Page 42 - Bulletin 13 2009

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pupil in each class. After she left the St. James Hotel the new manager and manageress
Mr & Mrs Muller, provided two loaves of bread each day, Saturday and Sunday

included, for the poor children, for the years 1941 - 1946. Rev. D. Welch gave £4 - £5
for toys and clothing each Christmas for several years.

In 1942 Mr Norman Lubynski drew plans for this new school, which were passed by the
City Council with a budget estimate of £3000, but it was only after the War in 1947 that

Father Doran had the school built by Mr K. Mann. The building was signed off as
complete on 16 January 1947 in time for the first term of that year.

The school building was erected on a site of approximately 500 square metres next to

the Fishermen’s Flats, and was utilised both as a chapel for the local people and as a

school. After having existed in St. James for nearly 75 years, St. James Mission School
returned once more to Kalk Bay with one hundred and six pupils in attendance.

The new Mission School at Kalk Bay brought an increase in numbers, recording one
hundred and fifty-three pupils in its roll in the first year. It flourished under the

leadership of Sr. Berchmans, who was Principal from 1947 until 1954. She travelled
each day from Star of the Sea. She was assisted by Frances Hilario and Herbert Winn,

and two years later when the school grew to include Standard 5 and 6, two extra
classrooms were built, and more teachers joined the staff. Miss Lyner joined the staff

around this time, teaching the Sub As in a large room which was rented from Wilson’s

General Dealers for a year. The school provided an education for not only the Kalk Bay
community, but for the surrounding areas as well, which included Vrygrond, Glencairn,

and Noordhoek. It also served the community by providing classrooms for Mass every
Sunday morning and for Rosary and Benediction every Thursday evening. (Figs. 1.21 –

22).

From 1955-58 Sr. Paul was Principal, followed by Sr. Lawrence, who held the post until

the end of 1965. Sr. Berchmans returned to the teaching staff of St. James Mission
School in 1969 where she remained until retirement in 1982. At this time the school