At the heart of Moate

They say time flies, and that's certainly the case for principal of Moate Community School Kevin Duffy who has just completed his 40th year teaching in the school and his 25th as principal. Accepting a random posting to Moate at the beginning of his teaching career, he never thought he'd stay for his entire career. A true Moate man now however, he wouldn't change a thing. Kevin settled on teaching after meeting some "inspiring" teachers in secondary school, and after studying Geography, English and Economics in University College Galway he went on to St Patrick's in Maynooth to complete his Higher Diploma. "It was completely different then than it is now," Kevin says of the education system when he was a student. "It was governed more by the fear factor, but still through all of that there were some teachers that I really admired, that were obviously just brilliant people. I suppose I was inspired by that." It was a time of real opportunity too, with the recently introduced free education making for a lot of openings for teachers. Originally from Ballycastle in Mayo and later Strandhill in Sligo, Kevin found moving to the heart of Ireland a challenge. "I missed the sea," he admits. "We had a bed and breakfast in Strandhill that had a lot of people coming and going. Moate was quiet, but I was excited by the job." When Kevin arrived in Moate in 1971 what was Moate Vocational School was one of three schools in the town, and the smallest at that. At the time there were only 120 students, compared to today's roll call of 1,200, and the Leaving Certificate had only been introduced. With two very successful schools - Carmelite College and the Sisters of Mercy - already thriving in Moate, things did not look good for Moate Vocational School and in the late 70s numbers began to dwindle to a low of about 80 students at a stage. "In the mid-80s there were lots of crisis meetings in the school," Kevin says. It was around the same time the then principal retired and much to Kevin's amazement he was appointed principal. "I was the youngest teacher in the school," he says, adding however that he was up for the challenge as being principal appealed to him. "I thought that there were lots of opportunities, even though it was a bit of a poisoned chalice. There was only one way for it to go, as it was already at rock bottom. Maybe it was a bit naive, but that's what I thought." As principal, and indeed in life, Kevin says he's a "great believer in organising". As principal he let everyone know what was expected of them and tried to create a happy school atmosphere. A lot of hard work has brought the school from a rock-bottom position to a top of the class position, something Kevin attributes to hard work from everyone. "If you're very hard working and committed you'll bring lots of people along with you," he says. "In fairness to all those teachers they did get stuck in and bring about the change to make the school more successful and sustainable." One of Kevin's first moves as principal which proved very successful was the re-introduction of what are now PLC courses. That made a "significant difference" to student numbers immediately, and has grown to such an extent that Moate Business College - the post-Leaving Cert part of the school - boasts 500 students now. With student numbers came more teachers and more finance, and ultimately more success. Being able to offer more subject choices with these new resources further boosted student numbers, and Kevin says those years in the late 80s were probably some of his happiest as principal. However Moate Vocational School's gain was a loss for the town's other schools, and in the late 80s/early 90s there was talk of one school for Moate. At the time Kevin was looking for additional accommodation for his own students, but knew the Department of Education would never give it with additional school accommodation in the town. The town's three school principals were "pretty open to discussion" Kevin says, but a single school at the time didn't happen because, he suggests, "the other two schools didn't see the urgency of my situation". The Sisters of Mercy were agreeable to sharing accommodation however, and after the Carmelite College went co-ed the Sisters of Mercy and what's now known as Moate Community School formed a single successful school - Mercy College - in 1991, with Sr McNamara and Kevin acting as co-principals. Though controversial, Kevin says it worked because of community support and it continued until 1996 when the question of a single school arose again prompted by Mercy College looking for yet more additional accommodation. "We agreed we'd leave it to the Minister to decide what it would be and where," Kevin says. When the decision came, it was what was then Mercy College that was to be the site for Moate's single school. Merging three schools and three strong traditions into one successfully has been a real challenge, but looking back Kevin thinks it's worked. Separate uniforms disappeared, and strong traditions from both the Carmelite College and the Sisters of Mercy such as sport and music were enmeshed into an ongoing tradition for Moate Community School. "We're a community school, responding to the needs of the community," Kevin says. With 75 teachers and 1,200 students coming into Moate every day it's now really the heart of the town. "If the school was taken out of the town I'd say it'd be the same sleepy town of 1971," he says. In fact he's so much a part of the successful school he's helped mould to its current state he says the day he has to retire "will not be a good day for me". And so looking forward to his 41st year in the school Kevin Duffy's focus is still 100% on Moate Community School and building it to be all it can be.