This article is from page 31 of the 2009-05-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
A CAREER spanning more than 30 years will draw to a close later this summer when the principal of St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon will retire.
Mary Hanley has taught at the school since it opened in September 1985, having previously taught in Dublin. She will step back from St Caimin’s, having ensured it earned an excellent reputation over the years, both in terms of academia and in sporting circles. Ms Hanley at- tributes this to a combination of the dedication of her 62 staff, along with the huge interest shown by parents and students alike in education.
“We have past pupils who have done every course in universities all over the world, including medicine, dentistry, teaching, engineering, ac- counting, business or worked in vari- ous trades,” she said.
‘We have a very broad curriculum, which I hope will continue into the future, despite the cutbacks. We are not able to run the transition year this year because of cutbacks. Nor- mally we would have 24 in the class but only eight opted for it this year so we couldn’t afford to do it. Hopefully it will be back again next year,’ said the Shannon native.
St Caimin’s has achieved honours in various sports over the years and given her huge interest in sport, Ms Hanley was thrilled with this. Three achievements in particular stand out
– winning the Senior B Munster hurl- ing tittle in 1999; achieving honours in the under-15A competition in 2007 and reaching the Harty Cup final this year. Those successes were particu- larly sweet as her sons Eoghan and Colm were involved; initially as players and later as mentors. Alan Cunningham also played a key role in training the teams. Much success has also been earned in camogie and
athletics at the school. Academically, St Caimin’s has won several awards over the years and its students have gone on to earn achievements at regional and nation- al levels. One memory stands out, in terms of academic achievements. “On August 15 every year, seeing the Leaving Certificate results coming out and seeing students getting what they want after all the hard work,”
she said.
When St Caimin’s opened, there were just 112 students and she has overseen its expansion over the years. Currently there are 700 students at- tending the school. This in itself presents its own dilemma.
“We can’t take any more than 700 because of the size of the building. For the past six or seven years, there has been a waiting list every year. This could be 50 or 60. It’s the one thing I find very difficult to do, to turn away any child that wants to come to St Caimin’s. We have an ad- mission policy and we stick to that,” she said.
Priority is given to children who have brothers and sisters 1n the school ANNO UMNO SKM: DKCMINDD ERY OF: GonE NE BEE ley lo after that requirement is met, chil- dren who are the first in the family then get priority.
Looking to the future, she plans to involve herself in many challenges.
“T will miss it, but I will keep my- self occupied. I was president of the Association of Principals and Vice- Principals of community and com- prehensive schools (1996 – 7) and I was a founder member of the Na- tional Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) in 2002. Being involved in those organisa- tions kept me on top of all changes in education. I will continue to help with the national association,” she said.