Meet Our Teachers
Rosemont’s teaching staff is comprised of Ireland’s leading educators. They incorporate advanced teaching practices into their approach to education, and they know that the best way to teach their students to strive for more is to lead by example.
Rosemont staff development
Our teachers embrace lifelong learning. They attend regular workshops outside of school and within. The entire staff team recently invested a significant amount of time and effort furthering their computer skills and IT knowledge and familiarising themselves with our virtual learning software.
Rosemont supports teachers in setting and achieving personal career goals. In striving to achieve those goals, our teachers perform at their very best for the students. They also set a very positive example for students who are learning goal setting and ownership of learning.
Staff collaboration
Finally, at a department level teachers are encouraged to pool resources and work together to provide students with an education full of cross-curricular activities. At regular staff meetings teachers exchange recent experiences in implementing new advanced teaching practices to ensure best educational practices are employed where applicable throughout the school.
Meet Our Teachers
Principal: Margaret Kelly
Deputy Principal: Bernice Martin
Isabel Blanco
Margaret Byrne
Maeve Carolan
Maria Connolly
Aideen Cooke
Janet Dean
Susan Erbacher
Terry Glass
Heather Hall
Eleanor Higgins
Mary Minchin
Siobhán O'hAodha
Loretto O’Connell
Julia O’Malley
Tara Sweetman
Margaret Kelly
Principal
Subjects: English
Education: BA, University College Dublin
H.Dip Ed., Trinity College, Dublin
Ms. Kelly’s English students learn to simultaneously think creatively while building skills to organise their thoughts in writing and express themselves clearly. She works hard to encourage all students to take up independent reading in addition to assigned. As Principal, Ms. Kelly participates in a national programme, Leadership Development for Schools established by the Department of Education. She has attended multiple seminars on leadership in education. As part of her ongoing effort to teach students to give back, she has organised social trips to Mexico, Poland and South America.
Bernice Martin
Deputy Principal
Subjects: Maths and Geography.
Education: BA, H.Dip Ed., National University of Galway
Ms. Martin is completing Trinity College Dublin’s Masters of Leadership and Management programme which is a part-time course. She is an active committee member of the Geography Teacher’s Association. Her specialisations, maths and geography, are a great pairing for students. Skilled in both subjects, she creates cross-curricular opportunities so that students in both subjects can learn essential elements from each and put them into practice during field exercises. Ms. Martin has played a significant role in implementing Rosemont’s Virtual Learning environment. She leads an active life, having recently completed a half-marathon and a triathlon. During a fundraising initiative for Focus Ireland she scaled the peaks of Ireland’s four highest mountains in just three days.
Isabel Blanco
Subjects: Spanish, Social, Personal and Health Education
Education: BA Ed., University of Navarra, Spain
Fluent in both English and Spanish, Ms. Blanco is currently working on completing her second year of a Masters in Education at Trinity College Dublin. She completed her undergraduate thesis on methods for getting students more involved in their own learning process while learning a second language. She is from Guatemala and has also lived in the U.S. and Spain.
Margaret Byrne
Subject: Home Economics
Education: BA Ed., Trinity College Dublin
Diploma in Home Economics, St. Catherine’s College Sion Hill
Ms. Byrne holds home economics students to high standards of quality. One of her pupils earned Ireland’s highest Leaving Certificate grade in Home Economics for that year. Her students have entered many cookery competitions over the years. She diligently works with other subject teachers to build cross-curricular opportunities into Home Economics classes. A member of the Home Economics Teachers Association, Ms. Byrne has attended numerous workshops and professional development in-services on home economics education.
Maeve Carolan
Subjects: Maths, Science, Biology, Ecology
Education: BSc, H.Dip Ed., University College Dublin
Ms. Carolan is dedicated to keeping up with the best practices in science education, and attends regular in-services. As Rosemont’s authority on Ecology, Ms. Carolan creates numerous opportunities for science students to conduct field research. She is always on the lookout for opportunities for students to attend science-based lectures at third-level institutions, or visit relevant exhibits. She is an active person who has walked a marathon in just six hours.
Maria Connolly
Subjects: Business and Accounting, Physical Education
Education: LLB, Queen's University Belfast, PGCE, St. Mary's University London
Ms. Connolly has worked as a maths teacher and for the international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. As an e-learning representative in her previous school, she participated in an initiative to integrate online learning into the maths curriculum at the school, and is interested in exploring opportunities to bring IT into her accountancy teaching at Rosemont. Being an avid sportswoman, in her role as Rosemont's PE teacher she hopes that her love for physical activity will encourage Rosemont students to get involved in extra-curricular sports. She has competed in all-Ireland road races, won an all-Ireland GAA medal for football, and partcipated in the 2008 Dublin marathon. She likes to generate interest in running, competitive or otherwise, among students at Rosemont.
Aideen Cooke
Subjects: French and English
Education: BA, H.Dip Ed., University College Dublin
Graduate Diploma in Business Studies, Marketing, Michael Smurfit School of Business, UCD
Ms. Cooke has a love for French culture and language, and worked in the Cultural Service of the French Embassy. She has also served as Marketing Manager for the student travel company USIT where she was involved in the development of several youth exchange programmes that are now popular worldwide. Ms. Cooke believes language immersion and travel are important for personal development. She organises language immersion events for students at Rosemont, like the French Café, an event that immerses the whole school into French language and culture.
Janet Dean
Whole School Development Coordinator
Subjects: History, English, and Civic, Social and Political Education
Education: BA, University College Dublin, H.Dip Ed.
MA in History of International Relations, University College Dublin
Ms. Dean is a dedicated historian and continues to pursue ongoing research in her field. She founded and leads an annual educational trip to London where 5th year students learn to conduct their own historical research using primary sources. Ms. Dean has a strong IT background, having worked in software development before becoming a teacher. She has also gained international experience in education. While teaching in Glasgow she completed a research project on single-sex education versus co-ed, and the impact on learning and achievement.
Terry Glass
Subjects: Science and Chemistry
Education: BSc, University College Cork
HDip Ed., University College Dublin
Diploma in Food Hygiene, Environmental Health Officers
Ms. Glass has a background in food chemistry and extensive laboratory experience as a research and development scientist. She has worked for a large food services conglomerate and an ice cream manufacturing company in product development and quality assurance. Her plentiful laboratory experience is a great resource for her students, who quickly become comfortable putting theories to the test in a lab setting.
Susan Erbacher
Subjects: Irish , Business
Education: BA in Commerce and Irish, H.Dip Ed., University College Cork.
Ms. Erbacher has led the way in developing online resources for Irish language learning at Rosemont. Committed to language immersion, she has coordinated several Irish language events for students. She spent a year in Gaeltacht during university, immersing herself in Irish while earning her Bachelor in Commerce. She has travelled around the globe and spent nine months working as a volunteer at a school and hospital in Cusco, Peru.
Heather Hall
Subject: Art
Education: Degree in Graphic Design, Limerick School of Art and Design
H.Dip Ed., MA in Art and Design, National College of Art (UCD)
Ms. Hall has extensive experience in art education, having worked as a lecturer at the National College of Art’s Faculty of Education before coming to Rosemont. She has worked as a student teacher supervisor, and has served as an educational examiner for Dublin City University. She strongly believes that art has a vital place in education and is essential in the development of lateral thinking and creativity. Before beginning her career as a teacher Ms. Hall worked as an art director with a leading advertising firm.
Eleanor Higgins
Subjects: Chemistry and Science
Education: BSc., University College Dublin, PhD in chemistry, Durham University, England
Dr. Higgins has a passion for physical organic chemistry, having earned her PhD at Durham University in England. She has extensive experience working in the laboratory, and has put that experience to use, for example teaching Rosemont's TY class what it's like to be a research chemist. She cares deeply about science and its relevance in everyday life and has a genuine desire to get Rosemont students excited about chemistry.
Mary Minchin
Subjects: Music and Geography
Education: BA, National University of Ireland Maynooth
Graduate Diploma in Music Education, University of Limerick
Ms. Minchin is a talented singer, a skilled pianist and a dedicated music teacher whose influence has seen students at Rosemont take-up a renewed enthusiasm for Rosemont’s lunchtime choir. In addition to the piano Ms. Minchin plays the harp, guitar, bodhàn, mandolin and tin whistle. She has attended the Scór and Readoirí talent competitions for singing, and is the musical director and conductor for a community games choir which recently won an all-Ireland competition for the second year in a row.
Siobhán O'hAodha
Subjects: Maths and Religion
Education: BE, Electronics Engineering, University College Dublin
M.Eng.Sc., Diplóma sa Ghaeilge, National University Ireland, Galway
Ms. Ní Aodha teaches maths and religious education. With a Masters in Electronic Engineering, she has previously taught third level engineering students both at NUI Galway and GMIT. She gained a qualification from NUI, Galway for working through the medium of Irish. She has many years of professional experience in education and youth work: organizing educational seminars, international projects, clubs, activities and exchanges for second and third level youths. She speaks Spanish fluently and has a working knowledge of French.
Loretto O’Connell
Subjects: English, French and Religion
Education: BA, University College Dublin
HDip, and MA in Education, University College Galway
As an English teacher Ms. O’Connell gets students interested in literature. They learn to analyse, interpret and express themselves articulately. She creates opportunities for students to learn more about the world of literature, hosting high-profile literary minds in class.
As a Religion teacher she is keen to awaken a social conscience in her students. One class started a small-scale fundraising project for AIDS orphans, which has since been so successful that it has paid the last two years’ wages for two Ugandan teachers. Those teachers work with the orphans and illiterate women at a new school in Africa.
Julia O’Malley
Subjects: Spanish and French
Education: BA Honours International, National University of Galway and University of Salamanca, Spain
H.Dip Ed., Trinity College
A tri-lingual language enthusiast, Ms. O'Malley is credited with authoring a recently published Junior Certification Revision book for Spanish. She has acted as an examiner for the State Exams Commission for the Leaving Certification and Junior Certification higher level Spanish exam a number of times. She is an active committee member of the Spanish Teachers Association, and takes part in regular ongoing professional development. She is currently working on a MA in second language acquisition at University College Dublin and has attended an international Spanish-teaching course in Spain, on scholarship from the Spanish Embassy, and a French-teaching course at the University of Liege in Belgium. She enjoys travel and has visited a list of countries spanning the globe.
Tara Sweetman
Subjects: Irish and English
Education: BA, University College Dublin
A fully bi-lingual teacher, Ms. Sweetman is an excellent resource for students working to develop fluency. She studied Art History in university and has pursued that interest all the way to Rome, where she travelled to see historical Italian art first-hand. She has recently taken up post-graduate studies at University College Dublin.