A Day in the Life of…

Enda McGuane, 32, Primary Teacher. Clare Man. Hurling Coach. Surfing & Cycling Fan. Morning Person. Gardener. Book Worm. Outdoor Enthusiast.

My alarm goes off…

I’ve always been quite an early riser, and in summer this is exacerbated by the fact that my room is lit up by early morning sunshine. (When we get it!) I’m not complaining though, I’d rather be up and at it before feeling that the day has slipped away. I’m a morning person and I enjoy grazing my way through the early part of the day.

I am responsible for…

Like most teachers, I’m responsible for my class, their academic progress and their personal and social growth. That sounds a bit rich maybe, but that’s how I see it. As a primary school teacher you are a trusted ‘elder’ in society. Pass on what you know about literacy, numeracy, nature and life and then get out of their way.

However, in summer time, I am responsible primarily for myself. People in other jobs may scoff to read this, but I do use the time to catch up with friends, tick certain things off bucket lists and look after my garden. It’s one of the benefits of being a teacher – I’m not saying that to rub anyone else’s nose in it! It’s a great job, very rewarding, good craic and, yes, the holidays are undeniably fantastic.

In my early days teaching, I used the holidays to travel thought South America and parts of Asia. I wouldn’t change those memories for the world, but I’ve since totally fallen in love with my home, county Clare. Whether hiking through the Burren, photographing the night sky, surfing in Lahinch or cycling the local roads, you’ll probably find me outdoors in Clare.

My typical day…

When teaching, our days are very regimented by timetables and a very broad curriculum. That’s not a complaint, just an observation. Ideally, I’d like to get the kids outdoors at some stage every day. With our climate that can sometimes be a goal more based on hope than expectation! But, when we can, we go skipping, jogging by the canal, on nature walks and working in the garden.

Throughout most of the year, I’m involved in hurling coaching during the week at home with Inagh/Kilnamona U10s. It’s the perfect age in hurling. They all get to play, they are developing some of the more advanced skills and, most importantly, it’s fun. The game has become very serious at a lot of age groups now – even the younger ages – and while it is probably generating better hurlers, I do wonder if that’s the primary aim of the game.

In the summer, my typical day is based on one question. Do I have a tour?

If I don’t then I’m straight on to the Lahinch web cam, Magic Seaweed and other online surf forecasting sites to check out the tide times and swell for the day. I’m not very good at surfing, in fact I’m not even average, but I love it – it’s addictive! I like to try and keep in touch with friends too, so I can end up visiting people or arranging hikes or days out with friends.

If I do have a tour, then the night before is spent checking and cleaning bikes, double-checking safety equipment and organising our routes. I’ll be up pretty early to make sure all is ready then I’m off to pick up the group. West Coast Cycle Tours is about 4 years old now. We run one day tours through the Burren and along Clare’s Wild Atlantic Way. It’s great craic and has garnered some pretty nice reviews. In 2016 we won “Clare’s Best Tourism Experience” and just recently, in 2018, we were awarded with a Certificate of Excellence on TripAdvisor.

Either way, after a tour or not, I check the skies to see if we have some constellations showing. It’s a good excuse to get the camera out and practise a little bit of night photography. But, like everyone, a little bit of Netflix, some good food and a beer is always welcome!

The best part of my job…

Making kids happy. It sounds very cliché, and I know that, but honestly that’s it. If they’re not content and comfortable within themselves and in your room then they won’t learn a thing.

The most challenging part of my job…

The repetition of paperwork and the ticking of boxes. Also a huge movement towards (and reliance upon) IT makes the classroom a difficult place to be at times. Kids are far more engaged when listening to a story with tone and actions than when watching a screen. Personally speaking of course, I’m just not a fan.

I am inspired by…

Naturally there are teachers I had as a kid that still inspire me to this day. One in particular was in secondary school, in St. Flannan’s College in Ennis. Her name was Mrs MacCurtin and she was fantastic. She had a gang of boisterous teenage lads for a double English class on a Friday afternoon. And not only that, we were in a technical drawing room filled with a whole range of distractions for us.

But, it was the best class of the week. Hilarious and you were learning. She allowed it to flow. You could say anything about the English plays, poems or essays we were reading – once you could back it up. You had macho guys all of a sudden debating Heaney’s poetry or Shakespeare’s plays. It was brilliant. She was no authoritarian, but you’d never cross her. It was a velvet glove on an iron fist! I think anybody who was in that class would only have fond memories of those afternoons. Looking back it was like something out of The Dead Poet’s Society…”oh, captain, my captain!”

After work…

After school, once I’m not training teams and conditions don’t suit for my usual outdoor pursuits, then I love to play 5 a side soccer or read. World War 2 history has been my go-to book topic for about a year now. Think I need a new one!

The motto by which I live my life……

I’m not really one for mottos or daily rituals or mantras. There are some good lines you’d hear all right and think: “Oh yeah, I’ll write that one down and remember it”. But to be honest, life can be too busy to go back to them again and again! Generally, I think once you just try your best with people then that’s good enough. We can’t live by these social media quotes and memes all our lives. That said, I do like that line “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”.