Staff

Meet the Principal

My name is Mr Trussell and I am the Principal here at Ballynure Primary School. I have enjoyed a career as a Key Stage 2 teacher, primarily P7, across 4 different primary schools. Each of these schools have different backgrounds and beliefs, which I believe has given me a wide range of experiences to now be able to put my own stamp on a primary school. I have always enjoyed working with children and getting to know them on a personal level. That is why, here at Ballynure, we will be promoting the ethos of developing the whole child, preparing them for their endeavors later in life.

Outside of school, I am a sports person and love everything about sport! I have played football my whole life, mainly for Ballyclare Comrades, and I enjoy cycling regularly. In addition to this, I enjoy spending time with my wife and children, especially when travelling. This works great as my wife is also a teacher, so our holidays align!

Meet the Teachers

I am Mrs Woods and I teach Primary 1.

I have been passionate about the early years since the start of my career. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how much progress little ones make in their first years of school. It is a privilege to be a child's first official teacher and I love to develop each child's abilities, particularly through Play Based Learning.

I am also SENCo and have a Masters in literacy difficulties. I really enjoy helping children throughout school to grow in confidence in their reading and writing abilities and to develop strategies that will help them throughout their lives.

Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I like to read, sing and swim (just not all at the same time), to eat out and to travel.

I am Mrs Patrick. I grew up in Scotland and moved to Northern Ireland in 2002. I am currently teaching P2. My favourite part of teaching is that every day is different. I love the range of subjects and try to add an element of creativity to my lessons. I coordinate ICT throughout the school and I hope my enthusiasm for ICT inspires our pupils. Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my family, holidays, watching movies and cooking. I have 2 teenage children, 2 dogs and 20 hens..

I am Mrs McClean and I am currently teaching P3. I have taught from P2 up to P7 throughout my time in Ballynure Primary School.

My favourite part of teaching is getting to know each child and helping them to reach their potential in all aspects of school life. It is great to see children progress and grow in confidence throughout the year. I like having the opportunity to share in their successes and to see the joy it can bring to them. I also enjoy coaching after school hockey and taking the team to tournaments. The team quickly realise that I get a little excited when they are playing and have been known to be jumping at the side line cheering them on.

Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, especially days out with my two girls and husband. I also help coach junior hockey at Parkview Ladies.

I’m Mrs Galashan and this year I shall be teaching P4 in the mobile classroom. I joined the staff of Ballynure PS in 2006 having previously taught in Coleraine.

My enthusiasm and love for teaching comes from spending my day with the children, seeing them grow in confidence and ability. I’ve always had a keen interest in developing thinking skills, seeing the children develop an understanding of how they learn best.

I like to travel and have adventures; whether it be locally or around the world. I bring my curiosity to the classroom and each term we start a new learning journey investigating our world and the important role we have within it.

Whilst I love to be outdoors walking, swimming and gardening I must confess I am a bit of a telly addict and particularly enjoy programmes about nature, travel, cookery, current affairs, history and a good drama.

To relax I enjoy entertaining and socialising with family and friends. These last 6 years our lives have been enriched with our 4 remarkable grandchildren.

I’m Mrs McIlroy and I’ve been teaching here in Ballynure Primary for 16 years. I have always taught Key Stage 2 classes; this year I have Primary 5 and I also co-ordinate Literacy, Music and Drama in school. From a young age I knew I wanted to be a teacher – as a child I loved to line up my teddies and ‘teach’ them in my playroom. I’m originally from Coleraine but now live in Larne with my husband and two sons; our sons both attend Ballynure P.S.

Although I wasn’t a natural mathematician as a pupil myself, I really enjoy teaching Numeracy – watching and waiting for those ‘lightbulb moments’ when something suddenly makes sense to a child. My favourite classroom moments usually come from class novels, I use these books as inspiration for Literacy, Drama, WAU experiments, PDMU and so much more.

If I have a few spare moments I love to curl up with a good book; I also enjoy going jiving with my husband and line dancing with ‘Larne Line Dancers’.

I am Mrs Livings and I currently teach P6. I have previously taught in Primary 5 and 7. I went into teaching as I wanted to make a difference and believed teaching was the way to do it. I love how teaching allows me to unite my love of sports with my job as I coordinate PE and coach the football team.

My favourite thing about teaching is when pupils understand a new concept, have that ‘lightbulb’ moment and you can see their confidence continue to grow. I enjoy chatting to the pupils, getting to know the whole child and finding out about their interests.

I enjoy playing and watching sports, reading and watching movies. Most of all, my favourite thing to do is spend time with my family, especially my little boy!

Meet the Classroom Assistants

My name is Mrs Ervine. I have been a classroom assistant in Ballynure Primary for 14 years and I currently work in P1. I find my job very rewarding and enjoyable, and it is special to be a part of the learning and development of each child. I am also a playground supervisor and find that this is a great time to get to know all the other children in the school. I am a wife and a mum to two grown up girls and my interests are spending time with my family and my golden retriever. I also enjoy travelling, socialising and long country walks.

My name is Mrs Swann. I’m a classroom assistant in Primary 3. I have a daughter at Ballynure Primary and have seen my two older sons through this school. They are now at High School. When I'm not working, I like to spend time with my family. We love taking our golden Labrador Cooper on long walks.

My name is Mrs Armstrong and I have been a member of staff at Ballynure Primary since 2005. I am a classroom assistant in P2 and playground supervisor. My favorite thing about being a classroom assistant is helping children. It is wonderful when something they find tricky becomes clear to them and they ‘get it’. In P2/3 it is lovely to see the children grow socially, as they share their knowledge with their classmates and listen to and discuss with others. I love my role as a Reading Partner. Sharing something I really enjoy and watching children develop their reading skills and enjoyment of reading is a great delight. In my spare time, I love reading, gardening, swimming and going on long walks with my husband. I also love having fun with my 3 grandchildren.

Hi my name is Mrs Rankin, I am married with a daughter who is 9 and a little boy aged 8 who has special needs.

I started Ballynure Primary School in Dec 22.

This is my first job as a classroom assistant and certainly the most enjoyable I have ever had.

I provide 1:1 support for a child, to see them grow in confidence really is rewarding and I can honestly say I love coming to work every day.

My name is Mrs Shaw. I am married with a little boy and 2 dogs. I started Ballynure Primary in October 2023. This is my first job as a Classroom Assistant. I find the job extremely enjoyable and rewarding. I love seeing the children grow in confidence throughout the year. I absolutely love coming to work.

In my spare time I like to crochet, read a good book and watch Disney movies. I love to wear Disney clothes everyday. I also enjoy attending Pipe Band Competitions in the summer months.

Meet the Secretary

I am Mrs Millar and I have been school secretary at Ballynure Primary since 2022. No two days are the same at school and I am kept very busy in the school office, I enjoy getting to know all the children, often they will stop at the office on the way past to share a story or a joke and I always make time to listen.

In my free time I enjoy visits to the theatre and being a part of my local drama society but most importantly I enjoy spending quality time with my two young children and husband.

Meet the Building Supervisor and Cleaner

Meet the Lunchtime Supervisor

I am Mrs Guy, a Supervisory assistant at Ballynure Primary school.

I attend to the children in the dinner hall at lunchtime and supervise in the playground, it’s great to see them playing together, having fun.

I like to go walking, especially by the sea and spending time with my family.