Principal recalls life in the trenches

Long-time St Patrick's Primary School parent and grandparent Bev Hind, school principal Mick O'Brien, past student and principal Sister Kathleen O'Neill , past student and parish secretary Mary Craven and past student Joan Lewis with current students Sophie, Shawn, Keely and Ashreena outside the school's oldest building which dates back to the 1920s. 154527 Picture: GARY SISSONS.

By ALANA MITCHELSON

A FORMER Pakenham student, who went on to become her school’s principal, has told how she played in the school’s air raid trenches when she was a girl.
She told her story as part of St Patrick’s Primary School’s 150th anniversary celebrations at its Pakenham site this year.
To mark the milestone, current students had the opportunity to meet living history from their school on Wednesday 25 May.
A number of past students, principals and parents delivered speeches about the school’s history, recounting stories about their experiences with the school over the years.
Sister Kathleen O’Neil, a student of St Patrick’s during the 1930s and ’40s, went on to become the school principal during the ’80s.
During her school years there were just two classes, with half of the room dedicated to the “bubs, ones, twos, threes and fours”, and the other half for the “fours, fives, sixes, sevens and eights”.
Students who misbehaved would be told to stand under a tree or in the corner of the cloak room, Sr O’Neil recalled. “Naughty” male students would get their hands hit with a ruler.
“Once the boys stole the strap from the teacher and threw it in the creek,” she said.
“Some of the boys had horses that they rode to school and once at half past three, one of the boys let all the horses free onto the highway and the teacher would have asked the boys to get the horses back.
“The games we played were hide and seek, chasey, seven sticks, marbles, football, cricket, marbles and in the trenches.
“The trenches were made for children to go in if bombs were dropped near or at the school.”
Both Joan Lewis and Mary Craven were students during the ’50s and ’60s.
The only specialist class at the time was music and the only two teachers were nuns.
The women recalled having to open the windows on hot summer days because they had no air conditioners.
And for winter, there were no heaters – they only had a fire in the senior students’ classrooms.
The current students marvelled at the stories told by the past students and were eager to ask questions.
A book about the history of St Patrick’s Primary School is currently being written by past student Patrick Ferry.