For parents of children starting secondary school in Ireland
Know what your child is about to face, know how to help, and have a plan for the first term. This practical, Irish guide covers homework, phones, sleep, study and the Junior Cycle, and shows you how to support your child without taking over.
Not sure it’s right for your family? Ring Enda on 086 677 2154.
By Enda O’Doherty BA, HDipEd · 35 years in Irish education · TEDx speaker · Featured on RTÉ’s Drivetime Study Hub · Updated September 2026
Why parents need it
In a single summer your child goes from being one of the oldest in a small, familiar school to one of the youngest in a large one. No single teacher holds their day together any more. Homework arrives from every direction. Friendships shift. Phones arrive. Sleep slips. And the information that used to come home in the schoolbag now arrives by app, if it arrives at all.
Most parents want to help and are not quite sure how, or how much. Help too little and a capable child drifts. Help too much and they never learn to manage on their own. The Big Jump shows you the middle road: support without taking over.
A routine that does the reminding for you, the three question rule, and what to do when your child is stuck. Chapter 10
Five boundaries that actually hold, a family agreement to sign together, and what to do if something goes wrong online. Chapters 15 to 18
The Junior Cycle, the Leaving Certificate, CAO points, school policies and who to contact at the school, in plain English. Chapters 28 to 31
Friendships in the first weeks, confidence, mood and motivation, and how to tell ordinary ups and downs from real concern. Chapters 2, 20 to 23
The night before bag check, the Sunday weekly reset and a simple system your child can run without you. Chapter 8
Active study methods that research supports, a two week test plan and a calm way to respond to results. Chapters 9 to 14
The idea at the heart of the guide
Every chapter is built around the SPRING framework, a simple model you can hold in your head on a busy Tuesday evening. When something goes wrong, it tells you where to look.
What is inside
What really changes for your child, and for you, and a realistic first term timeline.
The independence ladder, support without taking over, and the organisation habits behind good results.
Active study, homework without battles, memory, revision, test preparation and handling disappointing results.
Realistic boundaries that hold, group chats, online safety and using technology as a tool.
Sleep and learning, adolescence, motivation, when to be concerned, and school refusal.
How to talk to teachers, when to contact the school, key policies and how the Irish system works.
The Junior Cycle, the Leaving Certificate and CAO points explained, subject choices and academic confidence.
25 things to do this month, 25 mistakes to avoid, the first 30 and first 100 days, and a success checklist.
The Big Jump in Ten Minutes · Parents’ Questions Answered · Useful Irish resources · A 30 day action plan · A final checklist organised around SPRING.
A full chapter on school refusal, and a plain English guide to how the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations and CAO points work.
Look inside
Tap any page to see it larger.
Seen enough? Get the full 146 page guide and all 18 templates.
Buy the guide · €19The Big Jump Toolkit
Advice is only useful if it turns into action. The toolkit gives you and your child ready made pages to plan the week, agree phone rules, track sleep and review progress at mid term, at Christmas and in June.
Why this guide is different
Junior Cycle, Leaving Certificate, CAO, Tusla, Bí Cineálta and the phone restriction. Not an American guide with the spelling changed.
Official information was checked in September 2026, with a full reference list and clear notes where rules can change.
Eighteen templates, a 30 day plan, a weekly check in and a success checklist, plus Try this tonight and Red flag panels throughout.
Ordinary teenage behaviour versus real concern, school refusal, and exactly when to talk to the school or your GP.
Everything helps your child manage school themselves, which is the real goal of first year.
Read it before September, then return to it before tests, after reports and whenever something wobbles.
About the author
BA, HDipEd
Enda has worked in Irish education for more than thirty five years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Higher Diploma in Education and a Higher Diploma in Educational Management. He has taught Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate students since 1990 and served as an assistant principal. Through Study Skills Ireland he now works one to one with students across the country, and speaks to parents, schools and staff teams nationwide.
He is a TEDx speaker, has contributed study skills guidance to RTÉ’s Drivetime Study Hub, and is the author of Supercharge Your Study Skills and The Thriving Mind.
“Parents cannot remove every difficulty from their child’s path. They can prepare their child exceptionally well to meet it.”
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Get the guide today
€19one payment · PDF emailed within 24 hours
Less than the price of a school hoodie, and yours to keep and reread all year.
Secure payment by PayPal or card. Your guide is sent by email within 24 hours. As it is digital content, you agree that it is supplied immediately and the 14 day cancellation right no longer applies once it has been sent.
Questions before you buy? Ring Enda on 086 677 2154 or email info@endaodoherty.ie.
Give every incoming first year family a copy. It works simply:
Ask for a group quote or email info@endaodoherty.ie.
Study Skills Ireland also offers Private Study Coaching: sixteen one to one online sessions with Enda, with a parent update after every session.
Quick answers from the guide
In primary school one teacher usually looks after a class in one room. In first year your child may have ten or more subject teachers, moves between rooms on a timetable that changes by the day, and receives homework from many teachers. Organisation becomes one of the most important skills a first year can learn.
Under national guidance issued in June 2025 (Circular 0045/2025), every recognised post primary school must have a policy restricting students’ use of, and access to, personal phones during the school day. Each school decides how, for example with pouches or lockers, so check your school’s own policy.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends nine to twelve hours for children aged six to twelve and eight to ten hours for teenagers aged thirteen to eighteen. Most first years sit on that boundary. Charging phones outside the bedroom is the single most useful rule for protecting sleep.
Junior Cycle examinations use descriptors rather than letters. Since 2025 the bands are Distinction (85 to 100), Higher Merit (70 to 85), Merit (55 to 70), Achieved (40 to 55), Partially Achieved (20 to 40) and Not Graded. Results appear on the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement.
Frequently asked questions
Parents and guardians of children moving from sixth class into first year of secondary school in Ireland. It is also useful for parents of first and second years who want to get homework, phones, sleep and study habits on a better footing.
A 146 page, A4 PDF guide with 42 chapters in eight parts, the SPRING framework, eighteen infographics, a thirty day action plan, a parents’ questions section, a page of trusted Irish resources and eighteen printable templates, from a weekly study planner to a family phone agreement.
The guide is a digital PDF. Pay securely through PayPal, by PayPal account or by card, and Enda emails the guide to the email address on your payment within 24 hours. You can read it on a phone, tablet or computer and print any page you like.
Yes. Information on the Junior Cycle, the Leaving Certificate, the mobile phone restriction in post primary schools, the Bí Cineálta anti bullying procedures, school attendance and exemptions from Irish was checked against official Irish sources in September 2026. Where rules can change, the guide tells you where to check.
Yes. Induction explains the school’s own routines. The Big Jump covers home: homework, phones, sleep, study, friendships and how to support your child without taking over. The two work well together.
No. Study, homework and exams are a big part of it, but the guide also covers independence, organisation, friendships, phones and social media, sleep, adolescence, mood and motivation, school refusal, working with teachers and how the Irish system works.
Yes. Buyers may print the templates as often as they like for use within their own family. There are eighteen of them, designed to be filled in by hand and stuck to the fridge.
Not at all. Every chapter works whenever you start. In Enda’s experience, the middle of first year is when patterns around homework, phones, sleep and disappointing results are easiest to fix.
No. The guide gives practical, experienced guidance for parents. It clearly explains when a concern needs a GP, the school or a mental health service, and it lists Irish support services.
Yes. Schools and parents’ associations can arrange group access for incoming first year families. Contact Enda on 086 677 2154 or info@endaodoherty.ie to discuss it.
Enda O’Doherty, founder of Study Skills Ireland, who has worked in Irish education for more than thirty five years, including classroom teaching since 1990 and experience as an assistant principal. He is a TEDx speaker and has contributed to RTÉ’s Drivetime Study Hub.
Check your spam or promotions folder first. If it is not there within 24 hours, email info@endaodoherty.ie and Enda will make sure you get your copy.
Everything you need to help your child make the jump to secondary school with confidence, for less than the price of a school hoodie.