Anne Marie calls time in Tubber after 16 years as Principal!

After 16 years at the helm of St. Manchan's NS in Tubber, much-loved school Principal, Anne Marie Minnock, called time on her long teaching career just before Christmas – a career which spanned a total of 31 years looking after the educational needs of the local community in Tubber.

At a special Mass of Thanksgiving and retirement function, many warm tributes were paid to Ms. Minnock, who has a long association with St. Manchan's NS as she and her siblings attended the local school where their father was Principal from 1958 to 1989.
Just a year before her father's retirement, Anne Marie Minnock joined the staff of Tubber national school, which was just a three-teacher school at the time. During her 31 years on the teaching staff, a brand-new school was built and teaching staff increased to their present levels of 18.
Among the glowing tributes paid to the retiring Tubber Principal at a special retirement function held before Christmas was one from Deputy Principal, Andrea Hughes, who described Ms. Minnock as a teacher with “an innate love of children” and who always treats each child “with fairness and respect” 
“Happiness is paramount under her leadership and in the morning she greets the children with a smile.....and gets to know the name of each new pupil and a little about their interests too...she congratulates them on their achievements and consoles them in their disappointments, She names and sings Happy Birthday to children and staff alike. No one is ever forgotten” said Ms. Hughes.
Described as “a perfectionist” and someone who “leads by example” Anne Marie Minnock was told by the Deputy Principal that the staff in Tubber NS were “extremely grateful” for the fact that she had always supported them in their decisions and had been “generous of time and self” and had been “a shoulder for all of us at some point or another, in happy times and in sad.”
In wishing her every happiness in her retirement, Andrea Hughes said Ms. Minnock had left behind “a stamp of respect, loyalty, commitment and inspiration” for her staff and pupils alike.
In her retirement speech, Anne Marie Minnock thanked many people, including local Parish Priest, Fr. Tony Gavin, for celebrating her retirement Mass; the staff and pupils for organising the Mass, and for the lovely singing; the local GAA Club and the Hall Committee for their consistent support and for allowing the school to use their facilities as temporary accommodation while the new Tubber NS was being built 13 years ago; the Parents Associations and Boards of Management; the local Tidy Village Group; the “fabulous community” of Tubber and to members of her own family, some of whom were in attendance at her retirement Mass.
Ms. Minnock also paid a warm tribute to her successor as Principal, Kiera Dowd, and wishe her every success in her new role. She also described the Deputy Principal, Andrea Hughes, as “an amazing right hand lady” over many years. “I will miss her dearly, but I know that she will be equally supportive of Kiera Dowd in her new role as Principal” she added.
As part of her retirement celebrations, Anne Marie Minnock was presented with a specially-commissioned painting on behalf of pupils and staff in Tubber NS by local artist, John Galvin, called “New Beginnings.” The painting depicts an open gate, inviting the onlooker through to the other side to engage in new experiences and new opportunities. “Many thanks to all who contributed to this lovely gift. I will treasure it always” said the retiring Principal, who concluded by saying she had lived a life of “good fortune” for which she thanked God every day.