This was an interesting time to be a boarder at Santa Sabina, as it was the end of one era and the beginning of another. There were significant changes ahead for the school and its community, with the last Leaving Certificate in 1965 and the new HSC commencing in 1967. Santa was then a day and boarding school, and the boarding option, which would eventually cease, was at that time critically important for rural families who wanted to give their daughters a broader education than that available in rural NSW.
It was the time of the “Golden Fleece” when wool was literally gold, and farmers and graziers were generally wealthy people. This too would change, as NSW was soon to experience a lengthy period of severe drought. Boarders mostly came from diverse areas of NSW, and rarely saw their families during the school term. There were a small number of overseas students boarding, mostly from Hong Kong.
Visitors were restricted to the second and fourth Sundays of the month, between 2:00 and 4:00pm, and were carefully watched over by the Nuns. In the early days visitors were “received” in the Library, but students were later allowed to walk around and even picnic in certain areas of the school grounds with approved visitors. All incoming mail was vetted by the boarding mistress in the first two years, and outgoing mail was perused for appropriate content and correct grammar. Boarders also had a “Sunday” uniform, a very drab beige dress, trimmed with green piping which they disliked intensely.
The third Sunday of the month was a “closed” Sunday when all boarders were required to spend the day at the school in quiet reflection. A lot of novels were covered in brown paper and quietly read during this time. This was probably the worst day of the month for homesick boarders!
The BEST day of the month was the First Sunday, when boarders were allowed to “go out” after Mass with approved hosts, usually relatives, to spend the day with them. I believe we had to be home by 5:00pm for Benedictions.
In 1961 most of the boarders’ life centred on the original red brick building. On the ground floor were our three classrooms, St Margarets and two others. Sister Mildred had the care of the large group of new boarders in their first and second years, as well as being the head of Music Studies in the school.
The first floor had a large classroom at the rear, also later called the “recreation room” and two “music Rooms” used by Sr Mary Mildred, and also an older retired sister (Sister Gregory) who only had two pupils.
The first floor balcony at the front held the boarders’ shoe lockers, and it was there we were required to polish our shoes daily.
The second floor held the dormitory for all the boarders in first and second year. It was known as “the pink side”, and approximately 60 wrought iron beds were arranged perfectly, each with a wooden chair beside it. Tucked away in a corner were the toilets, and there were usually several girls there “waiting their turn”. Sister Mary Mildred was never far away, as her “cell” was just a few doors along the corridor from the Dormitory door. The closed in balcony alongside the dormitory was always freezing, and six or seven very “privileged” girls were chosen to sleep there.
The third and top floor held two long rows of ceramic wash basins in the centre of the space, about thirty basins in total. There were also two baths and two separate showers in this area/ The first and second year boarders had to run up the stairs after breakfast to brush their teeth before school and run down again before the bell for commencement of classes.
They were also on a bath/shower roster, and were allowed 20 minutes during afternoon and evening study time to go upstairs, bathe and be back on time! The highlight of the younger boarders’ week was Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning, when we were allowed to have a Paddlepop from the tuckshop down at Rosary Lodge. The cost of these items was deducted from the pocket money allocation from our parents, held by the Sister in Charge, and each boarder was required to keep a written balanced account of the money spent each term, during these first two years.
The “blue side” was accessed from the back of the building through the balcony and a corridor on the first floor. This was where the boarders in 3rd Year (studying for their Intermediate) lived. Sister Vincentia “Vinnie” to the girls when she wasn’t around, was the perfect Boarding Mistress for this smaller group of students on the blue side. There was a little more freedom on the blue side, now that we were deemed “responsible”, and were allowed to spend more free time there on weekends, washing our hair and grooming ourselves, although mirrors were still scarce!
We were also allowed to handwash small items of our own clothing, and stockings and knickers were neatly hung on clothes racks in sunny spots on the blue side. The obligatory “Cash’s woven name tags” were essential to keeping track of personal such as these, and boarders were often sighted wearing “ODD” stockings!
The school ran its own laundry, with an elderly Sister overseeing the operation of it. On rare occasions, students were called on to help with the folding in peak times, and we were instructed not to speak to the women working there. Close to the laundry was the School Infirmary where boarders who contracted infectious diseases such as measles or mumps could be isolated from the other boarders. It was also used sometimes by a local hairdresser who would come up to cut the hair of the younger boarders. Strict rules applied about the length and style of hair when we were in school uniform.
Downstairs, access to the blue side was also much easier, as we only had to walk up one set of stairs. It was close to the Refectory and the Covered Walkway, which led to the Tennis Courts and Music Rooms. The Covered Walkway, with its hanging vines, was a cool place to gather during free time, when we could hear the music students doing their piano practice. Upstairs, the classroom used for study in 3rd year was larger than others, and was accessed from the first floor balcony. It also had an exit door on the opposite side, which was access to the blue side.
When television finally arrived at Santa in the early sixties It was in this classroom that we were allowed to watch such exciting programs as Saturday Date, which was loved by all. When the Beatles arrived in Australia, it was a “full house”!
Sport was an obligatory part of the curriculum, and the school had two sets of tennis courts, one set at the end of the covered walkway, and another down the side of the school, backing onto the newly built red brick units next door. Between these tennis courts and the units was strip of empty land known as Buttercup Lane. Buttercup Lane was “out of bounds” for the younger students, but became a special place to stroll through for the senior students on retreat, or just needing a bit of peace and quiet.
Competitive Tennis was played with other schools in the area.
The Netball courts were located at the very back of the school, joining onto the Cow Paddock, where the school cows were kept. Netball, called Basketball at that time, was very popular, and the country girls were sought after to join the teams, as most had played the game in primary school, and were usually quite skilled. The third sport, Softball, was less popular, and was often chosen by the girls who didn’t really like sport!
We spent our school days there with the “day” pupils from 9:00am until 3:30pm, when the day pupils went home, and the boarders made a rush for the “refectory” for afternoon tea, usually bread with raspberry jam or sometimes a piece of fruit. We then had “free time” until the bell went at 5.00pm for study and back we went to St Margaret’s where we did our homework under strict supervision of one of the Nuns, and in complete silence. Dinner followed in the refectory followed by the Rosary, then another hour of study before bed.
There was no swimming pool in the school, but in the senior years, students had a few outings to Croydon Public Pool (which was not far away) in later years for competitive Swimming Carnival.
The final 4th and 5th Year saw the boarders move over to Holyrood, right next door to the newly built Chapel. Everyone loved Holyrood, and the 4th Year students were mostly housed in a dormitory at the front of the ground floor. There were just a few 4th Year girls who slept upstairs on the side balcony.
The four magnificent rooms upstairs, named the Red Room, the Pink Room, the Blue Room and the Green Room were for the 5th Year boarders, who were sitting for the last Leaving Certificate in 1965. Downstairs, the smaller rooms were used for music practice, and the large classroom at the side, with its’ beautiful lead light windows was used by the boarders for evening study.
In the same year, a problem arose with the discovery of lice covering the inner walls of the Red Room at Holyrood. They had been spread by the pigeons who roosted on the balcony and on the exterior walls. The problem was soon solved by Sr Mary Assumpta, (a country girl before finding her vocation), who procured an air rifle, and spent several enjoyable hours regularly shooting the pigeons, much to the terror of the girls inside.
Sr Mary Emmanuel, “Mandy” to the girls, was the supervisor for the 4th and 5th Year boarders. She had a great sense of humour, and was a very creative person, and was much loved by all the girls. During this period she directed and produced a performance of King Lear, which won an interschool award. Mandy’s kind heart, coupled with her creative personality meant that she sometimes became distracted when doing a good turn, and a homesick boarder would find a mug of cold “hot chocolate” by her bed when she woke up in the morning!
Boarders went to morning Mass six days a week, having one rostered “sleep in” each week. The Chapel seemed very beautiful, particularly when the light came through the stained-glass windows, or when the Nuns sang in procession. We were also required to go to Confession regularly, and in our early years of boarding this was quite stressful, not because we had sinned badly, but because of our very regulated existence, we had no sins to tell. It was quite normal to ask the person next to you what they were going to “tell” and then get a few ideas from that, just to have something to say!
The boarders had watched to construction of the new Hall on a daily basis, so it was an exciting time for them when it was officially opened. The Science rooms and classrooms downstairs were very up to the minute, and the new Hall itself was spacious enough for concerts, social occasions and whole school Speech Nights.
Towards the end of 4th year, the school organised a dance with the boys from St Patrick’s College. This prospect was very exciting for the boarders, who had very little social life apart from first Sunday. However, the dance was over quickly, and with restrictions on the lives of the boarders, there was very little chance of making long term friends from this event.
Our final “5th” year however, ended with a formal Graduation Ball in the new Hall. This time, the boarders looked for partners further afield, and the girls with brothers at “Joeys” and “Stannies”, Waverley College and Riverview worked hard to find partners for their friends. It was a great night for all.
Reading over this account, the rules and regulations seem to have dominated our lives, but the good Sisters had enormous responsibility looking after so many of us, and they cared for us very well. Apart from a great education, we made many good friends whom we still see today.
Trish Moran (née Fisher)
Class of 1965
