Memories of Marian 1957-1959

Marian College Alumnae J U N E 2 0 1 7 E D I T I O N 5

This edition:

Memories of Marian 1957-1959 By Patricia Wale Memories of Mother of Sorrows 1959-1960 By Anne Neville My Marian Journey 1978-2017 By Mary Cutajar My Marian Journey 1995-2007 By Michael Elliott 60th Anniversary Dinner Photo Gallery Memories of Marian Col-lege: 1970-2006 By Leon Kewley Memorabilia 60 Years of Marian Col-lege Photo Gallery Marian Production: Cul-tures of our Lives 1986 Archives Access Back to Marian 2017– Save the Date Marian Magazine front covers 1977– 2016

Welcome to this edi on of the Marian College Alumnae Newsle er.

This newsle er will be published twice yearly and we welcome submissions from former students and staff.

All ar cles including pictures can be submi ed to nmicallef@mariansw.catholic.edu.au. Enquiries 9363 1711

By Patricia Wale. My maiden name is Patricia Margaret WALE and I a ended Marian college from its first day of opening in 1957. Prior to that I was at the school...Mother of God if I remember correctly...at Ardeer, sort of languishing wai ng for Marian College to open.

I finished my schooling at Marian College at the end of 1959, with my leaving cer ficate in my hand and a posi on secured with the ANZ Bank in Sunshine. I had turned 15 in the August of that year, and have always felt that I owed so much to Mother Stephanie who guided me through the school years as quickly as she could, taught me every sub-ject in every year, and obviously lined up my posi on in the bank with the bank man-ager....with whom the school had a connec on.

As the second eldest of a wonderful family of seven children, where money was scarce, and where there was s ll a very conserva ve a tude regarding the place of females (for want of a be er descrip on), without Mother Stephanie's dedica on I would have found it very difficult to move on as I did. I eventually took up nursing, lived overseas for many years, and returned to Australia to con nue my connec on with St. Vincent's Public Hospital, where I remained un l my re rement in 2003. While working at St. Vincent's I completed my degree in Applied Science, nursing Administra-

on, and on re rement held the posi on of Clinical Director, Surgery and Surgical Ser-vices. My years at St. Vincent's were wonderful and exci ng years.

I guess I have included this brief summary as it highlights the outcomes that can be achieved when educators have such a broad and enlightened a tude as I found in Mother Stephanie, and I am most grateful for my years at Marian College. I also have a par cular interest in my childhood/ young adult years spent in the western suburbs and the mul culturalism which existed, and s ll exists, there. This of course encom-passes Marian College and its students.

Patricia Wale

Memories of Marian continued

Above: Patricia Wale front row 5th from le

Below: Patricia Wale 1st from right

Memories of Mother of Sorrows

1959-1960 A reflec on by Anne Neville (nee Lloyd) teacher at Mother of Sorrows (St Pauls)

January 2016 and this day I am wai ng to meet a friend under the clocks at Flinders Street sta-on. We had been school friends at St Aloysius College, fellow students at Mercy College (now

A.C.U.) and teacher colleagues at the ‘Glengala Road’ complex of Mother of Sorrows and Marian Colleges in the parish of St Peter Chanel.

On gree ng, the conversa on went something like this – ‘This is rather amusing,’ ‘What is amus-ing.’ ‘Us two silver tops mee ng at Flinders Street sta on, under the clocks.’ As teenage teachers we had o en met at the notorious mee ng place and it is where the Holden Silver Top taxi driv-ers awaited hopefully for a fare.

Geraldine had been ‘Miss O’Dea’ at the kindergarten which was two neighbouring rooms to Mar-ian College rooms at what was known then as Sunshine Heights. The gentle sense of humour which prevailed during those days with the li le migrant children s ll shone through at our mee ng under the clocks 2016! On this day, I ques oned Geraldine as to why she chose to give me a note book and a silver pen with an angel symbol. She simply answered – ‘You will write one day – you will know what to write about –‘

The Kindergarten area had the only fence in the whole complex and even the homes opposite did not have fences. I recall the foresight of the Marist Fathers as it truly was the first Childcare centre for working parents in the Western suburbs if not in Victoria! Children were le in the care of Mrs Figalo by parents at any me from about 7am before walking, cycling or travelling by public transport to industrial jobs in the area and some travelling as far as Richmond, an inner-city suburb on the other side of the Yarra! A er ac vi es lead by a qualified Kindergarten teacher, lunch was provided by Mrs Figalo in a small kitchen then li le folding stretcher beds were arranged for a ernoon sleep. More ac vi es took place then at 3.30pm a few children were taken home but the remainder were le in care to whatever me before 5pm.

How blessed were those parents? How blessed were those li le children, mostly from migrant or, in kindness, those days called ‘New Australian families’? Many would go on to have a Catholic educa on from four years at Kindergarten to the Marian named schools of Mother of Sorrows, Mother of God and St Peter Chanel named a er a Marist Saint. The two roomed Marian College was already being established for them so as to have Catholic secondary schooling.

No longer would children whose parents chose a Catholic educa on need to leave at 7am travelling and experiencing six public rides a day and arrive home at 5.30pm. In those days, my own parents paid more for travel costs than the school fees. That’s how blessed those new families were and they showed their gra tude to early parishioners, teachers and priests immensely! No need, no room, no me for complaints.

I remember vividly the arrival at Mother of Sorrows to prepare for the school year and the start of a career. The environ-ment, I did not know as being a parishioner, the Blessing and Opening of any Church building was a must go and must cele-brate event for all! People from the other side of the Yarra would drive cars to these happenings and it was arranged for buses to take them to each sec on of the parish where a Church (army hut), school room or convent was being officially Blessed and Opened. Of course, this was business sense, as at each venue, a silent collec on was encouraged and guests could see how poor we were. Yes, poor indeed. In the cupboard of that room which may educate up to ninety children in one year were a John and Be y book for each child and a couple of reams of newsprint. Some boxes of crayons which would be arranged and placed in the centres of eight seated tables. The containers would be jam ns painted then decorat-ed with coloured transfers. Blackboards, the size of a table mat and special thick chalk s cks were there for daily use by the children. One box of white chalk s cks and half a box of coloured chalk s cks was the annual supply for use by a teacher whose main teaching aid in a sub-primary room was the ‘Classroom Blackboard’.

Memories of Mother of Sorrows

For me, on that first day, the hard work, joys and sufferings of the prior year a ending College six days per week and travel-ling on eight public transpor ng vehicles daily to do so – was rewarded. Almost ninety li le ones depended on your love and energy to welcome them to this place of learning. The circles made by the four hundred children as two Brigidine nuns and two lay-teachers looked on were big! At the conclusion of marching to the music blas ng over the surrounding pad-docks where new homes would one day come up like mushrooms, the classrooms were full – very much so.

The first task was prayer me, it was such a privilege to assist those who did not know how to make the sign of the cross or too shy to do so. Morning prayer was followed by roll call and on Mondays 3/6 (three shillings and six pence) was collected as ‘school money’. Where older children of family a ended the same school this was collected as a family figure. Roll call turned out to be a challenge as amongst the large numbers of children many did not understand English and it was not un l the next day that I realised there were three Joey Zahras!!!! Any wonder, 1+1=2.

Milk was provided by the government on a daily basis at schools. Grade six boys would carry the heavy creates containing bo les of milk to a bench outside each classroom along the very long corridor giving access to doorways of the Marian Boys College, Prep, Grades 1 & 2, Grades 3 3 & 4, Grades 5 & 6, Marian Girls College, a Kitchen leading into the Kindergarten area. As I punched a hole into each of the sealed lids and placed a straw in it, the children would go on working quietly. When I looked to check frequently, I saw only zest and willingness to carry out their work. Almost a daily drama of first term, was, searching for a missing lunch. Many of the lunch contents were a big thick slice of bread with what appeared to be red sauce. Each child recognised their own par cular chunk of bread and how the mother prepared the sauce on it. There were tears un l the right piece of bread was allo ed to its righ ul owner. No even the offer of a sausage roll from the tuck shop would solve the problem. This was not an easy task and as staff were rostered to do yard duty of half an hour of a one hour break one could lose a quarter of an hour over a slice of bread! Because of large grades, the one day a week a teacher did have a one hour break a big part of this was spent in the classroom.

More children meant more prepara on and even more wri en records. Such love, such tolerance did I witness and experi-ence that year, as I coped with new life as a teacher and the parents, some only three days in this country, coped with new surroundings, new people and new language! We all enjoyed a vibrant life, centred in God.

Yard duty was and always should be a serious duty. There were 400 primary school children plus students from the Marian Boys and Girls Colleges. No surrounding fences existed but imaginary or invisible boundaries within which were expected to be known and respected. On rainy days, teachers had lunch with children in the classrooms. When soccer posts were placed on a field, the coaches, umpires and selec ons were organised by students and underway very quickly. How many champions were created and nurtured on that paddock? Marian girls were of a mothering spirit to those of the junior grades so in all yard duty was an easy task.

Although custom at the me, one did not expect a wri en note from the parent if a child had been absent. One day, I was surprised to have handed to me a note from a shy li le boy of whom I thought came from a home of li le spoken English – It read: Please excuse …. from being away from school and may he stand to learn as he has a boil on the part where the back changes its name.

Memories of Mother of Sorrows

The lunch room was run by the mothers with one lady employed. Orders were wri en on a brown paper bag with money inside. Lunch was delivered to the classroom for the teacher to give to the child. This lunch room was also where the Gestetner copy machine was available sparingly. A purple ink provided the print. Each school had one and it was also used by Parish commi ees mainly to adver se money making events e.g. Jumble Sales where earlier Australian parish ladies would sell clothing that had been collected, washed and mended. This enabled the ‘New Australians’ to buy cheap clothes and the money usually went towards Parish debt which at this me was about £95,000. Our Parish priest would frequently plead for prayers when about to have an appointment with the Bank Manager. This plea would come at Sunday Mass.

A first year teacher received £516-19 gross annual salary. St Peter Chanel Parish had three Primary schools, two Colleges and a Kindergarten with just a few teachers for the large numbers of children.

Illness is o en a fear but to a teacher at our premises one would ba le such to a point of collapse. When an absence oc-curred, her class would be divided into two, and each half go to a class room teacher already teaching around 75 to 85 chil-dren. On one such occasion, a li le Prep said as I sat on a small kinder chair reading a story – ‘Miss Lloyd, last night I saws you in my sleep. You was dead. You was going to heaven though.’

The outcome of then giving in to illness and a ending a doctor was to take sick leave and in my case because of concussion as a result of hi ng my head when a bus ride was too bumpy on a Sunshine street! A costly outcome also for two other teachers too!

The mee ng at Flinders Street sta on with my colleague would always be a venture to St Francis Church which to me was equal to a Roman Basilica as we had Nissan Army huts for a church. There were four of these at the parish of St Peter Cha-nel influenced by such devo on I have rarely felt around myself since that era. Opposite St Francis Church was a Pelligrini shop where it was delight to discover something beau ful to help with teaching about God to our li le ones. Each class-room had a chart of pictures which told of the story of Jesus to help with the Religious Educa on programme. Most aids for all subjects were home-made. Clean, good texture paper was obtained from a hospital unit but li le informa on was give out and it was sparingly distributed. From an industrial area, one could obtain the paper which was the pa ern for leather to be used in Holden cars. This was usually of a burgundy colour and embossed so it was handy for covering books. Making jig-saw puzzles for numbers, words etc. was of no use unless many were made. It was difficult to gather fine cardboard for these. Today, these are available in plas c for one and all in many retail outlets!! Who needs 30 sets to keep one sec on of a grade busy while the teacher ‘hears’, individually, the reading of another sec on?

Memories of Mother of Sorrows

When growing up in Deer Park, a Sunday entertainment for the young adults was a walk to Ardeer where they would meet the young adults from the two families living there – the Merrits and Johnsons. At Mother of Sorrows, Prep grade would walk to Mother God School as an excursion. Some Grade 6 girls would ably assist. A er a play with Ardeer children at the school grounds, we would return. In the paddocks, children would gleefully make daisy chains from the vast areas of Cape weed … the school always in sight as there was no fences surrounding it and no houses to be seen un l one was on the oth-er side of the Ballarat railway line. The children of other classes visited Melbourne Zoo.

From Blanche Street Ardeer, the nuns were transported in the priest’s car. He had driven from Sunshine Heights earlier to offer Mass there. The second priest would drive to Deer Park to offer Mass too as the Marist Missionary Sisters were teach-ing at St Peter Chanel’s school. The bus ride from Deer Park had gone from one man and myself to a second bus which was privately owned by Sita and it was painted bright red. On both the green metropolitan bus which took the route to Queen Street, Melbourne via Albion, Sunshine, To enham, Footscray, West Melbourne and on the red bus there was now standing room only as students travelled to schools in Sunshine, Footscray and Williamstown. The red bus would take the Forest Street route to Sunshine which was parallel to the railway line. Most mornings, students to the Marian Colleges and myself would alight the bus before Kororoit Creek Bridge, climb through the wire along the track, cross the line, through the wire fence on the other side and walk across the paddocks to our des na on. For a me, the high wooden structured bridge was no longer able to carry the traffic so devo on to my Guardian Angel was in top mode on the return journey!! The driver would nego ate from the high bank down to where a pipe covered with stone and gravel formed the only flat area. The driver was usually Frank Brennan who would appear to be heaving it to the embankment on the other side while most of us just held our breath. The nuns were driven home by the priest a er school.

Eva, Isa and I would have walked to the bus further down Glengala Road on the unmade road with no drainage and if it was Friday and, it appeared that pay day had been overlooked, we would walk further to the presbytery. Being a parishioner and teacher, it was o en I who was given the task of reminding Father that yesterday had been pay day!! The priests of that Parish did everything from marking out Basketball courts, to driving people to hospital emergency, a emp ng to interpret in all situa ons along with spiritual ma ers. The pain ng of Churches was done in an a ernoon – priests, mothers, fathers and children who could hold a brush did the job!! Future Marian College students among them – Wales, Trimboli, Stobinski, McQuillan and Fallon.

Before knowing of this request to write or being aware of the 60 year celebra ons, I commented to our Bishop of Gipps-land who is not a Victorian -

‘My years of growing up, living amongst and working for the migrants in Melbourne during the 1950s and 1960s was a GRACE. I have not travelled the world but the world came to me.’

Thank you peoples of those Western Suburbs for introducing me to Christ –

YOU ARE A MARIAN PEOPLES

My Marian Journey– Mary Cutajar 1978-2017

By Mary Cutajar (nee Muscat) —former student & current staff member

Like many of the other female students who completed their primary school years at St Paul’s Primary School West Sunshine, I transi oned to Marian College in 1978 for my first taste of secondary school. My first year at Marian College was a memorable one and I’m proud to say I s ll keep in touch with classmates Vinney De Bono, Maryanne Vella and Margaret Muscat and others from that year.

My homeroom teacher in year 7 was Vi Jorgensen. I can honestly say all my homeroom teachers at every year level throughout my me at Marian College were amazing. They nur-tured and encouraged me and, with their guidance and support I achieved my goals.

I recall through the years 7-10, every single student was expected to be involved in both the sports and performing arts programs. I was involved with running sports. I was also involved in the Performing Arts. Our year 7 group decided to perform a play that year. We performed a play called ‘Agatha & Jonathan’ for our class and as a result our teacher asked us to per-form it for all year 7 grades and then eventually the whole school. It was exci ng to perform on the stage in the hall, which is now the auditorium. Unfortunately, this taste of show biz didn’t lead to a movie career!

To this day, what astonishes me is that when I started in 1978 most of the current buildings were already established. This included the main building, year 9 & 10 buildings and science lab. All this had been

achieved in just 21 years! Of course I have seen the many buildings and ren-ova ons that have occurred since then, and feel proud of the facili es and programs that are offered to young women today at Marian College.

Throughout my four years of schooling at Marian College I formed close bonds with other girls across all year levels. As Marian College only went to year 10 it was very hard to leave for years 11 & 12 and go to Caroline Chisholm Co-ed College.

I fondly remember Sister Brigid who was Principal at that me. It was a won-derful coincidence that she was the one who offered me a staff posi on as recep onist in 1983 as a 17 year old. When I started working at Marian Col-

lege most of the teachers who had taught me were s ll here. In the ensuing years, my role at Marian College has evolved from recep onist to a variety of other posi ons including accounts, and Assistant to Business and Office Managers. For the last 5 years my official tle has been Administra on Assistant-Staff and School Organi-sa on. I enjoy the job and the day to day challenges and rewards I face.

In 2016 my year 10 class of 1981 held a reunion gathering. It was a wonderful experience to reconnect and remi-nisce with women I had known since we were young teenagers.

I feel especially fortunate that this year I was able to share in the celebra ons of the 60th anniversary of Marian College. It is amazing to think that I have shared in nearly 40 of those years as either a student or staff member.

Mary Cutajar (Muscat)

My Marian Journey– Michael Elliott 1995-2007

Each Alumni Newsle er we ask a former staff member of Marian College, to reflect on their me then and now. This is a reflec on by Michael Ellio - former Resource Centre Manager at Marian College from 1995-2007 MICHAEL ELLIOTT 1995-2007 former RESOURCE CENTRE MANAGER When I started working at Marian in 1995 I had no idea I would stay for 12 years and how much my original role as librarian would evolve during that time. I'd moved from a much smaller Brigidine school (Kilmaire College in Hawthorn with David Ellis) and the differences between the schools were significant. I arrived just in time to see the hall in the centre of the 'main' building transformed into the auditorium. I recall the final day with the year 12s in 1995 when the auditorium refurbishment was completed but the 330 seats were still to go in, so all 750 students were squeezed into the space. It was hot and squashy but it was a great way of not only recognising those Year 12 students but who we all were as a community and how the auditorium would become a focal point for per-formances, gathering and liturgies in the decades to come. It's hard to think of my Marian time without remembering some obvious highlights: - the great team in the Resource Centre, particularly Marilyn Taylor who was there with me for the whole journey. - musical production 'Annie' (2000) with Tanya Sheggog and Kathryn Baldacchino stealing the show. - the student leadership camp at Greyfriars in 1999. - producing school magazines and presenting a magazine workshop to teachers from other schools with Year 12 student Anna Phu (2002). - 3D animation with Anna Ciccone's year 9 media class. - Working with Fiona Hili and 10 Ruth (1999) to enter a whole-class entry into the lip-sync competition with 'All That Jazz'. - getting teary every October when the Lamp of Learning was passed over. - Walking into my homeroom on chilly winter mornings and finding half the class sitting on the heater. - supporting Clonard on school sports day and not having any voice left by the end of it. - amazing homeroom partners Carolyn Arthur, Danni Erskine, Leon Kewley, Michael Cooper, Fiona Hili, Rosa Martic, Cathy Kruger, Fran DiBiase and Rita Grima. I was fortunate to experience strong leadership at Marian by determined educators who had a strong understanding of the uniqueness of Marian. Gerard Stafford (until 1999), Sr Louise Cleary (2000-1), Co-Principals Sandra Diafas and Angela Killingsworth AKA 'Sangela' (2002-4), Sandra Diafas as sole Principal (2005), Kerrie Williams and Elaine Dugdle-Walker as Acting Co-Principals (2006) and finally the dynamic combination of Rita and Ray. Each of them made an indelible mark on the College and continued a strong sense of the Brigidine charism. After 12 years I left Marian to work for Catholic Education Melbourne, firstly in Student Wellbeing (with former Marian teachers Mary Tobin and Cindy Bohan and former student Leonie Lisiecki) and now with the Communica-tions and Marketing Unit. I read Marian News online every fortnight to keep an eye on how the College continues to evolve and thrive. I was thrilled to have Marian in my Student Wellbeing Festival in 2014 and 2015 at the Clock-tower Centre and also showcasing their talents in Time to Shine in 2014 and 2016. There were some very challenging and confronting moments at Marian during that time, but even those times were 'teachable moments' as we grew as people and as a community. Almost 10 years after I left there are only a few stu-dents who still recognise me (Leeanne Grima works two building away from me so I've bumped into her a few times) but every now and then a Marian girl will see me and reminisce about their time at the College. There was one student who had a very challenging life and, much to my disappointment, was moved from the school during year 9. I'd often thought of that student particularly when working on something difficult during my time in student

My Marian Journey– Michael Elliott 1995-2007 continued

wellbeing at Catholic Education Melbourne. Last year while I was walking to the station this particular former stu-dent saw me and told me that, despite some struggles, life had worked out very well for her; she'd ended up finish-ing school, went to university and now had a successful career. I was already proud of what we all did at Marian during that time, but hearing her speak so lovingly of her experience reminded me of how special that school will always be to thousands of women across Melbourne's west and beyond. I'm thankful to have been a small part of Marian's story. Michael Elliott

60 Years of Marian College

On April 24th Marian College Staff, past & present, gathered at Sheldon Recep ons to celebrate 60 years of Marian College.

It was a wonderful evening with hear elt speeches given by Sister Brigid Arthur and Leon Porter. The follow-ing pages contain photos from the evening and a copy of the speech made by Leon (Kewley) Porter, former teacher at Marian College.

60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner 24th April

60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner 24th April

Memories of Marian College 1970-2006

My memories of Marian College West Sunshine.1970-2006.

Happy 60th Birthday Marian College! I first met you when you were just a teenager- 13 years old, in fact, just a new teenager.

I have so many wonderful memories of my me spent at Marian College that is hard to choose just a few. I do not wish to speak about the amazing educa onal ini a ves which have taken place over the years; those of you who have taught at Marian and those of you who are currently teaching there know the enormous work and dedica on that has occurred to provide the girls of Sunshine West the best educa on possible.

I commenced my teaching at Marian College in 1970, a much smaller school then. I had my interview at the Brigidine Convent in Deer Park. Mother Frances Teresa was the Principal of Marian at that me. I do not remember seeing Marian un l the beginning of the school year; I had probably driven past so I would know where to come. I remember having a staff mee ng at the beginning of the year, where I was introduced to the staff; there were four Brigidine Sisters and 7 lay teachers. We each had separate staff rooms.

The classrooms were built around a large interior space (now known as the beau ful Auditorium), there were two Form 1, two Form 2, two Form 3 classes, one Form 4 one Form 5 and a small group of girls studying for their Ma-tricula on. Marian College also boasted two new Science Labs. (I was reminded on Monday night, that they, in fact were built later in the 70’s) The school was small and compact. The physical changes are probably the most no ceable aspects of MC. The old tennis courts would soon be turned over to a new Year 7 block which featured open plan learning, which surprisingly is now back in vogue in some Primary Schools! A library was added to com-plement the learning which was taking place. The year 7 block later became the performing arts hub and the li-brary became the design educa on building. Many more buildings were added over the years but the newest ad-di on in my me was the VCE building, the Ngali Centre, surrounded by beau ful landscaping. I know there are newer addi ons now.

Marian College has been very fortunate to have had magnificent educators in the posi on of Principal over its journey. I had the privilege of working with Mother Frances Teresa, Sister Brigid Arthur, Sister Catherine Kelly, Sister Helen Watson, and Sister Brigid Arthur again. Gerard Stafford joined Brigid to form a Co-Principalship; what a dynamic duo they were! Gerard then led the school as sole Principal, followed by Sister Cecilia Merrigan and Sister Louise Cleary.

To reflect on 60 years of Marian College current and former staff met on the 24th April for a celebratory dinner. The following is the transcript of the speech given by former teacher Leon (Kewley) Porter

Memories of Marian College 1970-2006

The Co-Principalship model was once again introduced with the appointment of Angela Killingsworth and Sandra Diafas, followed by Kerrie Williams and Elaine Dugdale-Walker, and now Rita and Ray who were appointed in 2007.When Rita was a young teacher she assisted me in my posi on as Daily Organiser, I could see even then what a great educa onalist she would become. I had many other wonderful young teachers over the years that assisted me in this role.

I was travelling into town weekly with Mother Frances Teresa and Sister Finbar to learn about “New Maths”: (I was quite happy with the “Old Maths” as it has served me well!). These classes were being offered at The Acade-my of Mary Immaculate, in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. I only men on this as we were travelling into town on the a ernoon of 15th October 1970 when the West Gate Bridge collapsed; of course we knew nothing about the trag-edy it was at that me.

With Brigid I remember all of a form level working together in the hall for Math classes, students were to work at their own pace, working from prepared math cards- oh, the hours of work which went into making these cards- there seemed to be hundreds of them. First the sheets were typed or wri en, then pasted onto a sheet of card-board and finally covered with contact.

This hall was used for lunch me- all the students gathered there to eat their lunch. Benches had to be set up and then put away a er lunch had been eaten. The hall was the hub of the school.

The hall was also the venue for our Miss Marian Quest, (would not go down well in this day and age), but it was an opportunity for the girls to raise money for charity. They held a number of fundraising func ons during the period set aside for this Quest. The winner, of course was crowned Miss Marian College Charity Queen, and we had a Miss Marian College Beauty Queen as well!!

In the early days I remember the many working bees held to beau fy the College. The dads had a series of work-ing bees to asphalt the car park, which up ll then turned into a quagmire a er heavy rain. The mothers’ club ran the tuckshop, they were all volunteers. These wonderful men and women were the pioneers who contributed so much to the development of Marian; their sense of community spirit was certainly very evident.

Other wonderful memories I have are the Brigidine Sports held every year with Marian compe ng against all the other Brigidine Schools and there were quite a few then. We never came home with the silverware but we cer-tainly enjoyed the challenge.

Trialling RAS before VCE was fully implemented was a great experience-, whilst challenging it was rewarding as we got to work with RE educators from the CEO as we developed a course of study for Unit One Religion and Soci-ety. This was a great team of teachers working together to create something posi ve and worthwhile.

Memories of Marian College 1970-2006

The Japanese Homestay Program which I implemented in 1993 with Brigid’s encouragement became a wonderful and rewarding program. Over the years I met many beau ful families who opened their homes and their hearts to take in these strangers from Japan. The exchange was focused on learning about each other’s cultures, while at the same me giving the Japanese girls an opportunity to improve their English. Many las ng friendships ensued. I too met some great Japanese teachers who stayed in our home during the home stay program. I have been privileged to stay in contact with a few, and had one (Hikaru) visit us last Christmas. A real highlight for me was finally in 2006 being able to take a group of students to Japan to spend home stay with families from our sister school, Yamate High School in Yokohama. This was a dream come true. I was lucky enough to have shared this experience with Kerrie Wiliiams and Andrea Michail, they were a wonderful support, and I am thrilled to know that they have con nued the Home Stay program. We had a fabulous me in Japan and we were thoroughly spoilt by the Owner, the Principal and staff from Yamate.

The student make up of Marian has certainly changed over the years I spent there. In the early days our girls mostly came from Australian, Maltese, Italian, Greek and Polish families. Many other girls from different back-grounds joined the school, and at one stage a census displayed 71 na onali es were represented. I witnessed the arrival of the Vietnamese girls following the war there. These girls had limited knowledge of the English language, and thus the introduc on of ESL teachers to help them par cipate more easily in mainstream classes. Near the end of my me at Marian, the College welcomed the Sudanese girls. Over the years all these girls from different na onali es and their rich cultures added so much to Marian College.

Finally but by no means least I have wonderful memories of all the amazing people I met, worked with, or taught during my 37 years at MC. I shared some of my most wonderful moments and occasions with people there, and some of my darkest personal moments, but always there were people there to support me, or celebrate with me whichever the occasion warranted.

When I re red at the end of 2006 I truly missed MC, the staff and the students, but other opportuni es presented themselves for me to become involved in the Yarrawonga Community, I have become deeply entrenched in a number of groups, which keep me ac ve and fulfilled.

I want to thank MC for all that she offered me; she has shaped me to become the person I am today.

So I say again, Happy 60th Birthday.

Leon (Kewley) Porter

24th April 2017.

Memorabilia

Sewing Class pyjamas 1960s

Marian College Hat 1969-1972 Marian College socks 1960s

1973-1980 Arts shield

1996-2004 Original Brigidine Lamp

Memorabilia

Marian College Badges

60 Years of Marian College 1957

Brigidine Sisters 1957-1961

Student Group 1957-1959

1959 Mother Maureen Murray CSB-Mother Stephanie O'Neill CSB at Bac-chus Marsh

1957-1961 Sister Michelina Grix CSB 1957-1959 Mother Stephanie O'Neill CSB - Principal

60 Years of Marian College 1967

1967

60 Years of Marian College 1977

1977 SRC LEADERS

1977 STAFF

60 Years of Marian College 1987

1987– STAFF

60 Years of Marian College 1997

1997– STUDENT PARTICIPATION GROUP

1997 STAFF

60 Years of Marian College 2007

2007 STAFF

2007 YEAR 12

Marian productions

1987 Cultures of our Lives

1987 Excerpt-School Magazine

Marian productions

1987 Cultures of our Lives

1987 Excerpt-School Magazine

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2017 Back to Marian

On Saturday 28th October we will celebrate 60 years of Marian College with a ’Back to Marian’ gathering.

We encourage you to gather your old classmates, friends and family and join us for this occasion.

Help us spread the word so that we can make this a celebra on worthy of 60 years of Catholic Girls’ Educa on.

If you would like to be involved in the organisa on of this event contact nmicallef@mariansw.catholic.edu.au

Marian College Magazine Covers 1977- 2016