St. Patrick’s Says Goodbye to Mrs Thornton and Mr O’Hare

After the highs and happiness of Tuesday’s activities, on Wednesday morning our school experienced some contrasting emotions at the other end of the scale as we gathered to pay tribute to two retiring members of our teaching staff: Mrs Cathy Thornton and Mr Brian O'Hare.

Two titans of St. Patrick's took to our stage for one final time as Mr McKinley paid tribute to our departing P1 and P7 teachers.

Mrs Thornton has taught in St. Patrick's since 2006, spending all of her time dedicated to our youngest pupils by teaching Primary 1. Having worked in England, Lisburn and even in deepest, darkest Tyrone, she saw the light and returned to God's County 19 years ago. Anyone who was lucky enough to be taught by Mrs Thornton knows that you left P1 ready for all that was ahead. Care, compassion, patience and kindness were in abundance, and so were the rigours of helping 4 and 5-year-old children adapt to big school. As all parents will know, getting children to adapt to a routine is almost an impossible task. You think it's tough with them at home? Imagine doing it with 28 of them at once! There was no one better than Mrs Thornton to take on this responsibility. In her role as ICT coordinator, she has had to keep pace with the challenging and ever-changing world of technology to ensure that our teachers and pupils are at the forefront of all that is going on. Her heart, creativity and inspiration have been the bedrock of every child who has made their way through our school in her time here. She has been a tremendous colleague, particularly to her Foundation Stage Team, and will be an enormous miss to everyday life in St. Patrick's.

Mr O'Hare has been on an even longer journey as part of the St. Patrick's family. Having spent his primary school years in the * cough * 1970s as a young boy in our school, he returned to the place he loved in 1991 when he was employed as a teacher. In a simply incredible career spanning 34 years, he has given every ounce of his heart to St. Patrick's. If your child is currently at our school and part of a sports team, that's because of Mr O'Hare. If your child has entered the Road Race or Cross-Country, that's because of Mr O'Hare. If your child's creativity has been on show in the Credit Union Art Competition, that's because of Mr O'Hare. If your child has ever attended an after-school sports club, that's because of Mr O'Hare. The list goes on and on and on. Every child who has had the privilege of being in his class has left with the biggest smiles and happy memories of a teacher who made them laugh, worked them hard, pushed them to try new things and challenged them to be their absolute best. If a pupil had a little bit of something deep inside them, Mr O'Hare was able to coax it out of them. One thing for sure, it's up to the other teachers in the school to up their game in the classroom door display stakes! A kind, witty, intelligent and caring man - we were lucky to have him for as long as we did.

We have been blessed to have had two teachers of the calibre of Mrs Thornton and Mr O'Hare for so long. They both spoke about their love for St. Patrick's and how they felt at home here. They were right. This was, and forever will be, their home. The privilege and pleasure were all ours.