MR. TIM HORGAN, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL, RETIRES FROM ST.OLIVER'S NATIONAL SCHOOL.
Mr. Tim Horgan, Deputy Principal of St Oliver's has retired after 41 years of service to our school . Please click on the following link to view a wonderful "Farewell Tim" video which was made to wish him all the best in the future .
Much has been written and said about the value of a friend. The attributes often listed as a menu of laudable qualities that aim to encapsulate that feeling of trust and care a true friend provides. Of course, with Tim these qualities are apparent and easily recognised – calmness, care, intelligence, empathy, fun and I’m sure for each of us here a new and glowing adjective could be added to try and describe the man. However there is something else – something even greater than the sum of all these parts - a ‘Timness’ an essence of decency and care that is the bedrock, the foundation for the other obvious talents.
This ‘Timness’ is there in his teaching – 47 years of service, 41 years in this school. Thousands of children and hundreds of teachers and SNAs have benefitted from his care – in mainstream, Learning Support, Special Class and various Leadership roles. This ‘Timness’ is a unique mixture – his intelligence and curiosity encapsulate a ‘growth mindset’ – he will continue his studies after he retires from our school, his empathy and advice on professional and personal problems is based on listening and helping to make you feel better. Tim is well known as an athlete, but the power of his legs pales in comparison to the power of his empathy and decency.
Whenever we hit a problem in school, sought advice or wanted to know about the latest initiative there was always the ‘Ask Tim’ card and ,you know what, he was bound to know something about it! His Timness would quickly give you further reading and his boundless energy would lead you down a rabbit-hole of discovery about some new learning initiative.
We thank God for Tim – we have been blessed to know him, work with him and count him as a friend.
