115 years in the sun

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
2 November 2003

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115 years in the sun

The composite class and teaching staff at St Mary’s school, Bingara, this year

Enrolments have fluctuated and the school’s role has changed significantly since St Mary’s school opened in 1888 as a small “parochial school” in the New England town of Bingara.

It had 45 students that year, with classes being held in the church hall.

A year later it was recorded as a secondary school with 55 pupils, in the care of the Sisters of Mercy.

It had reverted to “parochial school” status by 1893, with classes conducted by a lay teacher.

But the Sisters of Mercy resumed the running of the school again in that same year.

The parish priest, Fr J Clancy, acquired the old School of Arts Hall in 1901 to serve as the school building and in 1902 a community of four Sisters of St Joseph assumed responsibility for the school.

This building still exists and today serves as the parish hall, although it was moved to new foundations around 1950.

The Sisters of St Joseph began their 77-year association with the school with an enrolment of 63 primary and secondary students, some of them boarders.

They began a music centre that year.

St Mary’s school had 84 students in 1916.

By 1942, though, enrolments had dropped to 70 and boarders were no longer catered for.

The present brick building was blessed and opened by Bishop Edward John Doody of Armidale in 1963. It housed 84 students.

Changing trends in education led to the closure of the secondary division of the school at the end of 1964.

Then in 1979 the Sisters of St Joseph withdrew from the school and St Mary’s became one of the first schools of the Armidale diocese to operate with the assistance of a school board.

The first lay principal, Chris Waters, was followed by Peter Slattery, Ted Tonkin, Alfred Chaplin, John Cahill, Wayne Pettiford, Kay Herrington and the present principal, Geraldine Holland.

Teaching staff since 1978 have been Wendy Wearrie (15 years), Christine Chaplin, Trish Keoghan, Pauline Reed, Lisa Gallagher, Sara Austin, Michelle Martin, Dani Mason, Shirley Reed and Karyn Grady.

The current staff are Paulette Smith (principal relief), Charmaine Reading and Jessica Shaw (teacher’s aides), Bernadette Gunthorpe (secretary for 18 years), Kay Withers (cleaner for 28 years) and Peter and Kerrianne Anderson (grounds staff).

The school has been modernised, renovated and refurbished over the years with the help of the school board and the parents and friends’ association and under grants schemes.

But enrolments have slipped, so much so that the make-up of the school changed in 2000 from two composite classes to one class, which includes all students from Kindergarten to Year 6, taught by the principal with the assistance of a full time teacher’s aide.

Now, after 115 years in the sun, St Mary’s school in Bingara will close at the end of the school year.

Formal celebrations to mark the event will be held on the weekend of December 6-7, with a dinner at Bingara RSL Club on the Saturday and a Thanksgiving Mass in St Mary’s Church on the Sunday, followed by luncheon in the school grounds, with entertainment and an exhibition of memorabilia.

Bookings for the dinner ($20) and luncheon ($8) close on November 21. For information or bookings, call Geraldine Holland on (02) 6724 1225, Chris Young on (02) 6724 1167 or Bernadette Gunthorpe on (02) 6724 1175 (night only).