For the first time in its 190 year history, St Vincent’s Castleknock College has a woman principal.
Elaine Kelly has been appointed principal of the all-boys, fee-paying secondary school, which is attended by 770 day pupils.
“Being the first woman to lead the school, of course, it’s a historic moment, but it’s not why I took on the role. I stepped forward really because I believe in the college’s mission,” Ms Kelly says.
“If the appointment inspires young people, then that’s fantastic, especially young women. But also that the young men of the college see women in leadership positions as well.”
RM Block
Ms Kelly has previously worked in coeducational and all-girls schools such as Mount Anville Secondary School, Dublin. She’s aware of the different challenges she faces working with boys versus the challenges of working with girls.
“In general terms, girls would be very focused, in my experience, very diligent, probably very hard on themselves ... That can have a negative impact on their wellbeing.
“Girls attribute a lot of their self-esteem to academic or school outcomes”, she says. “Boys need more encouragement. They require more structure. They require more routine. And they thrive in those conditions.
“Really what boys need is to feel that they have a purpose.”
Ms Kelly adds while “girls can be more anxious than boys” and “boys would have a more relaxed nature”, it doesn’t meant that boys “don’t have anxieties and worries. You tease that out in different ways with boys than you might with girls”.
Ms Kelly is also highly aware of the very different challenges mobile phones present for the sexes. “Girls use their mobile phones and it makes them incredibly anxious. Boys use their mobile phones and it can make them incredibly angry.
“In a boys school it’s really around the education piece – promoting positive masculinity. What are the wonderful things about being a boy and being a man. What are the positive and respectful ways to be a man. I think it’s important from my point of view as a female leader that boys hear that from me, and from other members of the female staff.”
One of the things that attracted Kelly to the school, she says is its Catholic ethos.
“Gen Z – that cohort of young male boys – they are returning to their spiritual lives, to their faith, to their own spirituality; that sense of reflection. Because there’s nothing actually else out there for them. There’s nothing at the end of a mobile phone. It’s vacuous. It’s empty.”
“You can keep scrolling. The dopamine fix, it isn’t actually sustaining young men any more. I’m actually struck here in the school by the strength of faith that I see among the young students in the school,” she adds.
Past pupils of Castleknock include former taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, Senior Counsel Bill Shipsey as well as acclaimed novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Eugene McCabe. Fulbright scholar and composer Ciarán Hope, and former Irish rugby internationals Devin Toner and Marty Moore also attended the school.
Ms Kelly, who also worked at a Deis school previously, says her approach to different educational settings remains largely the same. “People see fee-charging school as a privilege. And it is a privilege but it’s also a choice that parents have and it’s their right to make that choice.
“Teachers are delivering their curriculum, their planning, their ambition, their expectations of students. Every context of a school is different. I’ve worked in several schools and my expectations of a school has never been less or more because of the school I’ve worked in.”
