Tag Archives: Claire Knight

NEWMARKET’S Eimear Kennedy was one of just four students in the country to get top marks in 12 Junior Cert subjects, including an A in Italian, having taught herself the language online. Principal of St Caimin’s in Shannon, Claire Knight said, “We had one of the highest achievers in the country, a student who got 12 As, Eimear Kennedy. The department were on this morning to inform us. She did Italian on her own through YouTube and got an A in it. She’s a totally self-motivated girl, involved in St Vincent De Paul and all the rest of it. She’s a really good all-rounder.” Ms Knight added, “She just said she was doing Italian on her own. I assumed she was getting a grind or whatever but she said, no, I’m doing it on my own using YouTube. I think she might have used Duolingo and a few of those things as well but did it herself and got the …

ST Caimin’s Community School Shannon will have a new principal from the start of September, with Claire Knight taking over from John Cleary. Ms Knight has been at St Caimin’s since 1985, has taught PE and maths and served as deputy principal for the last five years, a role she enjoyed. “I learned an awful lot from the experience and I enjoyed working with the students, their parents and the teachers.” Of her new position, she says, “We’re in a very good place now to bring people forward with all the changes that are coming in education. The central theme for us is our mission statement that we have an environment that is structured and that students feel cared for and safe.” She has seen huge changes in the school over the course of her lengthy career. “We started off that first year with 112 students, then we brought them in one year at a time. It was initially built …