AHEAD of her retirement at the end of January, Principal of St Dominic’s Grammar School, Mrs Carol McCann has been reflecting on her 14 years at the head of the Falls Road institution which she used to attend as a pupil, and which counts former President of Ireland Mary McAleese and the current Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon among its alumni.
 
“I was very pleased to be able to come back here to be Principal of what was my old school,” she said.
 
“That for me was probably the most exciting thing. It has just been lovely to come back after having taught outside of Belfast for most of my career. I couldn’t have moved from my last school except to somewhere like St Dominic’s which has got such a special place in my heart. I always loved being a pupil here and I enjoyed every minute of it.
 
“I am delighted to have been able to bring the school on a journey and that’s the job of every principal who comes in. We have a place where we start our journey and a place where we end.

“One of the first things that I did as Principal was to put in a specialist bid for the school to be a specialist school in English and Drama. I think that was a great fillip for the school and brought in some more cash which allowed us to do things that we might not have been able to do otherwise.
 
“Other things that I am quite proud of is the extension of the extracurricular provision within the school. We try to make sure that there is something for every single girl here. Whether they are sporty, musical. We also have a wonderful drama department and an emphasis on public speaking.”
 
Mrs McCann said that during her own time at school, she wouldn’t have had the confidence to speak publicly but that is something the school works on with their students. 

“Be true to yourself and you will do a great job. For me, it was having my faith at the centre of what I do and when I find things difficult, that is when I really need my faith in God and my faith in human beings to sustain me.”

“From day one, when girls come in here it is about imbuing in them the confidence. From year one we get the girls up speaking. In my mind, those are the greatest gifts that you can give to children but we are incredibly lucky here to have children who are so incredibly talented.
 
“Talent has to be tapped into and we have to find the various ways that we can tap into that talent. I have to say that I am very privileged to work with a really incredibly giving staff who draw out the best in our girls.
 
“I went to school here during the Troubles when there wasn’t a huge amount. To my mind, it is that dimension of children and the development of young people that is the most important.
 
“The school is incredibly successful academically. It is all about the hard work and what you invest. It is what I invest as principal and about what each pupil invests. It is not considered geeky to work hard and achieve highly.

“Our girls are very ambitious and they know their own worth. That is the great thing about them. In my day, there was a limited amount of careers to go into and this school has a tremendous success and strength in science. We have so many girls go on into STEM careers which wouldn’t have been traditional in the past.”
 
Looking back on her proudest achievements in office, Mrs McCann noted the development of Politics in Action.
 
“Our school is part of the Rank Fellowship Foundation. We were chosen for that because of strong leadership within the school.
 
“Out of that I met a lovely man called Peter Weil who worked for the BBC and Rank. He said he loved the ethos of the school and wanted to do something for us.”
 
Carol suggested that they create a current affairs project with Friend’s School Lisburn, whom they are involved with in a Shared Education project.
 
“We established Politics in Action which is now spread across Northern Ireland. The girls most recently met with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, they’ve been over to Westminster, up to Stormont and they are involved in a number of social action projects.”
 
Reflecting on her own time as a pupil, Mrs McCann said that she was inspired by all of her teachers to pursue a career in education.
 
“I came here thinking that I wasn’t all that wonderful a student. I had just managed to get in and my mother tried to persuade me not to come as it would be too big a step and that I should aim for something different.
 
“Every teacher inspired me. I was influenced by how confident these women appeared to be. I remember the Sister who was principal at the time, at the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, telling us that they can take everything else from you, but they cannot take your education.

“I didn’t understand that at the time but they were all strong role models for us as pupils.
 
“I was a pupil between 1968 and 1975 which was the worst of the Troubles but I always felt safe when I came into school. The sisters made sure that when we came in the door that we didn’t talk about the Troubles. Coming from an area where there was trouble every day, it was nice to come in and put the focus on the learning and wellbeing.”
 
Discussing the challenges that she has faced in her role, Carol said that you want to be able to help everyone but you can’t solve every problem and that it hasn’t been helped by social media.
 
“You want to try and give the tools to young people but social media is one of the greatest curses. It is like a ship that is well into the harbour. I am angry about all of the big companies and those who earn a lot of money from social media. While they say that they act responsibly, I don’t believe that they always do.
 
“In the school we invest greatly in counselling and mental wellbeing programmes. The great thing is, when someone turns the corner and you see that person moving from a state of not feeling that they are coping to when they cope and become stronger people.
 
“Covid has also been a challenge. Being a teacher, never mind a Principal, you like to be in control of things and feel like you can manage but it has thrown all of us a curve ball where we have to show a level of great ingenuity but also be able to go with the flow which doesn’t fit with my own personality. We just keep trying our best and accepting that we can’t manage everything.”
 
As she prepares to leave the school, Mrs McCann encourages her students to believe in themselves.

"social media is one of the greatest curses. It is like a ship that is well into the harbour. I am angry about all of the big companies and those who earn a lot of money from social media. While they say that they act responsibly, I don’t believe that they always do."

“Listen when people believe in you. Sometimes girls and women are guilty of imposter syndrome and feeling that we are not good enough. You can only do your best, but the sky is the limit and you can achieve anything with hard work and belief in yourself. But it is also important to give back.
 
“When I was at school, there was a lot of talk about vocation, but I just wanted a job with a nice house and a comfortable life but there is nothing better than having a vocation. If you are passionate about your job and whatever you do, then you will get reward from that.
 
“Life will have setbacks but know that they are only setbacks on the way. It is always about getting up, dusting yourself down and getting on with it. It is also about accepting help when you need help and knowing that you can’t manage everything. Accept help when it is offered because people want to help.
 
Mrs McCann will be succeeded by Mrs Orla O’Neill who is the current Principal of St Malachy’s High School in Castlewellan.
 
Offering some advice to Mrs O’Neill, Carol added: “Enjoy the new experience of being new to St Dominic’s and to West Belfast. Be your own person. It is about creating your own legacy and doing things how you do it, not expecting to do it how someone else does it.
 
“When I came in, I had a paradigm about how things should be as well as seeing the things which needed to be changed and built on. I had to stand back and see what was really good.
 
“Be true to yourself and you will do a great job. For me, it was having my faith at the centre of what I do and when I find things difficult, that is when I really need my faith in God and my faith in human beings to sustain me.”
 
Carol finished by saying: “I would like to thank the Andersonstown News for all the support that they have given us, in particular Robin Livingstone who has always been really supportive of the school.
 
“I think it is lovely that the community newspaper gets behind all of the schools in the area. West Belfast is a really special place to teach and be a principal. We have a community which is really dedicated to ensuring that their children are educated and can be the best they can be. We are very lucky to have schools right across the area who support and complement each other through the Area Learning Community and we work to support one another and recognise one another’s strengths.
 
“We are really gifted in the area to have so many talented schools which we take for granted, but West Belfast is a truly special place.”