From a handful of pupils in 1928 to 260 young students today, St Joseph’s Primary School in Wauchope has grown over the last nine decades.
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They held a special celebration of 90 years of Catholic education in Wauchope, on Friday May 25. There were tours of the school, Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, a lunch, the blessing of honour boards and a celebratory dinner.
The school was founded on the arrival of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Port Macquarie on January 16 1928.
They were Sisters Dominic, Baptist, Perpetua and Teresa.
In the early days, as enrolments grew, a wing was added, followed by a second one a few years later.
Boarders were quartered in a dormitory beside the convent, accommodating boys only, the first being Bernard Hollis. The school closed to boarders in 1961.
St Joseph’s also catered for secondary students until 1969 when it concentrated entirely on primary education.
In 1953, after many years of dedicated work, especially by Reverend Father John Curran, the Sisters of St Joseph and the people of the district, the modern school, as we know it today, was opened.
St Joseph’s has continued to grow in recent years which saw the building of two new classrooms in 1993 to accommodate the increasing enrolments.
Principal Brendan Kiely was delighted with the turn-out, and with a special message from the most famous past pupil, the Australian writer, Thomas Keneally, who penned Schindler’s List.
“We are united in the experience of St Joseph’s, Wauchope, and would be able to spend hours in mutual recollection wherever we met on earth,” wrote Mr Keneally.
“With a full heart, I can say thank you to St Joseph’s. May you continue to flourish in this new century, and give children the spiritual and intellectual provender that is their birthright.”
With a full heart, I can say thank you to St Joseph’s. May you continue to flourish in this new century.
- Author and past-pupil Thomas Keneally
Former pupil Marianne Kilmurray remembers starting at the school in 1958, when all the staff were nuns.
“I didn’t like school much. I liked sport. It was very structured, so times have changed for the better, but we had a lot of fun. We lived in an era where people took care of one another. It was a safe place to grow up in,” she said.
Narelle Wellings was a pupil from 1956-59.
“The nuns were gorgeous, just lovely – Sister Mildred, Sister Leonard and Sister Winifred who taught sewing and looked after the chooks,” she recalled.
Her sister, Kay Monkley, also loved the school.
“The nuns were wonderful,” she said.
Sister Kathleen Mernagh has very happy memories of working at the school, especially with the staff and children.
The day was a great success.