WORDS Liz Lillis

Mercedes College in Perth was founded in 1846, the first school established by a religious congregation in Australia. The members of one family that has attended the school for four generations share their experiences.

The school's history stretches back to the settlement of Perth as the Swan River Colony. Six Sisters of Mercy, led by Ursula Frayne, had been sent from Ireland in 1846 to educate children in the new colony.

By 1853, four separate schools had been established on the same site. In 1967, St Joseph’s School and Our Lady’s College merged to create Mercedes Catholic School for Girls.

Mary, Moya, Sonya and Emily are each the eldest daughter of their generation. Three of them were taught at the campus in central Perth, while the youngest is still attending. Their shared story spans over 88 years and offers a window into how Catholic education consistently responds to each era, including opportunities offered to women.

Mary

For Mary Michael, 94, St Joseph's School, which she attended from age six in the 1920s, was the place she 'learnt the basics'.

The eldest daughter in a family of 11 children, she remembers walking to school with her siblings.

'The Sisters taught us to read and write,' she recounts. 'There were 40 or more girls in the class and you never got out of your seat and wandered around.

'We studied history, mainly British, and there were always concerts and performances by some of the girls. I loved watching the concerts. I really enjoyed school.'

Mary left school aged 14, to help her mother at home. It was common for girls to leave school in their early teens. 'You don't really realise how much you learn at school, until after you leave,' she says.

Mary says she learnt tolerance, patience and respect from the Sisters. 'Faith was important, we went over to the Cathedral for mass every week.'

Today Mary reads prolifically, and the basic sewing classes at school prepared her for many years as a seamstress.

Moya

Moya Hextall, Mary's daughter, attended St Joseph's School from age six until she left at the age of 16 in 1958.

She recalls special memories after recently watching her granddaughter Emily's performance in her house choir. 'I loved choir as a student', she shares. 'Sr Mary Margaret took us for choir. I just loved singing.'

Moya also remembers the Sisters at the time wearing 'a full habit black with white collar and large rosary beads with the cross tucked into their belt.' They encouraged students to think of those less fortunate. 'We had a charity mission box, a bit like the Project Compassion box of today.'

They were also keen for the girls to learn homemaking skills. 'We had to bring our own ingredients for home economics,' says Moya. 'I remember one day taking home, on the bus, tomato soup I had made, in a billy.'

'In those days only girls who knew they wanted to be nurses and teachers stayed on beyond year 10,' she recollects. 'Most went on to work in an office or a shop.'

Moya herself studied in the ‘commercial' stream which included subjects like shorthand and typing, and worked in administration for a health insurance company after leaving school.

'School influenced the person I've become and fostered a sense of family faith in the Catholic tradition,' she says. '[The sisters] taught me respect, good manners and an appreciation of education in general, as well as fostering a love of music and drama.'

Sonya

Sonya Roberts, Moya's daughter, attended the College from 1982 to 1986 and returned as a member of the teaching staff in the 1993 after completing a science degree.

'I like the tradition and history of the place', she enthuses. 'It has a sense of family for me.'

In her school years, computers were yet to arrive, the option of attending university was supported, and the discipline was slightly more strict than today. 'If you were late for class you would be locked out,' Sonya recalls.

By the time she studied at Mercedes College, there were many lay teachers, though the Sisters remained highly influential.

'We volunteered in Sister Molly's soup kitchen which was run out of the school's hospitality department,' she says. 'We learnt from the Sisters about the importance of compassion for others.'

Music was also a significant aspect of the school culture. Sonya remembers enjoying big school celebrations, including concerts at Perth Concert Hall and Easter Song, a musical celebration for Easter, held in St Mary's Cathedral.

Sonya now teaches home economics in the same classrooms she learnt in and often teaches students whose mothers were her classmates.

She attributes her interest in sewing and textiles to her teachers and her grandmother Mary.

Emily

Emily Roberts, 11, has started year seven, following in the footsteps of her mother Sonya at the College.

'I was really excited about coming to Mercedes', she says.

She is taking part in many extra-curricular activities including house choir and a house film project. 'I love singing, and getting involved in activities and have made many new friends.'

Emily has learnt the history of the school and the founding Sisters.

'She (Sisters of Mercy founder Catherine McAuley) was amazing,' she declares. '(Her story) has taught me that you don't have to be anyone special to make a difference, anyone can.' For her, even running a jelly stall to raise money for Caritas, as she and her classmates recently did, was special enough.

Emily is considering a caring role for a career, such as a veterinarian, where she can meld her love of science and animals.

For now, she says it is 'pretty special' to have so many generations of her family attend the same school.

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