Rockwell College: 'Boarding has changed but the community relationship it fosters has not'
Audrey O'Byrne: 'It is a challenge sometimes to balance our ambitions for the college with the financial realities, but that need not affect the high quality of teaching, the positive relationships and the quality of care.'
Audrey O’Byrne became the first female principal of Rockwell College in 2012, and since then has overseen significant developments.
The college will shortly begin the development of on-site boarding facilities for female students who currently stay with local host families. This new female residence will be open from September 2021, and represents another new chapter for the school.
“I would call it a ‘landmark’ step rather than a major step,” Audrey explains. “We already have girls who are boarding from around Ireland and from all over the world, who have been cared for wonderfully by our excellent host families over the decades.
"Moving these boarders on-site is exciting but it is a very organic move for the pupils and the staff. There is a great deal of energy and positivity around the move and this is reflected in the increase in applications for 1st year girls to board at the college next year.”
Over her 20-plus years at Rockwell College, Audrey has seen considerable changes in boarding.
“There is a far greater emphasis on creating a supportive community for young people in schools generally in recent decades, and this is also reflected in the boarding environment," she says.
"Certainly, the level of comfort has improved and there is a greater awareness of the privacy of boys and girls in boarding.”
"The large dormitories associated with a boarding experience in the past are gone also.
"What has not changed is the sense of a familial, community relationship that is fostered in a particular way in boarding.
"This is something that you'll find past pupils from every decade refer to when they chat together.
"So, while the physical appearance will have changed considerably for the better, some of the best elements of the experience are unchanged.”
Looking back to 2012 when she took on the job of principal, Audrey recalls the challenges facing her, allied to the fulsome support: “For any teacher stepping up into management there are challenges, but being the first female principal here was not challenging in the slightest.
"Rockwell College has been co-educational since the late 1980s so it has been quite some time since females were seen as any novelty.
“The reaction from former pupils — who would only have known Rockwell College as an all-male environment — was and has continued to be incredibly warm and supportive.”
Rockwell College will be the only Catholic co-ed residential boarding school when it opens its residence to girls next September, but girls have been attending as day pupils and boarding pupils for over 30 years.
“Co-education has been the only experience of all the teachers currently at Rockwell College, but those former staff who remember the all-male environment would always have viewed the move to co-ed as a positive step," Audrey says.
"It is worth remembering that single sex education was instituted at a time of disparity between the genders, a time of fear of the consequences of mixing the genders socially, rather than from a sound educational philosophy.”
Education in Ireland was built by religious orders and Ireland owes a great deal to orders such as the Sisters of Mercy and the Spiritans, she explains. As these orders set up single-sex schools, they became the only option until the advent of the vocational education system.
“Our pupils and parents chose Rockwell College because it is co-educational — families of brothers and sisters can be educated together, it is a shared family connection and a normal social environment," Audrey says.
While every institution needs to balance its books, the imperatives of finance in a college take second place to personal development.
“If we think of a ‘business’ we think about products, customers, profits, and shareholders," she explains. "Businesses that trade in inanimate objects can make hard-line financial decisions with an eye to the ‘bottom-line’.
"Rockwell College is a very different environment. Yes, we have financial commitments and overheads that simply must be met, but we are in the business of people and that creates very different demands.
"It is a challenge sometimes to balance our ambitions for the college with the financial realities, but that need not affect the high quality of teaching, the positive relationships and the quality of care in which we have so much pride.
"All schools are about people first and foremost."
As in any such institution of such a lengthy lineage, Rockwell’s past pupils’ union and alumni represent a vital source of support and networking opportunities for the graduates of tomorrow.
"I would like to recognise the incredible work that union members — particularly the Governing Body — undertake annually," Audrey says.
The union supports the annual careers night, when former pupils meet with current 6th years to discuss their career paths. It also holds an annual business event, an important networking opportunity for undergraduates and recent graduates.
“It connects alumni from around the world and provides advice and support to members. Its website provides updates for past pupils and is an essential connection from us to them.
"The union also spearheads fundraising for the development of college facilities such as the Fr Aidan Lehane CSSp Pavilion, and is tireless in its work to support what we do.
"People like current union president John Riordan have a profound sense of connection to the college that motivates them, and our pupils benefit hugely from that.”
International students also contribute to and enhance the college's diversity: “International pupils have always been important to the life of the college, and certainly they help to promote Rockwell College abroad.
"Most of our Spanish, German, and ‘ex-pat’ pupils chose Rockwell College on foot of a recommendation of a family member or friend. We have links to schools as far away as Japan and the presence of international boarding pupils is a special element of our school life."
The college motto, Inter Mutanda Constantia — constancy in the midst of change — is a maxim she likes to remind prospective parents at her open day address each year, underlining the need for values and principles as constants, despite the changing times.
"The Spiritan core values do impact on the decisions we make — how can we help pupils reach those high educational standards, how can we continue to foster a sense of community, are we helping our pupils to see the value of service to others?
"These are challenging decisions at times, but the ethos is a useful guide to making the best decisions for our pupils.”
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