As the final term of the 2017/2018 school year draws to a close it is a time for reflection over the year that was and a celebration of the many achievements of our talented young students, whether big achievements or small. Junior Infants have now become a real part of the school community as they move on to Senior Infants and we welcome a new group of Junior Infants to take their place in September. Each of the classes has had a year to remember of new learning, new maturity, personal challenges overcome, new friendships, new experiences enjoyed, fun times and maybe some difficulties along the way also. Sixth class students have just celebrated their graduation from primary school with a wonderful original performance as the class of 2018 tried to save the school from the dreaded developers in the year 2038! These students can be very proud of their achievements in RETNS as they take their many individual talents to their respective new schools in the continuation of their learning journey.
I too am doing some reflection this year as I retire from RETNS after 17 wonderful years in this fabulous school. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed coming to school every single day of that 17 years and hold many special memories which I will carry with me forever.
Five years ago when the position of principal became vacant I had to seriously ask myself the question, ‘Am I the person to lead this school for the next five years and help it to continue to grow and flourish as a vibrant learning community?’ I did have a vision for the school at the time, a vision which I knew was shared by the staff team. I was, and still am, committed to the highest standards of learning for all the children of RETNS and I wanted to see the developments already begun carried to fruition. I wanted to continue to develop the strong ethos that permeates all that we do in RETNS.
Pupils
I believe strongly in children having their voice heard and I wanted to find ways of providing more opportunities for children to take an active part in the running of the school through increased student committees. I wanted to seek their views and listen to their thoughts and opinions. I also wanted to support our staff team in raising student voices and helping them become true active citizens now, not just be seen as ‘adults in waiting’. Children need to know that their views are important, they need to be given an outlet for the expression of these views and they need to know that there is a genuine interest in their views and opinions. Throughout the school year, on so many of our whole school projects, our staff have aimed to establish a ‘shared understanding’ with the pupils, a genuine listening and supporting of ideas, and have given real hands-on experiences in which pupils could explore and express those ideas. During our Global Citizenship work many children really embraced the idea of becoming active citizens and realised that they too can make a real difference in their efforts to make the world a better place. I have had great pleasure in watching children develop their skills in this way.
Communication
As principal I was committed to having regular and relevant communication with parents and guardians, keeping our families up to date with what is going on in the school, especially for those who cannot visit regularly. The weekly updates gave some information on what is happening in the school, some links to local events that may be of relevance or interest to families, and reminders about key dates in the school calendar. Feedback has suggested that more families are reading this weekly update and keeping abreast of happenings in the school. I feel that our (newlook!) website should be a window to our school and was committed to keeping it updated and informative.
Parental involvement
Since my early days as a teacher in RETNS I knew how valuable parental involvement is to the success of our school, and indeed to the success of all Educate Together schools. I hoped to help build that involvement and make our school a welcoming space where parents would be invited to participate in their children’s education in various ways. There have been countless small and big projects involving parents and I have enjoyed getting to know many parents and guardians in our school community through this involvement.
Outdoor environment
Five years ago I shared a vision with many others on our staff team that our physical environment could be improved and, despite financial constraints, aimed to at least start that process. Today much has been achieved in all these areas, with our playground upgrade, re-vamped wildlife garden and recently opened community veg garden. There is much work still ongoing to make the outdoor environment an attractive and rich learning space and the school development committee is making this one of its priorities for the coming year.
School community achievements
Schools are living communities, drawing on the talents and ideas of those who are part of the community at any given time. So much has been achieved in my time in RETNS, under the guidance of Paddie and Sinead, as former principals, and over the last five years. These achievements have always been team efforts. As a strong team committed to improving school life for all the children in our care we have built a community in which the children, for the most part, care for each other and help each other to succeed. Some children need more work in this area than others and we continue to guide and help them where difficulties arise. As a community we have celebrated many successes and achievements over the last few years. We have just been awarded our sixth Green Flag for Global Citizenship – Litter and Waste, and this success has not just been in the raising of a flag but in the learning it brought with it for the children, the awareness it raised of the issues involved and the sense of responsibility for the wider world which was taken on by the whole school community. Many families really embraced the idea of plastic free February and have made some important changes in habit as a result. It is gratifying for children to see that their small efforts are also being reflected in the wider world and many of our civic minded children will go on to be advocates for change in the future. Our weekly assemblies have been a highlight for me as they are an opportunity to showcase children’s work, their ideas, their passions. Assemblies are a celebration of achievements and a message that all can succeed. They are a celebration of our ethos and our striving for full inclusiveness. They are a celebration of community and a challenge to continue to build community on a daily basis. Counted among the many achievements and celebrations over the last five years have been the award of the European Blue Star Flag, a result of a whole school cross-curricular and collaborative approach to learning, and the achievement of the Digital Schools of Distinction Certificate, a mark of our continued commitment to the integration of technology into teaching and learning. We have upgraded our website thanks to the voluntary expertise of parents and a staff member and it is now a good introduction to our school for visitors to the site, as well as a showcase of our work. Along with the weekly update and termly newsletter it aims to keep all in our school community informed and curious about life in RETNS.
Our choice of Art/fabric and fibre as an area for improvement in School Self Evaluation resulted in a whole school effort where parents organised projects alongside staff, sourced materials and helped the children produce a corridor display worthy of any art exhibition. During the school year 2015/2016 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of RETNS with work on the history of the school combined with a children’s Winterfest celebration looking back on Winterfest performances of the past, a children’s celebration day and a community night enjoyed by past and present staff, past pupils, friends and past parents, where old connections with RETNS were renewed and new connections made.
In 2016, along with all schools in the country, we marked the 1916 Centenary with projects, visits, drama and art, research and presentations which caught national media attention. The year culminated in the creation of our 2016 Proclamation, proudly displayed in our foyer, in which the children aspire to treating everyone equally, respecting all beliefs, and trying, in their lifetime, to tackle the problems which face us as a society. We are very proud of the Rathfarnham Educate Together 2016 Proclamation and of the depth of thought and feeling which went into its creation.
Despite the best of intentions and vision for a school, none of these things could be achieved by one person or a small group of people alone. The successes in RETNS are down to a dedicated staff team who continually go the extra mile without question to achieve the best possible outcome for the children, to the enthusiasm and pride which the children have in their school, to the support of parents and families, even those who cannot be directly involved in the daily life of the school, to the involvement of so many parents who have worked tirelessly on so many occasions to complete a project or support an event. The successes are down to hard work, commitment, dedication and love of the school on behalf of so many in our school community and that is something in which all members of RETNS school community can take pride.
New beginnings
As I move on to something different in my own life I want to wish every success to the new Principal of RETNS, Maeve McCarthy. Maeve shares much of my vision for the school and she also has her own vision and she will face new and different challenges over the next number of years. Maeve and I are united in one important area. As we begin our ‘handover’ we both agree that we are not simply handing over documents and files. I am handing over to Maeve a whole school culture and she is absorbing that culture and bringing her own experience and commitment to her vision for carrying the school on to the next stage of its development. RETNS and its community will always remain in my heart and I hope to still do anything I can in the future to support this wonderful school. Thank you all for your support over the years. To those with whom I have worked directly – staff, children and parents – I owe an unending debt of gratitude for your unwavering support and help over the years as I attempted to be the leader of learning in RETNS. To those parents who have been a constant and very valuable presence in the school over the years, supporting teachers and children, a sincere thank you also for your commitment and help and your wisdom on many occasions. To those who could not be present in the school but who took the time on occasions to write a few words or make a phone call in gratitude or with advice, your efforts were also very much appreciated and helped us continue knowing that what we were doing was ok or prompted us to make adjustments if required. Last of all, but certainly by no means least, were those who took on official roles in developing the school. The commitment of our successive boards of management and PA committee members has ensured, and will continue to ensure, strong, constant support for the school on an everyday basis. You are the people who have directed the development of the school, given up your time to come to committee meetings, shown up to plan and organise events, drawn up policies, ensured the health and safety of all members of the school community, ensured that the finances are in place and encouraged and supported fund-raising. And the school will always need people like you who work tirelessly and selflessly on behalf of others.
It is never a good idea to single out anyone in particular but from a point of view of school principal I am very aware that the job in its current form would not be possible without the support of the deputy principal and the Board of Management chairperson, so I would like to particularly thank Colm O’Callaghan and Pete Lunn, as BoM chairs and Geralyn Flood and Anna O’Herlihy as deputy principals, for their unwavering support during my time as principal. Their much needed words of wisdom helped me with important decisions on many occasions, and without being able to call on their wisdom and good judgement the job of principal would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. I know that Pete and Anna will continue to provide that very vital role for Maeve.
This year we welcomed Katy Hanrahan to our staff and she very quickly settled in to RETNS, becoming instantly popular with staff, children and parents. Unfortunately, Katy has to leave us and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Katy for the great contribution of her many skills to RETNS and to congratulate her on securing a position in Ballinteer Educate Together NS. Next year we welcome back Carol Norton from maternity leave and everyone is looking forward to working with Carol again. We have also been delighted to have Sarah Graham working with us this year, shared with Divine Word NS. As yet we don’t know if Sarah will be returning to us in the new term but staff and children would love to see Sarah return.
And finally…
My whole working career has been dedicated to children. They have given me thousands of moments of joy, more than a few anxious moments and certainly many challenges. From children I have learned so much and hope to always continue to learn from their enthusiasm for life, their open-mindedness to new ideas, their love for our planet, their trust. I know that RETNS is a safe place for children, where they are encouraged to be themselves, to speak their own truth, to be kind to others and to build a lasting community that will be the foundation for their lives ahead as adults. What I have always loved so much about this school is that it has been community for so many people. In times of difficulty and even tragedy, RETNS community has reached out to help and that is a great credit to those who make up that community. It is a welcoming community to visitors and friends alike, past pupils still speak fondly of their days in RETNS and past families and staff come back to help and support the school. It is a vibrant learning community where our constant aim is to ensure that the Educate Together motto becomes a reality, that no child, indeed no person, is an outsider.
I would like to thank everyone involved in the fabulous assembly to mark my retirement. As always, the staff pulled out all the stops and the children made everything so special. I will take away another treasured memory.
As Geralyn said last year on her retirement, it’s never ‘Goodbye RETNS’, it’s ‘Farewell RETNS’ from my official role as Principal and staff member, and a wish to ‘fare well, RETNS’ in the future.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir agus bain taitneamh as na laethanta saoire.
Thank you all very much and enjoy the holidays!
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