King’s Birthday Honours: Roddensvale principal dedicates MBE to ‘entire school community’
Roddensvale principal John Madden has dedicated further royal recognition to “the entire school community” after being named in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024.
Mr Madden receives an MBE for services to education and children with special educational needs. It is the second award he has received following a BEM in the 2018 New Year Honours list.
Mr Madden, who lives in Ballycastle, said was “humbled and highly delighted personally but acknowledge that this award is a tribute to the hard work of colleagues, governors, parents and the wider community who have all contributed to make Roddensvale School such a special school".
"Special mention must go to Mrs Heather Stewart (vice principal) who has also been at Roddensvale School for 21 years and with whom we make a great team.
"I could also not have fully developed the school, into what it is today, without the tireless support of the chair of governors Mrs Maeve Maxwell and her team of governors. She has been my rock of support and I have also enjoyed the backing of the entire governor group plus of course the wider school community.”
Mr Madden went on to say: “It will be lovely for some of the family to be able to attend the Investiture at the palace in due course. My extended family and friends are delighted too.
"It is very much a communal effort at Roddensvale, there is a very strong pastoral dimension, so everyone plays their part in offering an enriching educational experience for some very deserving children and young people.
“We are like one big extended family and we try to look after each other and all get behind our pupils. I am privileged to be the principal of a school where work colleagues and I are united behind a shared vision to deliver quality educational provision for our pupils.
"We have the fabulous support of governors, parents, allied health professionals, social services, the Education Authority, the Department of Education and all our amazing support staff etc, plus the wider East Antrim community in general to thank for this award.
“It would be impossible, for me to single out everyone who has contributed to the success of the school, but I hope they all individually know and appreciate that this award is a shared honour for the entire school community. I am both humbled and highly delighted to be collecting it on their behalf.”
The citation for the nomination, Mr Madden said contained a detailed knowledge of the schools progress and development over recent years.
He continued: “Back when I first started at Roddensvale School, in September 2003, we had 68 pupils in a very old building. In September 2024 we hope to accommodate over 250 pupils in our modern school premises. We received a grade of ‘Outstanding’ after our last ETI inspection report for pastoral care and an assessment of 'very good' for all other areas.
“The citation included a list of past initiatives and schemes through which we have worked to enrich the provision for pupils for example: our successful acquisition of 'Investors In People', or our acknowledgement by the Prime Minister for good practice in 'Extended Schools', plus our school accreditation as an attachment and trauma sensitive school.”
The honours application form was aware of the vast amount of progress the school has made across a diverse range of areas.
Mr Madden, father to Sean and Moyra Mae, has taken a personal interest in seeing the Roddensvale reach its full potential by combining his interest in cycling with fundraising for the school, and the NSPCC charity.
He hopes to attend the investiture ceremony in Buckingham Palace, together with other recipients, as part of the MBE award arrangements for 2024. But for now, Mr Madden offers his thanks and says the entire Larne community can justifiably be very proud of this award.