New Kid On The Block

Rory Kinane 16OCT15

aving just opened its doors, the Greystones Community National School is only the 11th such school in the country, and the first in Wicklow.

We talked to its principal Rory Kinane about the challenges he faces, fresh beginnings, and teaching the brightest, sweetest and most handsome children in the whole of Ireland. And the world.

When you swing down to Greystones’ newest school in its brand new home on the grounds of the Greystones Rugby Club, the first thing you notice is how spacious the whole thing is. There’s parking for, what, 100 cars here, and that’s all surrounded by glorious stretches of green, including, of course, the club’s playing field.

Talk about the perfect use of a space. Normally, on a weekday, this place would just be sitting there, waiting for the weekend, for the next match, for the next round of screaming, burping rugby fans. Now, from Monday to Friday, it’s hopping every morning with activity. And the laughter of kids.

The principal of Greystones Community National School, Rory Kinane, is just putting all the yellow little chairs on top of the tables and hoovering the floor when I get to the door, whilst the school’s other teacher, Francesca Hunt – who’s from Shankill, but surprisingly charming and smart nonetheless – is busy helping the big tidy up after yet another busy day.
It’s early days, but already the Greystones Community National School feels like a perfect fit for Greystones, and for the times we live in. Ireland has come a long way, baby, and our kids are going to be smarter, wiser, happier and far more carefree than we could have ever dreamt. Especially when Brother Fox was telling you a bird never flew on one wing just to justify giving you that leather strap across your other hand.
Ah, such happy memories…
As the preparations for the school’s Information Evening in Colaiste Craobh Abhann, Kilcoole on Tuesday November 3rd, along with stands at Tesco and SuperValu Charleslands next Saturday, from 10am to 2pm – I sat GCNS principal Rory Kinane down. For his GG test.

The only Community National School in Wicklow and only 1 of 11 in the country. Feel the pressure to deliver here, to prove that the National school model works…?
The Community National School model is relatively new and has been greatly received wherever they have been opened. We feel it accurately reflects the modern Ireland where there is a far greater plurality than the make-up of the patronage of our primary schools across the country would suggest.

What would you say is the big advantage the Community National School has over other primary schools?
We are multi-denominational, which means we cater for children of all faith and none. Which allows us to be extremely inclusive – our enrolment policy ensures that all children who apply receive equal treatment regardless of whether they are of a particular faith. In our case the criteria are quite simple, siblings enrolled in the school and then by age to sort out what way places are offered.
We also work together closely with other Community National Schools which gives us access to great support and expertise in all areas of the curriculum as well as in school leadership. We are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning and can draw on the extremely talented people that there are across the CNS network of schools to help achieve this.
For example, one of the CNS principals has recently become an Apple Distinguished Educator, so we know who to go to when it comes to seeing how we can complement learning with IT. Of course the main clue is in the name; we aim to become a focal point of the community. We want to become a place that welcomes all members of the community, regardless of background.

Given that you’re brand spanking new to Greystones, how have you done numbers wise?
We presently have 20 of the most wonderful Junior Infants that you could hope for who really love their brand new school, and this is a lovely class size for all concerned. Twenty was also a great number to start with too, in that it was enough to get a second teacher – which allowed us to appoint Fran. She is an outstanding and dedicated educator with great experience, especially in the infant classes. For September 2016, we are receiving many calls and visits already and it looks like we will have really strong numbers for next year.
This is great for us but also for parents as before we came along there was quite a squeeze on the existing schools to provide enough places, leaving many parents worried about whether they would get a place or not.

You are a multi-faith school, open to children of all faiths and none, explain a bit more about this?
CNS schools are multi-denominational, which means we cater, as I said, to children of all faiths and none. We can achieve this with our Goodness Me, Goodness You program, a multi-faith programme developed by the NCCA [National Council for Curriculum and Assessment],where the children are taught together using stories, songs and poems from many belief traditions. It also contains a three- or four-week faith specific section where children work through material specific to their own faith or none. It has been approved by the main faiths in Ireland, and, for example, children who are of the Catholic faith can make their communion and confirmation through the programme. There is a fantastic FAQ section on the GMGY website for any parents who would like to know more.

Given that the only god we can truly be sure of is Elvis, how do you deal with those kids who come from strongly religious families? Or does that never come up?
We have some parents who were very anxious for their children to follow a particular faith and we have some who didn’t want their child being taught in any faith-specific way. The beauty of the GMGY programme is that it allows us to cater for all of those wishes.

You’re brand new to the lovely town of Greystones – how have you found it so far?
Greystones is a beautiful town with so much to recommend it and I have been made to feel extremely welcome by everyone I have encountered. We were temporarily at Templecarrig Secondary School where Alan Cox and his staff made us feel at home. I have also been fortunate in that the principals of existing primary schools have been so welcoming – they literally could not do enough for me, and it has been a great help to me finding my feet. Now we are based at the Rugby Club I can only speak highly of everyone there – they’ve been brilliant.

And how have the good people of Greystones been finding you?
I would hope that the parents – who, of course, I encounter the most – have found me to be extremely welcoming to them, and easy to deal with. It is the policy of both CNS schools and myself to have an open door for parents as I realise the massive importance of the home-school dynamic in a child doing well at school. I actively seek parents’ views and will always look to incorporate them where possible. This has happened with things such as our start time, our uniform, our methods of communication, our text books, our crest and all of our policies to date – all have been sent to parents for their feedback.

What is your own background? Is this your first gig as a Principal of a school…?
I am from Tipperary and so will be fighting the good fight and spreading the gospel that is hurling wherever I can. I played quite recently with my club, Borrisoleigh, at senior level until a cruciate ligament injury called time on my playing days. I am passionate about sport, especially team sports, and will be looking to get every coach I can muster into the school so children can try them all.
I taught in Lucan for 5 years before going to the UK in September 2013, where I became Head Teacher; that was, of course, until this opportunity arose. I am delighted to be given the chance of creating the culture of what I feel will be a wonderful school. I have very high standards in terms of the teaching and learning I expect and will be ensuring these standards by working closely with teachers in terms of observations and continuous professional development.
It is perhaps not the norm in Ireland for Principals to spend too much time in the classroom observing teachers but it is something I will be looking to do regularly. After all, if I am not regularly in the various classrooms, how can I tell what kind of learning is going on there?

The fact that, as a National school, you’re financed directly by the State, does that make your yearly budget easier or tougher? I’m presuming that, like most schools, you could do with about 25% more in the kitty…
Coming from the UK, of course, I am not used to looking for “voluntary contributions” from parents but unfortunately it is necessary here, as, yes, we could do with extra funding to meet the costs of providing a top class education. I have told my parents that we will do everything we can to keep costs down and have done so with the uniform and text books, and will ensure that every penny they contribute is spent to improve the learning outcomes for their children.

How frightened were you on that first day?
If this was my first principal position then I probably would have been petrified, but I was just excited to get the ball rolling. Creating a brand new school is such a great opportunity to use that blank canvas to create a culture where every decision made is about improving the outcomes for our pupils, not making life easier for teachers or parents or myself.

So, I’m Joe Sixpack, and I’m looking to send my kid to school here in Greystones – sell Greystones Community National School to me…
I would say that your child would be about to embark on a great learning journey in a new type of school that represents a new Ireland which celebrates diversity and plurality of faith. Between his sit-ups, I would tell Joe that our school will be one in which I will ensure the highest standards of teaching and learning, and one where all children can succeed. It will be a school at the cutting edge of learning methodologies and ICT, yet still maintain some of the traditions that parents want, such as a uniform. It will be child-centred in that all children learn in different ways and that with adequate support and resources, our teachers will facilitate these different types of learning. One size does not fit all, this is especially true of learning.

Jump to September 2021

The waiting list problem, where the average Irish adult is encouraged to sign their kid up to school after every one night stand – is it getting better?
It has been difficult in Greystones in that the population surged and the existing schools were expected to cope. That left a lot of parents extremely worried about whether they would even have a place in Sept. So parents wanted to get their name down as early as possible. We will hopefully help to alleviate that problem. For us our Enrolment Policy, which is on our website, is quite simple – first preference goes to children who have a sibling enrolled and after that it is down to age. The sibling rule is simply one of practicality in that it is very difficult to ask a parent to drop children to different schools. I also like that if you are baptised or not, living just inside a certain boundary or not, these things won’t count against you. We are a Community National School and are passionate about equality.
I am particularly proud of our Equality Policy, also on our website, which allied to our Enrolment Policy, ensures that there will not be any discrimination when it comes to who gets a place here.

What are your hopes for the Greystones Community National School, beyond incredibly smart, confident Greystones kids being sent out into the world?
That we become a place filled with happy learners who will achieve the very best outcomes they possibly can, and will look back at their time here with nothing but joy. That the school will grow to become a central part of the community it serves, and that all members of the community feel proud of it.

You can find out more about the Greystones Community National School on their website here, or you can visit their Facebook page here. Alternatively, you can call Rory on 0874007442, or email [email protected].