This year, our Foundation Day celebrations were jam-packed with the warmth and joy of our St Cath’s community. We started out the week with our Old Girls’ Union (OGU) Chapel Service and AGM on Saturday 1 March, where Headmistress Ms Magill was officially welcomed to our school by our alumni community. The festivities continued on Tuesday, when we celebrated our Foundation Day, 

Foundation Day celebrates the opening of St Catherine’s School by Jane Barker, wife of Bishop Frederic Bishop of Sydney, on 5 March 1856. The school was established to provide an education for the daughters of the clergy, to offer them the same opportunities that were available to boys. Jane Barker named the school after St Catherine, the patron saint of scholars and young women. Over the years, Foundation Day has been celebrated in many different ways. In 1937, a new wing of the school and the chapel was officially opened, while in 1977, a Service of Thanksgiving was held at St Andrew’s Cathedral for the school’s 120th birthday, and in 1996, the school held a historical picnic day where staff and students dressed in period costume for the day. 

St Cath’s really had such a big impact on what my life became, which I hadn’t really realised until coming back here.

Jacqueline Warnock (Asher, STC1968)

But this year, we introduced a new tradition by incorporating our Jane Barker Luncheon into our Foundation Day celebrations. The Jane Barker Luncheon, normally held in May, is an annual event for alumni who graduated 50 years ago or more. By moving the luncheon forward, we were able to invite our 50-year honorees, the Class of 1975, to join us for a special K-12 Assembly.

Our alumni were especially excited at the prospect of processing into assembly; as several of them remembered doing as prefects. At assembly, the Class of 1975 were presented with their magnolia pins by students before joining the school in singing Happy Birthday to St Cath’s. This year, the birthday cake was cut by our youngest student, Zoe L (Kindergarten) and Samantha D (Year 12). “It was so fun to help cut the birthday cake for the school. It almost fell when we cut it, luckily it stayed just on the edge. I felt really special to be picked for such an important job,” Zoe said. 

After assembly, students enjoyed a special Foundation Day cupcake of their own, while our alumni headed straight to lunch in the Multi-purpose Hall. Those alumni who didn’t join us at assembly were escorted through the school by our Year 4 ushers, who had a great time learning about how much the school has changed over the years. “I liked hearing about how some parts of the school are still here but other parts are brand new. When we were walking in, they told us that some of the buildings were there when they went to this school. I thought that was so cool,” Isobel M (Year 4) shared. Our junior school girls were also involved later in the lunch, with a special performance by our K-12 Choir, much to the delight of our alumni. 

The Jane Barker Luncheon is always a wonderful opportunity for our alumni to catch up, share stories and see how the school has changed. Dr Diana Whitton (STC1975) remembered helping her mum coordinate the Devonshire Tea at the Magnolia Fair, while Dianne Keniry (Cooper, STC1962) recalled getting in trouble from Ms Hind after her hair was bleached by the sun after a summer on the beach and Jacqueline Warnock (Asher, STC1968) remembered all the boarders having picnics under the Magnolia Tree on Sunday afternoons. “It’s so nice being together again after all this time. Even if we were in different years, we all still remember each other. It’s so lovely to see how beautiful the school still is and all the little ones learning here. It’s been such a long time in the making. St Cath’s really had such a big impact on what my life became, which I hadn’t really realised until coming back here,” she added. 

Susan Mattey (Nutt, STC1970) also felt the same, adding that St Cath’s had been the main constant of her childhood after she became a boarder at age nine after the tragic loss of her mum. “The school became my home. The fact that there were the same teachers and the same girls gave me a place to belong.” She also shared how this sense of community continued long after graduation, recalling running into St Cath’s girls everywhere from a café in the Swiss Alps to the stage door at the Regent Theatre with the Australian Ballet. “I remember walking through Bondi Junction with my brother years ago and walking by a boy he went to school with and he didn’t say hello. I asked him why he didn’t and he said that he didn’t know him. It was strange to me because I knew everyone at St Cath’s. I could have gone up to any one of them and said hello; and that is still true today.” 

But our Jane Barker guests weren’t the only Old Girls who returned to St Cath’s for Foundation Day this year. Later in the day, we hosted our Generational Afternoon Tea, bringing together our alumni who have students currently at the school. As Leah Kirwan (Park, STC1995) said, “It’s such a nice event. It really shows how much the school values that we have chosen to come back with our daughters. It feels really special to foster that community. I’m so proud to be a St Cath’s girl – and that my daughter is too.”