My name is Rachel O’ Connor, I am in my 10th year as Principal of Ramsgrange Community School, situated on the Hook Peninsula in Southwest Wexford. I will begin in a new position as Deputy Director of NAPD on September 1st 2023.
Wellbeing, a buzzword of late is defined by the WHO as a “state of complete, physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity”. Wellbeing is unique and personal yet something we are trying to contextualize to the workplace.
We all know that schools can be frenetic places to work, with teaching one of the top three most stressful occupations, therefore things that we can control such as our mindset, perspective and attitude are paramount in order to start the year on a positive note. As William Johnsen said “if it is to be, it’s up to me”.
Trying to keep calm when things are not going well in the classroom can be such a struggle. It is overwhelming to try and support students with their emotions and behaviours – as well as our own.
Susan Gavin, course author of EPV Summer Course “Supporting Students with Challenging Behaviour” has put a comprehensive course together to help us pre-empt issues and creating systems and ways of working that stop things escalating negatively.
Trina Golden – Primary Principal of a new school, Owenabue Educate Together in Carrigaline, Cork. Previously the Principal of Ennis Educate Together. Passionate about equality based education, additional needs, educational disadvantage and trauma informed approaches.
Financial well-being is very important. It means having security and freedom of choice in the future. It’s sometimes difficult to establish good financial planning habits.
Workplaces should recognise and celebrate the day in a way that best supports their own dynamic and be careful not to fall into the trap of celebrating well-being on only one day of the year to mark this day! Well-being is not and should not be a gimmick or PR stunt!
Thanks to my time as an expat teacher in Qatar and Dubai, I have saved six figures, which I have used to purchase 2 beautiful properties (a 4-bedroomed house in my home country and a 3-bed apartment in Spain), start a profitable investment portfolio, complete my Masters, travel the world, and this year leave teaching and focus fulltime on my own career and financial empowerment coaching business.
Having been an expat teacher for the last 10 years in Qatar and Dubai, I’ve a hundred reasons why I recommend moving abroad to teach, but I believe that this is the most important one. Let me give you a clue…
It is important to understand that CVs for teaching jobs in Ireland are different to CVs for teaching jobs in Dubai and other popular locations, in terms of length, detail, content and structure.