Marie-Louise Boyle

St Martin's Nursery School

School website: www.stmartinsnurseryschoolbelfast.com
Subject or primary school year: Nursery school.
Your place of birth: Belfast.
Studied at: St Mary's University Belfast
First job: St Francis de Sales Speech and Language Special School in Beechmount.
What it taught me: Working with children with additional learning needs is such a rewarding job; to help nurture the learning and meet the needs of these children where they are on their journey is a privilege. 
Best advice you could give someone thinking of a teaching career: I think teaching is one of the most fulfilling careers anyone can do. To help foster the learning and help children on their journey to meet their potential is so special. To work in a job that you are happy to go in to every day is unique; each day you are learning, you get to witness something you have taught spark with a child, you get the laughter and smiles and sometimes the tears, but each thing is such a privilege to share. Education opens the world to children, and to be part of children's educational journey is a blessing.

I have been lucky to have been educated in amazing educational settings in West Belfast. My amazing and supportive parents have always been great supporters of their children, all have the best educational opportunities that time and circumstance prevented them from availing of. I started in Holy Child Primary School before moving on to St Dominic's and then next door to St Mary's University.

From an early age I have always wanted to be a teacher and was lucky to have been taught and mentored by inspirational teachers in all the schools I attended. Once I graduated I worked in a number of schools across Belfast and in all of these jobs worked with supportive staff and leaders who always encouraged professional development and my career. I was appointed as the Principal of St Martin's Nursery School in 2016 and the people of Turf Lodge have welcomed me with open arms. It is such an honour to work within my own community and to help make a difference to these children's future.