December 1956 School Magazine

December, 1956"

Brisballe Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Brisbal)e Girls' Grammar School Magazine·

December, l95S

plants when they come down for a drink, but the lilies always. grow again. Many aboriginal relics have been found near the lagoon and it is supposed that the natives came to eat the seeds in the sum- mer time . Whatever their reason for going there now, people can have a most enjoyaable and interesting outing. -J.J. VI. A RE-EDUCATION CENTRE Solid red brick with dark brown roof and double storeyed, the home stands on a hill from which can be seen a city on one side and the bush on the other. Mount Maria is one of the Good Shepherd homes scattered throughout the world. The nuns , members of the Good Shepherd Order, pledge themselves to the amelioration of the lot of unfortunate women and girls in any circumstances in which they may be found. The nuns are fine women, highly educated, and selflessly devoted to their work . They have a rare insight into human nature and set a fine example for those whom they re-educate, to follow . The founder of this order of nuns was deeply disturbed by the unfor- tunate existence of many young Parisiennes and opened the first Good Shepherd home in France. Mount Maria has fine modern dormitories, shower and bath- rooms, dining room, kitchen, domestic science rooms , schoolroom, music room and theatrette which would be the envy of any girls' secondary school. The inmates of the home work in a highly mechanized laundry in which are laundered sheets, towels and table linen from city hotels and cafes. Mount Maria stands on part of several acres of fertile land. The home is almost self-supporting. Each day, the man in charge of the dairy milks the small herd of cows which thrive on the river flats at the bottom of the hill. Fruit trees grow in the hard earth fowl yards. Gooseberries and mulberries grow in wild profusion in the large turkey pen. All the girls in the home are given Home Science lessons . It is most important that all should learn how to care for a home and that they should learn how to maintain a good standard of living in following the economies of housekeeping. On the ground floor is situated a large, light and airy kitchen with tables, stoves, cupboards, sinks and refrigerators, conveniently diotri- buted. Tables are covered with green laminex and painted the same buttercup yellow as the walls and the ceiling. The stainless steel sinks are set in the laminex topped cupboards around the wall. There are a coke Aga stove, wood stove, gas and electric stoves. In being taught to use all kinds, the girls are prepare( for life in the city or country.

Many visitors to the home have been intrigued by the flower- making, lace work and crocheting the girls do . The music, art of speech, gymnastic and dramatic work of the girls are of an ex- cellent standard. Many girls, on entering the home, have never as much as touched a violin or piano . All are given the oppor- tunity to learn and it is amazing to witness the progress made . In working for eisteddfods and concerts the girls are given an interest . They cannot be left idle, and in taking part in these activities they find the satisfaction of achievement. . Those. resp~nsible for the girls ' re-education are intensely mterested m their work. They have some failures but many successes . Much too little is known of the good work these people are doing. Nevertheless they find their lives full and satisfying for they are practising their Christian beliefs. - YVONNE HARRIS, Vlb_ "SOUTHAM DELABERE" Before I came to Australia I lived in Southam, a little Cots- wold village, the history of which can be traced back to the ~iddle Ages .. One of the oldest buildings, "Southam Delabere," IS now occupied by a large girls' school which I attended . The history _of "Sou_tha:n Delabere" begins in the early fifteenth century, for at this time a band of monks built a small monastery and school. Here the kindly monks cared for lepers and the "lepers room, " which is entered by a small outside stair~ c~se, _still remains. The lepers could watch the monks worship- pmg m the chapel through a tiny slit in the wall of their room. In the sixteenth century the monastery was taken over by ~or~ De ~a Bere who enlarged and altered the building to make It h1s family seat. The chapel also was enlarged and a minstrels ' gallery added so that it now became a place of feasting and drink- ing instead of worship . On the south side of the building is a vast lawn rising to· a natural stage at one end. Here, on long summer evenings min-· strels would perform to the Lord and his familY . A rose garden, long grassy walks, and a shrubbery also form part of the grounds. Hidden behind the shrubs are the stables and coach houses, with small rooms to accommodate the coachmen. At the gate there is a lodge house where once a lodge keeper lived. In about 1890 the last Lord de la Bere died and the build- ing was taken over by a Trus-t Fund until 1947 when it was. bought by Oriel School. _However, . t_hrough all thes_e changes, on a long summer ' s: evemng the spmt .of the past still seems to cling to the ivy clad walls, and even the presence of modern school girls cannot dispel the monastic atmosphere of the fifteenth century. - ANNE ALEXANDER, Va .

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