Entering St Mary’s College as a Year 9 student, Jan Waelen (nee Morrison) was excited.

The school was a “massive” 300 students, compared to her six-classroom primary school Our Lady of the Assumption. But with five of her friends by her side, this new chapter didn’t seem as scary.

“Despite the old buildings, I thought they were quite charming. The stairs up to the typing room were on all angles as was the entire classroom floor.

“The school held a special significance for me as my mother had also attended and there were teachers who had taught her. It felt like everyone knew who I was on the first day, which put a bit of pressure on me to behave!”

Right from the start, the nuns at St Mary’s made an everlasting impression.

“There was only one teacher I was genuinely and respectfully intimidated by: Sister Chrysostom. She greeted me as Jan Morrison on day one, even though I’d never met her. That still confuses me! She had a way of gliding around the school and catching us off guard, especially if we weren’t behaving appropriately as ‘ladies’.”

“The Mercy sisters, including Sr. Kath Rushton, Sr. Freida, and Sr. Cyprian, were progressive women who encouraged us to have a voice in society and pursue our dreams. I particularly admired Sr. Kath, a young sister who was still completing her History degree. She would teach her classes and then take a bus to the university, which truly inspired me.

“These three women presented a loving, gentle, compassionate, and merciful image of God, which differed significantly from the one portrayed in church at the time.”

In Year 9, there were 90 girls divided into three classes, streamed for Latin, Shorthand and Clothing. But by Year 11 that number had halved to only 40 students and by Year 13, only 13 of the original cohort remained as the final graduates of St Mary’s College.

For Jan, going to university was always in the plan and the staff at St Mary’s helped her achieve that goal.

“The staff had high expectations for me, consistently pushing me towards university as my sole future path. This unwavering belief, repeated throughout my high school years, meant I never questioned the possibility of an alternative.

“I will forever be grateful for a pivotal moment in Year 11, thanks to Sr. Kath. After being removed from Shorthand class due to disruptive behaviour, I was placed in Sr. Kath’s History class for the remaining term. All she showed me was kindness, mercy, and understanding. At the end of my first lesson, she generously provided me with her teaching notes for all the missed lessons from two
terms, simply saying, “Jan, you are intelligent. Teach yourself the syllabus and show everyone your capabilities.”

“This gentle and caring approach motivated me to study diligently. I made Sr. Kath proud by topping the class in the School Certificate exam with an impressive 81 percent.

“Whenever I encounter disruptive students as a Principal, I recall this episode and remind myself of the power of kindness, love, empathy, mercy, and encouragement.”

The year before her final year, in 1980, the school community learned that St Mary’s was to close down and merge with McKillop College on the McKillop College site.

“The announcement of a merger with McKillop College and a relocation to North East Christchurch came as a surprise. While the school administration claimed it was a merger and both school’s charisms would continue, students did not accept this. They felt that their beloved St Mary’s was closing.

“We were incredibly sad at the announcement, as were lots of the Catholic community of old girls. St Mary’s had opened in 1893 so had a long history and a strong old girls network.
As St Mary’s entered its final year in 1981, many of the younger students moved to other schools, and many of the staff also moved on in preparation for the closure.

“It was difficult in Year 13 to adapt to new teachers. My parents wanted me to go to Girls’ High for my final year for “academic rigour” but I chose to stay and enjoy my last year with my friends. It probably wasn’t the right decision academically but life has turned out fine!.”
In Year 13, Jan was a prefect and House Captain for Loreto.

“Prefectship involved a mix of leadership and disciplinary duties. We enforced school rules, gave out detentions, ran assemblies, and even had to ‘growl’ at students! There was a particularly dreadful winter hat that I refused to wear until we were close to school, but in my final year, we made sure younger students wore it most of the way. A little mean!”

Jan and her friends also appointed themselves unofficial cheerleaders for the school and managed to attend big sporting events such as Mercy Cup in Timaru and the South Island Netball Tournament in Invercargill despite not playing for a team.

“It likely drove the coaches crazy having two extra students to supervise.

“The South Island Netball Tournament week was incredible and we unexpectedly made it to the semifinals which meant adjusting our travel plans back to Christchurch.

“Four of us were sent home unaccompanied and had to find our own way back. We took a bus to Dunedin, slept on the floor of a university dorm room, and then trained back to Christchurch. It’s a situation a school would handle very differently today!”

The Year 13 students also took it upon themselves to help transition the younger students to McKillop College by driving them there for shared lunches.

“We really used it as an excuse to leave school and be late back after lunch!”

By mid-year, students were hit with not only facing the closure of the school but also the death of their principal Mrs Edeline Silcock who had been diagnosed with breast cancer the year before.
“There was double grief for the school - losing our principal and our College.”

The final day at St Mary’s College was bittersweet.

“There was a profound sense of sadness on our last day. We were splitting up as a friendship group, but it was more than that, because we were also losing our home. We wouldn’t be able to return and visit.

“I remember walking around saying goodbye to each classroom, sharing stories of the teachers in whose room it was. We also tried to steal something from each room as a momento. To my shame, I arrived home with a number of bibles with St Mary’s College stamped in them!”

In the years following high school, Jan studied a Bachelor of Science majoring in Chemistry.

“I often said I would join the convent with a medical degree but my choice to remain at St Mary’s for Year 13 meant I didn’t get the grades I needed so I did a science degree instead.”

The degree was dominated by men, but the staff at St Mary’s had taught Jan not to have any glass ceilings as a woman - something she continues to encourage her own students with as principal of McAuley High School in Auckland

After marrying, Jan moved to Westport and had four children in just as many years before earning a postgraduate teaching degree. She began teaching at McAuley High School in Auckland before moving around other Catholic schools to return to McAuley High School in 2019 as its principal.
“Life has been quite a journey. My Catholic faith has been a constant source of strength, joy, and friendship throughout my life.

“My St Mary’s experience set me up for teaching, as did my involvement in youth group leadership.

“When I joined McAuley as a beginning teacher, it was a very comfortable charism. At St Mary’s when there were sisters on site, the charism wasn’t really spoken about, it was lived through them. We were never taught the sayings of Catherine McAuley or anything about her, but we did see mercy and compassion, justice and service in action on a daily basis. This shaped me as an adult, and when I reflected on the type of leader I wanted to be, it was the influence of the Mercy sisters that was the strongest.”

Article added: Tuesday 21 January 2025