STEP BACK IN Time By Melissa Walsh Photos Gary Sissons
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t’s been 100 years since the doors opened at St Mary's primary school in Hastings and the school has seen a myriad teachers and students come and go. Originally named Immaculate Conception, the school was blessed and opened in 1917. Yet, it did not begin to operate as a school until 1919. The first class started with eleven pupils. Today, the school has 130 students and is watched over proudly by Principal, Jason Micallef.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating the centenary of the school in September with some fabulous activities in mind for our big event on Friday September 13,” said Principal Micallef, who has been with the school for two years. “It has been wonderful to join a school with such unique offerings and to be part of the centenary celebrations is an honour.”
“One of the activities we are doing with the children is having a day where we step back in time to show what it would have been like back then,” said Principal Micallef, of the school that began with one building. “We are going to take the school back 100 years and get the children to dress up as if they were going to school in that era. continued next page...
For Principal Micallef, teachers and students, school life today would be very different from 100 years ago.
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St Mary's principal Jason Micallef. September 2019