Page 24 - Bulletin 13 2009

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in Seaforth House on the Main Road opposite the today’s Danger Beach Park, which
was run by Mrs Mary Armour who would look after them and was to be paid a salary.

In 1914 the School was converted into a Secondary School, from kindergarten to

standard five, and many more nuns of the Dominican order moved from Springfield to

Star of the Sea. An article of June 1914 in the S.A. Lady’s Pictorial Magazine featured
an interview with Mother Hyacinth. (Fig. 1.11). The number of pupils was given as

eighty-six day pupils and eighteen boarders: a total of one hundred and four pupils. It
was noted in the article that music was given special attention, as well as shorthand and

typing for those choosing a commercial career. Art and dancing under the instruction of
Miss Watt, and cookery classes for boarders only were also offered. Tennis and

basketball were the main sports, while the annual play placed the emphasis on the

importance of literature.

Mother Hyacinth notes in the interview that she was continually receiving requests to

take further pupils, especially up-country boarders, who were unwell and would thrive
at the seaside under the loving care of the sisters. Many parents, both local and up-

country, were unhappy to move their children to Springfield and wished them to stay at
Star until matric. Thus the numbers grew all the time. There were also many birds of

passage, as described by Sister Benignus, whose attendance was seasonal depending on
their parents’ movements, or whether their parents had two homes, one at St. James for

the summer months and another up the line during winter.

Dormitories were used as classrooms as were the dining rooms. In the dormitories the

children sat on beds. Sailcloths divided the dining room and the balcony so that the two
classes could attend. This area was allocated to the Standard Vs.

In 1916 a small chapel was built by Father Duignam at the end of the balcony (the priest

came up the back stairs) so that the nuns could have the Blessed Sacrament in the

convent. This lasted for a while until Father Duignam built a further chapel as a gift to