Aoife O’Sullivan, 26, Primary school teacher based in Co. Wicklow. From Dublin. PME Primary graduate from St. Patricks College, BA in Psychology holder from UCD.  Mental health advocate and volunteer. Instagram enthusiast (@RangAoife). Aspirations to do further study in the field of Educational Psychology, with a focus on well-being in the classroom. 

My alarm goes off…

… I generally am a fan of hitting the snooze button at least twice before I get out of bed. Most mornings I’m up by about 5.30am. I’m most productive in the morning and tend to get a lot done before leaving for school. I like to start my mornings with a run or some yoga. I live beside the sea, so particularly now that the mornings are so bright, I like to get out and about before the rest of the world wakes up. I get home and get ready for school, I like to do my make-up and hair while watching Netflix, and leave for school around 7.30am. There is an inevitable stop off in Insomnia to pick up a coffee to fuel me for the day, and I usually arrive in school my 8.00am. I eat breakfast in school with my colleagues, and usually spend about 45 minutes before the children come in either correcting work or getting ready for the school day.

I get loads done before 9am, but I find it sets me up for the day!

I am responsible for…

Like most teachers, I am responsible for my class. This year, I have had the privilege of teaching 27 incredible 4th class pupils. I see myself as being responsible for not only their academic progress, but also their social and emotional development too. I think of myself as lucky to be able to create a happy, safe and welcoming learning environment, one in which myself and my class can all learn in and grown in. Outside of my own classroom, I am responsible for the Student Council (with the help of an amazing colleague of course), and staff social events!

My typical day…          

Once I get to school and welcome the class, we usually start the day off with a general chat about how we are all feeling. We share what we are looking forward to in the day and any news from the day before. This is one of my favourite times of the day. It’s lovely to be able to check in on the class like this on a daily basis and allows me to pick up if any child is out of sorts or not themselves very quickly. Every day in the classroom is different, but asides from teaching the curriculum, myself and the class do a lot of work on well-being where possible. This consists of looking after and exploring different means of well-being, and what well-being means to us as individuals. We could go outside for a run to work on physical well-being, work on individual art pieces for creative well-being, partake in our own passion projects for intellectual well-being, or practice some mindfulness or engage in circle time for emotional well-being. This is an area of school life that I’m particularly passionate about, and it makes me happy to see each child understand more and more what well-being means to them. 

The best part of my job…

The children. They make the job different and exciting every day, and nothing makes me happier than seeing them grow and learn.

The most challenging part of my job is…

That sometimes, we don’t have the answers to everything. That a problem a child might be experiencing can’t be solved in school, and that I can’t take any pain they are experiencing away.

Equally, that some days are just so overwhelming, and that some friends are family find it tricky to understand how I could be so stressed or upset when I “only work 9-3”. I doubt I’m the only teacher to feel this way. I’d take every hard day in school for all the great moments throughout the year though.

I am inspired by…

The amazing teachers I get to work with every day. They supported me so much last year during the DIP and I feel very lucky to now have close friends on my staff who are also incredible teachers. Equally, there are teachers I interact with on Instagram who inspire me, teachers who I worked with on placement who inspire me, and teachers from my own schooling who inspire me. Each and every single one of these teachers has made a huge impression on me and the type of teacher I continue to aspire to be.

After work…

After school, anything goes really. On Tuesday I teach a coding club after school. Asides from that, I like to be outside as much as possible, the closer to the sea the better. I love spending time with different people after school too, from friends, to grandparents, to the boyfriend, and everyone in between! In saying that though, after a busy day with the tiny humans I appreciate some “me” time, and love nothing more than a good Netflix binge or to get lost in a good book!

The motto I live by…

“Stay hungry, stay foolish”. 

The quote was written on the back on the back of the final print edition of The Whole Earth catalogue, and Steve Jobs used it in his commencement speech to the 2005 class at Stanford University.

Also, “work hard, be kind”, are very important words to live by.

We couldn’t agree more Aoife and thank you for contributing to this month’s Not-So-Secret Diary of a Teacher.

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