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At the end of this term, after 41 years, St Joseph’s Catholic School Pukekohe teacher aide
Jeannette Irwin is retiring.
A past pupil herself, Jeannette, returned to school with her sixth child, David, in 1985. At that time, it was not common for a Down Syndrome child to attend a regular school.
However, the sisters agreed that if Jeannette could support David, he could attend school with his siblings.
“From there, the school found hours for me to become a teacher aide, rather than just being a mother help,” Jeannette said.
She was the first teacher aide for the school.
“It was just a few hours, something like five, but I stayed all morning anyway. I wasn’t working with David as such, then. I did for the first couple of months but there was soon a child who badly needed help.”
Jeannette said the staff’s willingness to allow her to work with children the way she knows best contributed to her long service at the school.
“They have all had some extra needs of some sort. Each child is different. I’ve been in the classroom, but I’ve also had my own room to work one-on-one.”
While hard pressed to choose a favourite aspect of the job, Jeannette has many happy memories of working in the gardens with the pupils.
“That’s been a really lovely time. We do cooking every so often, learning how to make pikelets, scones, and other things. My work has been broad – it doesn’t stay just in the classroom.”
For the past few years, Jeannette has been volunteering to run the free breakfast, even being dubbed “The Weet-Bix Lady”.
“I open at about 8am, close about 8.45am, and during that time I can have up to 30 children coming and going. But some children only come because they want to chat. So, I have to keep up my rugby knowledge and all that … they teach me so much. I have a lovely first hour of the morning running that breakfast.”
Jeannette said she’s worked with at least five principals, including the last Sister-principal.
St Joseph’s Catholic School Pukekohe principal Ursula Hall said staff wanted to acknowledge Jeanette’s significant contribution to the Catholic school over the last 41 years.
Ursula said that Jeannette began as a volunteer, but shortly after her skills were soon recognised and she began her vocation as a teacher aide, a role she has held ever since.
“Jeannette has always had a heart for disadvantaged children, including those who are less able and English language learners. She is dedicated to ensuring strong early learning experiences for our youngest students, who often arrive at school not fully prepared.
“Although she now works only 14 hours a week over four days, Jeannette does so much more for our school community. Each week, she prepares sandwiches for children who may not have lunch, sources donated fruit, and willingly runs the breakfast programme, checking in with these children to ensure they have what they need for the school day.
“In 2019, Jeannette was named a Kickstart Breakfast Unsung Hero, stating: ‘Kids can’t learn without breakfast’.”
“A couple of weeks ago I had a child in my class with extra needs. Jeannette came in on her day off, sat with the mother and offered her so much support.
“It got to the point where I could just whisper in her ear and say: ‘Jeannette, we need to love that one a little more.’ And she would.”
Lesley said Jeannette has a “huge focus” on pastoral care.
Thanks to Jeannette, the school now has a huge tog library, ensuring that no child misses out on school swimming lessons, Linda said.
