|
 | |  | |
I am writing from Canada, emailed Jo Jones. I expect your remember my mother Dorothy Cauchi, she gave you lots of reminiscences of Worthing in the early 1900's.
I would like to submit one. The time was 1933. Our family lived in Heene Road, Worthing. Father was in real estate and property development and I believe, was building also. My sister and I were 4 and 3 years old respectively.
It was decided that we two should be started in Kindergarten at Our Lady of Sion Convent. I believe it was close by and our cousin already attended it. We were Anglo Catholics and the Convent was, of course, Roman Catholic.
The first day at school was not an outstanding success. On being introduced to the Rev. Mother in the pristine hall, I was completely overcome with terror at this large apparition in flowing black robes and threw myself down on the floor and screamed.
It was a good lesson on the futility of over emotional response to life's problems. At that time the uniform in winter was navy blue serge dresses with pleated skirts and sailor collars with a little white insert in the front neckline.
Each class had a different coloured ribbon to identify it with a mother of pearl cross. And on special occasions the best students wore broad sashes in their class colours. In summer the uniform was a light blue cotton of the same design.
The Kindergarten class consisted of about a dozen children and, for some reason, there was one lone little boy. He must have felt completely overcome with all this femininity.
Our teacher was not a nun. And I remember she always wore an orange smock and was quite severe. Once in class we were not allowed to be excused to go to the toilet. And the result was occasionally disastrous and very humiliating. However, it taught us the benefit of using the toilet before hand.
The education was, and I believe still is, considered very good. However, we two did not attend for very long; long enough to learn our letters and to begin to read, though. My sister tells me there were orphans educated at the convent at the same time, although they were not treated the same as paying students.
To go outside to the walled garden at the back, where I think there were gardens and a tennis court, one had to go through the convent kitchen. If you led me blindfold through that kitchen today, I could identify it by the smell.
It still baffles me that the kitchen did not smell wonderful like my mother's kitchen. But on reflection, remembering the unappetising meals we had there I am not very surprised. We children were not allowed to leave the table until every bit of nasty yellow fat was eaten (No convenient dogs under the table in a convent!)
However, on reflection I realize the convent gave me a love of reading and even today, I can remember the impact the church made on a small, impressionable girl with its incense and holy water and ceremony.
Jo Jones, Canada, 2002
| |  | |  |
To add a comment you must first login or join for free, up in the top left corner.
|
|
