book starts, I just want to give some information to help make your reading experience a little smoother. I get a lot of questions about the school systems in my books, as a lot of my readers aren't from my country.
This book is partially set in Ireland, and partially set in England. I know a lot of my readers are from other countries, and school systems vary massively. So I wanted to write a little guide to the systems here, so you don't get confused!
Firstly:
People generally think of Ireland as one country - it isn't. But let's start from the top.
England, Scotland, and Wales, are all separate countries. They are however, connected, land-wise, and together they're called Great Britain.
Ireland is actually two separate countries; Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. These are also connected land-wise, but are not connected land-wise to Britain. It's off to the left a bit.
Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales, make up the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland (which is just called Ireland most of the time, or RoI) is not in the UK. It's a totally separate country.
Welcome to how bloody overly complex my sodding nation is. I'm from England myself.
Tyler and Saskie are from Dublin, which is the capital of Ireland (not Northern Ireland!). It's also conveniently close to a ferry that takes you from Ireland to Holyhead, which is a place in Wales. It takes about three hours to get from Dublin to Holyhead. You can also fly to England from Dublin for like £30, and it takes about half an hour. To put that into perspective; it's about four times more expensive for me to get from Sheffield (Northern England) to London on the train, than it is for me to fly to Ireland.
Secondly:
The school systems.
Oh BOY.
WHY CAN WE ALL NOT JUST HAVE ONE SCHOOL SYSTEM????
The amount of research that goes into just school years for my books is quite honestly ridiculous.
For this book, I had to know the system in Ireland and the system in England to make sense of where the heck Saskie was. Here's a quick breakdown of the school systems. I should note that I'm having the hypothetical kid start school age 4, as recommended, but kids can start later if their parents want so ages can vary.
Republic of Ireland School System:
Primary School - age 4-12.
Ages 4-6 - two year-groups, called Junior Infants and Senior Infants.
Ages 6-12 - six year-groups, called First Class, Second Class, and so on.
Secondary School - ages 12-18/19.
Ages 12-15 - Junior Years, three year-groups called First Year, Second Year, and Third Year.
Age 16 - Transition Year, called Fourth Year. This is sometimes not offered, depending on the school.
Ages 16-18/17-19 - Senior Years, two year-groups called Fifth Year and Sixth Year.
English School System:
Primary School - ages 4-11.
Ages 4-5 - Reception (sort of like kindergarten, a preparation year for kids to adjust to school)
Ages 5-11 - six year-groups, called Year One through Year Six.
Secondary School - ages 11-16
Ages 11-14 - Year Seven, Eight and Nine. You cover all subjects in school during these years.
Ages 15-16 - Year Ten and Eleven. You cover core subjects and choose a few others.
After 16 in England, you don't have to stick with formal education, but legally you have to be enrolled doing something until you're 18. You can do apprenticeships, stay in formal education, or do different types of qualifications. I went for the following:
Sixth Form College - ages 16-18
Ages 16-18 - Year Twelve and Thirteen. In this, you do the qualifications you need for university.
This part is why we tend not to call university 'college' - because we have something called college already. We tend to call university just 'uni'.
On a fun personal note - I am 27 and have not left education yet. I went from primary to secondary to sixth form to my undergraduate, to my master's degree, to my PhD. By the time I post this, I'll have finished my PhD (thank GOD) and will finally NOT BE A STUDENT.
(A note from future Cam: I did indeed finish my PhD, it is submitted and I await my final oral examination in December!)
I very much hope this helps with your understanding of Saskie and whereabouts she is in life relevant to your own school experience!
Love, Cam.
YOU ARE READING
Picture Perfect
RomanceTyler O'Connor had it all; the perfect husband, the perfect daughter, the perfect life. Until his husband left him for another man and his life crumbled around him and his daughter, Saskie. Cue Sorcha, his best friend, barrelling into his life like...
