Rina Prinzi (left), Sr Sylvia Williams (middle) and College Principal Mary Farah (right) at the 135 Year St Aloysius Day Celebrations
Sylvia Williams, St Aloysius School Ball, 1960 (when school balls were Girls Only!)
SR SYLVIA WILLIAMS RSM
On St Aloysius Day, we were privileged to host Sr Sylvia Williams. Sr Sylvia has dedicated her life to the Mercy values. First as a student of St Aloysius College, then as a Sister of Mercy and after that spending 30 years as a school principal in various schools. Sr Sylvia has been the Director of the Board of Mercy Education for the past 6 years and Chair of the Board for the past 4 years and announced her retirement in 2022. Below, Sr Sylvia reflects on a life of Mercy.
I commenced at St Aloysius College as a Year 9 student in 1959. At that time the College was 72 years old – just over half of the age it is today. Yes, it was a long time ago. So, what was it like?
it dropped us at school it continued on with passengers going to the hospitals around the city – or by train to Flemington Bridge station after my family moved to Fawkner.
Electives did not exist. And of course, there was no Torquay or any school camps in those days and very few excursions. But most schools were the same.
There were not as many buildings as there are today. The site was not as attractive as it is today. The uniform was different – we wore pale blue dresses in summer, navy tunic with white shirt & college tie in winter, blazers, hats, gloves and stockings, and we wore a wrap-around pinafore every day while at school. I travelled to school as you do – by bus from Footscray – it was a white bus and we called it the hospital bus, as after
On commencing Year 9, we had to choose either an Academic course (Science or Humanities) or a Commerce course (Typing, Shorthand and Accounting at Year 11 & 12) and courses could not be mixed.
Class sizes were large – between 50 & 60 students in each and teachers taught all day – all preparation and correction was done outside of school hours. There were many Sisters on the staff. Not all staff were Sisters, however all were female. I can remember the excitement when a man joined the staff when I was in Year 11, to replace a Sister who was ill. He taught Maths, but it must have been difficult for him.
Alumni Profile
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Some subjects did not exist. Physical Education, Outdoor Education, Information Technology, Food Technology, Wood Technology, Physics, Drama, Instrumental Music and
