Page 41 - Bulletin 13 2009

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In c.1914 Father Duignam inaugurated the Ladies of Charity which benefited the poor
children at the Mission School. Train-fares were paid for the children who came by train

to school, be it from Retreat or Simon’s Town. This donation lasted many years and
these ladies organised Christmas parties, toys and parcels of clothing each December for

years to come.

In 1918 when the great flu epidemic hit the Cape, and the Kalk Bay fishing community

in particular, the Mission School served as a hospital for the very bad cases, with the
nuns acting as nurses.

In 1921 additions were completed to the Mission School, but as the numbers at both

Star of the Sea and the St. James Mission School increased it became obvious that a

relocation of the Mission School to Kalk Bay, nearer home to many of the children, was
necessary.

In 1927 the Principal was Sr. Mary Fidelis (Hughes). She had taught at the Mission
School as a young teacher in 1916 (aged 26) and again in 1919. She was appointed

Principal in January 1927 and remained Principal until her retirement in 1946,
whereafter the Mission School moved to Kalk Bay.

In 1931 Sr. Fidelis took very ill and was forced to take sick leave from April to October

due to severe abdominal complications. During this time Frances Hilario was appointed

Acting Principal with Elizabeth Jacobs as her assistant.

The school roll in 1937, signed by Parish Priest Sidney Welch, was seventy-four. This
increased to eighty-five in 1937 (boys thirty-nine, girls forty-six). Father Doran, Acting

Parish Priest, signed this school roll, and it was through his efforts, due to the steady
increase in numbers, that the Mission School was re-located to Kalk Bay.

Generous benefactors towards the Mission School in these years were Mrs. Gentry,
manageress of St. James Hotel, who sent over six pretty necklaces each year for the best