Stephen Baine 

St. Colman's PS Lambeg 

School website: www.stcolmanslambeg.com 
Subject or primary school year: School Principal.
Your place of birth: Belfast. 
Studied at: St. Mary's College of Education Belfast. 
First job: Part-time bar staff, Belfast Empire. 
What it taught me: The importance of team and shared purpose. 
Family/status: Married. 
Best advice you could give someone thinking of a teaching career: Do not underestimate the responsibility that you have been given. You must embrace, cherish and invest in this responsibility. To be trusted to care for, nurture and guide young people for any period of time is a privilege and honour. The great teachers who invested in me when I was young helped, alongside my parents, to shape me into the person I am today. Do your utmost to help children demonstrate the very best version of themselves – it will be worth it. 

I have been the Principal of St Colman's PS, Lambeg since 2016. I have the honour of leading a wonderfully committed and dynamic staff team in supporting nearly 400 children. Our children are mannerly, hard-working and have bags of character, which we love. Our school is proud of the warm, embracing ethos and very strong sense of family. Something happens each day that fills me with pride.

I graduated in 1996 with a degree in Physical Education from St Mary's College and worked as a teacher in Holy Trinity PS, Good Shepherd PS and St. Joseph's PS, Carryduff. I became a VP in 2007 in St Malachy's PS before becoming Principal of St Brigid's PS, Brocagh in 2010. I have enjoyed every posting I have had and learned so much from them all. I remember children from every class I have taken and many of the adventures we had. I am very humbled to receive this Blackboard nomination and owe it to the children and staff who have helped, guided and supported me. I thank them most sincerely.