NEW St Aidan’s Derrylin principal says the school is “the school for me”.
Originally from Donegal, new principal Maura Melanaphy has trained and worked in Liverpool for the last 20 years, starting as a PE teacher and working her way up to deputy head teacher.
After having a family over in Liverpool, Maura and family decided to move home to Kinawley, where her husband is originally from to be close to family.
Maura has always been an aspiring head teacher who has been involved in leadership roles from very early in her teaching career and moving home wanted the school to be the right fit for her.
“The schools in Liverpool where I have worked have always been the hub of the community and have always been very tight family schools and moving home it had to be the right culture in a school and I have heard nothing but positive things about St Aidan’s,” Ms Melanaphy said.
Although Maura has never lived in Fermanagh, she has many family ties to the Derrylin school.
“My husband came to this school and my nieces and nephews are in the school, I have heard nothing but positive things so I thought that it is the type of school I want to lead, the school that is the heart of the community and when you walk into the school you do get that strong sense of working together,” she said.
“I am all about giving the pupils the best experience possible, so that’s what I heard about St Aidan’s and what I know about St Aidan’s and I thought I have to go for this, this is the school for me.”
Maura is excited to be taking over the role of principal at the school but feels she has big shoes to fill and has plans to maintain the academic success of the school.
“Obviously Pat McTeggart is a hard act to follow because he has been very successful in this school so I feel like there is a lot of pressure to live up to that,” she said.
“The school is very successful so my plan is to maintain the academic success that the school already has and I want to build upon that, for me school is about academic but also about nurturing the whole child and giving opportunities for all different talents.
“So yes we nurture academically, but we have to nurture their social and emotional well being as well, I want to make sure that the school moving forward is able to meet the needs holistically of the child and give pupils as many opportunities as possible to prepare them for life beyond school,” she added.
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