When 'Mammy' and 'teacher' are one

This morning, like every school morning, national schoolteacher Eileen McCormack will leave her house at 9 a.m., drop her youngest son, two-and-a-half-year-old Rory, at his granny's and bring her other two sons to school for 9.30 a.m.

Eight-year-old Conall, who is in third class, will head towards his classroom in Scoil an Chlochair, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath. And in the same school, fourth and fifth class teacher Eileen will go to her mix of 26 boys, girls and one son, nine-year-old Pauric. This week will be Eileen's fifth week with her son in her class, the first time she has been in such a situation.

Generally, she says she would teach classes in the senior end of the school. "I would seldom go below third, I would usually have fourth, fifth or sixth." As a result of this, and the fact that she has just returned from a two-year career break, she has escaped teaching her two eldest boys. She says she wouldn't have opted to teach Pauric either, but the class she was designated had him in it.

However, she says it would have been a different story had she been assigned a baby-infants class with one of her sons in it. "At that stage I would definitely not have wanted to teach them. I would have constantly avoided having him in my class and the principal would have known that all the way along. I wouldn't have wanted him any younger than this because I don't think he would have understood where the demarcation line was between home and school. I would have been afraid he would have been overly dependent on me, and the same with Conall. Whereas the stage they are at now, they understand enough to know where the boundaries are."

Does Pauric call his mother "Mammy" or "teacher"?

"Oh no, he calls me 'Miss' like everybody else." But, now and again he does slip up. "Sometimes he would have said: 'Ma is this our homework?' or something or other, but they wouldn't even bat an eyelid now and say 'oh God, he's not calling her Miss'."

Initially, Eileen thought it might bother Pauric to have his mother as his teacher, but "we had a chat before the summer when I found out I was going to have him and he seemed okay about it". The only problem he might have, according to Eileen, is "he wouldn't like me saying anything to any of his friends which, would happen at times obviously".

While Pauric is in her class, Eileen can monitor him and see how he is doing. She says that previously she wouldn't have paid much attention to what he was doing, but now she can. "It gives me a unique opportunity, for the one year anyway, to focus on him."

This year also gives Eileen the opportunity to see how he mixes with his peers and where he stands within the class grouping. Other years she would only see him in the schoolyard.

Eileen says it is actually nice to be in the vicinity of her children all day. "Even in the yard when I am on yard duty you can see them playing as well.

"This was an advantage when they were younger too; when they first started school at least they had the security of knowing you were there somewhere on the premises." She says that in the past there might have been minor things said in the yard to Pauric and Conall about their mother being a teacher in the school. "It would have been nothing that would affect them too much. They're well able to handle it." This year, so far, he doesn't seem to have been teased.

Regardless of whatever teasing the boys may or may not get, the upside of having their mother in the same school is that they get to spend much more time with her than other children might have with their parents.

Eileen could work in other schools, but it is so convenient she says she wouldn't do that. "We all leave in the morning at the one time, we all come home in the evenings at the same time. There is no question of looking for someone to collect them from another school or look after them while I get my way home."