Staff Profile: Colm Mac Eoin, Year 4 Teacher

Staff Profile: Colm Mac Eoin, Year 4 Teacher Each week we will feature a member of staff across all areas of the school including teachers, admin staff, support staff and more, to get to know members of our school family a little better. Our profile this week is Colm Mac Eoin, Year 4 Teacher. Each week we will feature a member of staff across all areas of the school including teachers, admin staff, support staff and more, to get to know members of our school family a little better. Our profile this week is Colm Mac Eoin, Year 4 Teacher.

I was born and raised and in a small town called Newry, nestled at the foot of the Mourne Mountains in Co. Down, Ireland. As a child, I was schooled through the medium of Irish language and I am immensely proud to be a fluent speaker of my native tongue Gaeilge. Throughout my teenage years, I taught younger children a cúpla focal (a few words) and this is where I gained my passion for teaching. 

After graduating from St. Mary’s University College Belfast with BEd in Primary in 2011, I began my career teaching a Year 6 class in Southampton, England and after completing my NQT year, I embarked on my International School adventure in Doha, Qatar in 2012, where I spent 5 happy years as a Key Stage 2 class teacher. 

Since joining BIS Abu Dhabi in 2017, I have never looked back. I feel at home with our friendly and positive staff, students and parents. I relish the reward of helping our students understand and overcome tricky concepts and challenges; however, the most enjoyable aspect of teaching for me is the laughs and giggles we have in class as every day is completely different. 

In my spare time, I keep myself active through the gym (love/hate) and running. I recently achieved a personal best (PB) of 19:34 in a 5km race at the Abu Dhabi Marathon – with absolute zero interest in running any longer distances! I coach Gaelic Football at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium for my club Al Reem Shamrocks and have found that the classroom management strategies I use for the children in my class to be effectively transferable to coaching grown men. Since moving to the Middle East, I have been very fortunate to travel to many corners of the world and aim to tick off my 40th country by the time summer comes around. 

Colm Mac Eoin