Presentation Clonmel community bids farewell to retiring principal

The absence of a very special person who did so much for so many during a distinguished career in education will be deeply felt in the Presentation community in Clonmel following the retirement of National School principal, Mairead Conway.

The very personal bond Mairead had with pupils, staff and parents was evident as she brought to an end her career in education after thirty four years in Clonmel.

A native of Blarney, Mairead played a hugely influential role in the development of the school since her arrival in Clonmel.
She has witnessed great changes in education and in the Presentation community since her arrival and finds the progress made in integration, inclusion and diversity most rewarding.

She came to Clonmel in 1988 and was privileged to work with the Presentation Sisters for many years.
Mairead took over the role of principal eleven years ago from Norberta O’Gorman who was the first lay principal of the primary school as the Presentation Sisters had held that position up to that point.

Reflecting on her career, Mairead looks back with a great sense of satisfaction on being part of a team in her early days in Clonmel that worked to establish a pathway for children from the travelling community to make their way into mainstream primary school education.

The Presentation accommodated a special class for pioneering work to be carried out that was designed to enable children from the travelling community integrate into mainstream classes when they were able.

That transition was achieved as a result of the tremendous work being done in the special class which saw children from Cashel, Carrick-on-Suir and as far away as Clashmore in west Waterford attend.

The work being carried out at the centre was such that there was a long waiting list for entry.
Mairead said she was successful in applying for the job in Clonmel in 1988 because of her background of teaching in special schools in Cork, working mainly with children with physical disabilities.

Mairead arrived in Clonmel to work in the special class for children from the travelling community.
“The class was run by Sister Angela who was an incredible woman. We were the only school providing special education for the travelling children and some were fourteen and fifteen-years-old. It was set up to allow children integrate into the school when they were ready to do it,” said Mairead. She explained that she found the role very rewarding. She visited the halting sites with Sister Angela and they both got to know the families of the children coming to the special class.

“They were great kids and they were lovely, special people,” said Mairead.
“It was very progressive work at the time, it took about two years to integrate the child into the mainstream class,” she said.
”What is even more rewarding is that we now have the children of those pupils we had in 1988 starting mainstream school at the same age as everybody else,” said Mairead.
“Back in the eighties when I came the children had no idea what a school environment was. They came into the Presentation and they were showered and fed and then they were ready to go into the special class,” said Mairead.
She said that the process of making sure a child had those fundamental needs met before they started to learn was a key learning point for her.

“It made me appreciate the fact that a child cannot learn until their basic needs are met and it is only then that they are ready to learn. We would have come across this concept in college but you really have no appreciation of it until you witness it,” said Mairead.

Mairead said she savoured the moment when a young girl from the travelling community came up to her on the day she retired.

“Pupils were asked what they would remember about me teaching in the school and this young girl said that she would remember that she was always nice to her.”
“What made this all the more special for Mairead was that one of the girl’s parents would have been in the special classes back in the early days of when she arrived to work in the special class.
“Her parents needed that special class whereas this child did not and was able to go into mainstream school at the same time as all her own group,” said Mairead.

Mairead said she was pleased to be able to see the fruition of that work a generation on before she retired.
She believes the classroom is all the better for its diversity and feels the young children of today are fortunate to be able to take advantage of that.

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“When I came to Clonmel every child in the class was from Clonmel. Now there are twenty-four different nationalities in the school. It enhances the learning environment. It is wonderful for those children to be open to so many different cultures, and celebrating difference. We would have been very narrow minded in our view of the world until people came from other countries. The influence of these cultures greatly enhances the learning environment,” said Mairead.

“Children of that age don’t see difference, they just engage and accept, everyone is treated as equal,” said Mairead.
Tanya O’Brien has taken over the principal role following the retirement of Mairead Conway.
“I wish her all the best in the future in the post,” said Miaread.
She said she will really miss the daily interaction with the children and with the staff but said she was also looking forward to her retirement.