Mr Madden to call time at St Joseph’s
PRINCIPAL TO RETIRE THIS SUMMER AFTER MEMORABLE TIME IN SCHOOL
RETIRING St Joseph’s Secondary School principal David Madden has admitted it was a ‘ hard decision’ to call time on his spell at the Newfoundwell School.
He joined the staff in 2011 after spending almost 19 years in Colaiste Choilm in Swords.
A dedicated Dublin fan, he feels he has made a difference at the expanding school, saying he’ll miss the ‘magnificent’ staff.
He told the Board of Management last week of his decision to leave this summer.
The position will be advertised this week.
‘I have loads of great memories from St Joseph’s but I suppose the day we cut the ribbon on the new building was really special,’ he states.
‘We doubled the size of the school that day and if I had a personal legacy, it would be that we now have four woodwork rooms.’
A former woodwork teacher, he feels the whole discipline of building, construction and technology is vital to give the students a chance of exploring the career they want.
The likes of woodwork was only available up to Junior Cert prior to his arrival. The technology sphere is now a key ingredient in the Leaving Cert programme at the school.
The likes of the visit by Dr TK Whitaker was also memorable as well as the establishment of the Whitaker Alumni Past Pupils society, which aims to get past pupils to unite and get re-involved with the Joes again in terms of giving work placements to present day students to help them on their path.
‘We have grown from 600 to 800 students and with that it has to be more than a classroom thing. We want to develop a social scene and have lots of sports here as well as a fine chess club.’
He feels he has helped put some pride back into the school and taken it to the next level.
‘As long as students are safe, happy and can learn free from the disruption of others, that’s great.’
‘I tried my hardest and have to thank all the staff for their hard work, from the teachers to caretakers, canteen staff and the rest.
‘It’s a pleasure to go into St Joseph’s each day and to work with a team like this.’