Passion and pride in the parish

John Burns can look back on a lifetime of achievement as he steps down as principal of Barefield National School

THREE small classrooms, a prefab and outdoor toilets, classes of 45 children in a room meant for 20, stepping over school bags to correct children’s work.
The early days of John Burns’ professional life at Barefield National School, where he started in 1980, are a far cry from the modern, richly-resourced facility he retires from this Friday.
Now into his last week as principal, John recalled the days when white chalk and blackboard were his only teaching aids and the excitement he felt when the school first got coloured chalk.
Interactive white boards and the world wide web have opened up children’s horizons, but without passionate and talented teachers, they mean little, and as the tributes made to John this week indicate, his passion and talent has made a major impact on his community.
The journey ahead for John began when he was only three years of age going to Barefield School with his father Frank, who was Principal at the time.
St Flannan’s College and then teacher training at Mary Immaculate in Limerick followed from 1975-1978. His first stint in the classroom came at Christ The King in Limerick city’s northern suburb of Caherdavin, followed quickly by a year in Ennis National School.
He joined the staff of Barefield National School towards the end of 1980 and spent the rest of his career there.
When John joined, three teachers had charge of 100 students. The teaching staff comprised his father Frank as Principal, Angela Wylde and Mrs Falvey. After studying for a Masters in Education at UCG, John took over as principal from his father in 1984.
In an address to fellow principals at the Clare Education Centre, he outlined the work that transformed the school and consumed 25 years of his career, lobbying, fundraising, filling out forms. It got so the Department of Education nicknamed him Mr Perserverance.
“We badly needed a new school in Barefield. I wanted the best facilities for our pupils and staff,” he told his peers.
“I initiated and coordinated the construction process that involved six major extensions not to mention many pre-fabs.
“As a result, we now have a state-of-the-art 16 classroom school with associated facilities, employing a staff of 36 and we have 383 pupils on roll,” he said.
During those 25 years, he had to meet every Minister for Education and numerous TDs in an effort to obtain their approval to construct the new school.
It is a testament to his personality that he has remained friends with many of them.
That was the physical infrastructure, but the contribution to the education and lives of the children in his care and the staff in his charge consumed as much if not more of his energy.
In a piece for a book on the school’s 125-year anniversary, his colleague Paddy Conroy paints an evocative picture of John’s inspirational leadership.
“John was a powerful, formative and transformational force in so many people’s lives,” he wrote.
“In those early days of the 1980s, emerging as Ireland was from the inflation racked 1970s, our carefree days were franked by deep recession, unemployment, emigration and understandably underinvestment in education and public services.
“Acutely aware of the opportunities which a good education could provide, John felt a deep responsibility to grandparents, parents and children to leave no stone unturned in preparing and easing the journey.
“I witnessed first-hand the personal and family sacrifices, the punishing hours and work schedules which John invested in his pupils.
“Conditions were cramped in the three-room school built in 1895; facilities, resources and access to services for children were minimal and John had a dream and worked tirelessly to bring it to reality.
“Rarely, a day went by in my later years in the school, when a spark of appreciation or wonder did not flutter as I entered or exited a classroom, corridor, office, or hall and contemplated the richness of opportunity, environment and personnel housed within our school almost 40 years later.
Mr Conroy noted that loyalty and respect came easy to John’s staff – they all knew he would never suggest or expect them to do anything that he had not “done in spades” himself.
“I recall the endless fundraisers in straitened times, the long nights and negotiations spent honing incremental school extensions, ministerial lobbying after interminable trips in a time before motorways, the immersion in the minutiae of sourcing personnel and resources for children with learning needs.
“In an era before Special Education teachers, snatched lunch breaks were willingly given to additional support for pupils, or else were filled by coaching endeavours with the camogie, hurling and football teams in the old school/community field.
“Some years later I recall him encircled in summer evening swirling dust as a student “meitheal” gathered stones on the current school pitch, the purchase and development of which he had spearheaded.”
The job has evolved greatly over the four decades he has sat in the hotseat.
John said, “I now see my role as Principal as enabling my staff to sit at a round table with me discussing and teasing out how best to prioritise and make progress with various initiatives within our school.
“I have set up different committees in my school to share out the various responsibilities to ensure each staff member feels ownership, a sense of belonging and a sense of input.”
Reflecting on that changed culture, John noted that when he commenced teaching, the three Rs were the foundation stones of the curriculum.
“Now, the focus is on developing pupils’ well-being, confidence and resilience.”
Preparing them for life in other words. His contribution to the sporting succcess in the parish is not inconsiderable.
John had trained the St. Joseph’s, Doora Barefield to two U12 hurling titles and looked on with pride some years later when his Doora-Barefield proteges, Ollie Baker, Seanie McMahon and Jamesie O’ Connor were mainstays of the Banner team that won the All-Ireland in 1995.
According to Mr Conroy his half-time speeches at camogie, hurling, boys’ and girls’ football matches could rival Alex Ferguson, Ger Loughnane or Davy Fitzgerald.
Joe Queally, who contributes the parish notes to the Clare Champion said, “It is a great tribute to John to have the courage, energy, honesty and the commitment to keep the momentum up to see the school go forward to what it is today.
“In his role as teacher and as principal, he always saw the school as the heart and soul of the parish community. The children and their welfare and education always came first.
Joe recalled John saying that for for him the greatest highlight in his teaching career was “the great satisfaction he got in seeing a child with learning difficulties come good and go on in life” to be who, and what they wanted to be on life’s journey.
On behalf of the parish, he wished John a very happy retirement with his wife Margaret, daughter Sinead, sons Ciaran and Sean, and thanked him sincerely for the contribution he has made to the lives of so many children, parents and teachers.
A letter from An Taoiseach Michéal Martin congratulated John on his great achievement in dedicating his life to the schoool and ensuring the best possible education for all who attended. He said John would be “remembered by all for his commitment to his school and community”.
“As you retire you should look back with great pride on your service to the state,” wrote Mr Martin.
The last words go to the man himself in his letter to the board of management indicating his intention to retire.
“Education has been my lifelong interest and passion. I have been very fortunate to have a wonderful hard working staff fantastic parents and pupils in my school.
“It has been a memorable journey and an absolute privilege and honour for me to have served the pupils, parents and community of Barefield National School for more than four decades.”

By Dan Danaher