Spraoi Teacher

Meet our Spraoi Class Teacher - Ms Walsh

Lorraine Walsh

My name is Lorraine Walsh and I am very excited to be joining the wonderful staff and students of St. Peter’s. I feel very fortunate to become part of this fantastic school and get involved in all areas of school life. Family is the most important thing to me so I feel very blessed to get to be a part of the St.Peter's family and help the school continue going from strength to strength. I graduated from Coláiste Mhuire Marino in 2011 and have been very lucky to teach all
classes from Junior Infants to 6th Class. I have also had the opportunity and privilege of working in Special Classes, Special Schools and PMLD Classes. Over the past twelve years I have dedicated my teaching career to teaching children with Special Educational Needs. Although I started my teaching career in Mainstream I always had a passion for Special Education. Initially I volunteered in St. Mary’s Special School
during their July Provision Programme before spending 3 summers teaching and working with the children. I was a founding member of the team that set up Gliondar Mara ASD Unit in Donacarney. I am passionate about my career and strive to be the best I can be for both
colleagues and pupils alike. As a result I am always trying to enhance my professional development, attending courses with Middletown Centre for Autism, As I Am and the SESS. Some of these include TEACCH, Contemporary Applied Behavioural Analysis, PECs, Lámh,
Attention Autism, Social Stories, DIR Floortime, Sensory Processing, Challenging Behaviour and Social Skills, Intensive Interaction and MAPA. I feel this extensive experience will be a huge asset to St. Peter’s N.S where I am very excited to be one of the teachers starting in
one of their two new ASD Classes, Sonas agus Spraoi.

I am currently in the process of completing the Leadership in Education course with Hibernia College – an area which I have a lot of experience in as I have been involved in reviewing and developing school and curriculum policies as well as providing help and support to new staff and teachers. I have been a member of the Droichead Support Team for the past 12 months, mentoring and helping newly qualified teachers. I also held the post of Assistant Principal and served as the Teacher Representative on the Board of Management. I am an extremely dedicated and hard working individual, always willing to give up my time to help others and further my education (outside of school hours) to benefit the children I teach. I am constantly endeavouring to be a better teacher than the one I was yesterday and am always available to share experiences and offer support where needed to staff, parents and students. I believe it is important that children should develop both intellectually, emotionally and spiritually and should be allowed to learn in a manner which suits them. This has become particularly relevant from my time in Special Education. I also feel that parents and family are as, if not more important, in children’s development and encourage strong home/school links, always supporting and involving the parents in their children’s education and school experience. In my spare time I love to read and am an avid traveller – I love exploring new places, tasting new foods and seeing different countries and ways of life. I also love to cook and am always trying new dishes and recipes – I love the excitement of creating different food from around the world and am very lucky to have an amazing family who embrace my culinary adventures. I am very passionate about what I do and hope to inspire others through my dedication and love of teaching. Anyone who knows me knows I hate bare walls! My classroom is always bright, warm and inviting for pupils, staff and parents. On a final note one of my favourite quotes is: “The wonder of teaching is watching caterpillars become butterflies” I feel so very lucky to get to be a part of the development of the pupils in my care and get to see them flourish and become fantastic butterflies. I am very fortunate to be joining such a wonderful school and look forward to many great years here.