A LONG-serving principal who is leaving the Irvinestown school where she has taught for over 14 years plans to start up a new business offering counselling and wellbeing services for teachers and young people.

Shauna Cathcart, who first arrived at St. Paul’s Primary School in April 2002, admitted that she had taken the decision to focus on counselling full-time after a “great deal of soul searching”.

The mother of three, originally from the Castlederg area in county Tyrone, is leaving her current post in Irvinestown this Christmas. Interviews for her successor are taking place this week.

Mrs Cathcart, who spent a number of years promoting wellbeing in schools for the Department of Education, said she has become “acutely aware” of the great need for support for the emotional health and wellbeing of teachers and young people in Northern Ireland.

However, she has conceded that it will be hard to leave her own teaching career behind.

“There is so much that I will miss in St. Paul’s that I could never say it all. I will miss the entire St. Paul’s family, which is a very child-centred, happy and vibrant learning community.

“It has been a great privilege to work with the children of St. Paul’s and I know they will be in very safe hands with the dedicated and caring staff I leave behind.

“I suppose in a nutshell I will miss people, staff, parents, pupils, governors and the many visitors to our school. I will miss the busy school life, but will always keep in touch and wish the school continued success in the future,” she said.

After graduating from St. Mary’s College in Belfast in 1988, the Tyrone native began teaching in the city, before moving home to Aghyaran, outside Castlederg.

Returning once more to work in Belfast, she met her husband John, who is from Kinawley. The couple now have three teenage children, Eimear (19), Aoife (18) and 14-year-old John.

In the six years before arriving in Irvinestown, Mrs Cathcart spent three years as vice-principal at Drumnabey Primary School in Castlederg before being appointed principal at St. Joseph’s Primary School in Ederney.

She said: “I have always considered teaching as a vocation and hope that during my years as a teacher, vice-principal and principal I have encouraged, nurtured and helped develop every child and staff member to achieve their best.”

Looking back on her 14 years at St. Paul’s, she said that she has fond memories of getting to know the “wonderful personalities” of all the children.

“I loved welcoming the P1 children in September and supporting them to negotiate the new structures and routines of this ‘big’ school. Anything can happen in those early days,” she said.

Mrs Cathcart also praised the tireless work of all the staff at the school over the years, as well as the support of the parents and the Board of Governors.

Having previously been awarded scholarships to research good practice in emotional health and wellbeing in the USA, Canada and Australia, she said that many pupils in schools across Northern Ireland were suffering from the effects of anxiety and depression as they struggled to cope with the “incessant change and uncertainty” of the modern world.

“Childline recently reported receiving a record number of calls from children with suicidal thoughts, more than double the number reported five years ago. Mental health illness here is now 25 per cent higher than the rest of UK.

“It was from a desire to help people to understand and deal with such challenges that I became increasingly drawn to this work,” she said.

Having qualified with a degree in counselling and psychotherapy in 2010, she is currently completing her diploma in working with children and young people.

In the New Year, Mrs Cathcart will be working as a training consultant for Carecall Wellbeing, which is being newly branded as Inspire in 2017. This will involve planning and delivering wellbeing and resilience training for schools focusing on both pupils and teachers.

“I am excited at this new chapter in my life,” she said.