Australian Salesian Bulletin

Fr Joseph Ciantar, the then parish priest of Engadine, after many requests in Rome, obtained a community of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, popularly known as Salesian Sisters, to open and conduct a Catholic primary school in the parish.

Srs Frances Dardanello, now deceased, Christina Swan, Teresa Fossati and Josephine Salmoiraghi were the chosen pioneers. They disembarked from the Neptunia at Walsh Bay on 2 January 1959 and were at length met by Br Laurie Sweeney and then by Fr Ciantar who arrived a little later and introduced them to an enthusiastic crowd of parishioners who gave the Sisters a great welcome. Sr Christina later recalled: A group of little girls gave us flowers and they really made a great impression on us and made us feel very welcome indeed.

The Sisters were then driven by Fr Ciantar to Engadine, where other parents had prepared lunch for them.  Engadine was considered well and truly “out in the sticks” in those days.  Forty years earlier, in 1920, Engadine had no railway station. In fact the only way the committee of the Engadine Platform League gained permission to have a railway station at Engadine, was by offering to build it themselves, and build it they did, officially opening it on 20 November 1920. Engadine was officially declared a village in the 1930’s, as it had previously been part of Heathcote.

The Boys’ Town Memorial Hospital on Waratah St was graciously vacated by the Salesians for the use of the Sisters as their convent. Sr Christina said that the beginnings were very difficult. The Sisters had one month before the school year began and there was nothing in the house or the school. Fr Ciantar wanted the Sisters, like himself, to depend wholeheartedly on Divine Providence to take care of their needs. Divine Providence was evident from the start in the parents themselves, especially the mothers.

These are Sr Christina’s words: We had nothing ... and they [the parishioners] had nothing. I think it was because there were no other sisters around and they had waited for us so long that we were so much appreciated. I think they would have gone through fire and water for us.  We felt much loved. I think too it was that very hardship and the need to pull together that created the very special bond and ‘community’ that has always made Engadine our special home.”

The mothers noticed immediately that the Sisters needed everything for their home. These ladies went door-knocking among their friends and parishioners who scrounged in their “glory boxes” for unused linen, towels, etc. Some mothers did their grocery shopping together and among them put together enough for another household and took it to the Sisters.  On the first Friday of each month another hamper appeared at the front door of the convent.

Meanwhile the school year of 1959 started. The Sisters brought what resources they had: a few pencils and some tins of beautiful watercolour paints ... but no paper. Fr Ciantar supplied ink pens and 5th Grade exercise books. But in the first year the school only went up to Grade 3. Sr Frances had a composite Grade 2-3, Sr Christina had Grade 1, and Kindergarten was to be entrusted to Sr Maria Louisa Gamba. However, on her arrival in Australia she was kept at Brooklyn Park in Adelaide to teach at the Mary Help of Christians Secondary College at the convent there.

Sr Josephine Salmoiraghi had to step into the breach and take the Kindergarten class, armed with a vocabulary of “Good morning”, “Good afternoon”, “Sit” and “Stand”. Again the mothers came to her aid. Five ladies took one day each to teach with Sr Josephine in her Kindergarten class.  They were: Mrs Sims, Mrs McGarrigle, Mrs Nugent, Mrs Wyderveld and Mrs Moirbussy.

So on 27 January 1959, the school community assembled outside the parish hall on the Old Princes Highway, Engadine. Sr Christina reported as follows: On that first day of school there we were with our 83 new children. It was raining, most of the children were crying, probably wondering who these people all in black were... We were waiting in the yard and trying to get the children in some sort of order because Fr Ciantar was coming to bless a crucifix or something. There was mud everywhere because the yard was not tarred ... We were all caked in mud. (Kavanagh R, Serve the Lord with Joy, p. 12)

The Mothers’ Club was officially begun. Fundraising activities were a priority to meet needs at both school and convent. A Fathers’ Auxiliary was later formed. One father, when asked to fix something at the school, was heard to say: I’m not going up there with all those holy women.  But he gave in and went, remarking on the capabilities of the Principal, Sr Frances Dardanello. In fact Sr Frances was a “Jill of all Trades”.  She made endless teaching aids and flashcards for the classrooms and was an excellent singing teacher.

The first girls’ uniforms for the summer of 1959 were made by Mrs Whittman and the Sisters. Mrs Whittman’s daughter, Janet, was already a postulant with the Sisters at that time. The Sisters had brought two sewing machines from Italy. Mrs Whittman cut out the uniforms from a blue and white striped material. She and Sr Teresa Fossati sewed them up and in the evenings the other Sisters helped too. The uniforms were well made and looked good. The boys had shop-bought grey pants and blue shirts, with a blue striped tie.

By the end of Term 1 Sr Josephine’s volunteer team of co-teachers felt that she was now able to carry on alone. Mrs Moirbussy continued her assistance on some Fridays, especially the Friday the School Inspector, Mr Laws, came. The inspector suggested that Sr Josephine take some time off to improve her English. However, as there was no such thing as a substitute teacher, Josephine continued on.  [When Mr Laws returned two years later, he couldn’t believe she was the same person because her spoken and written English were so good.]

Sr Sarah Hanley and Sr Elda Pietrobon arrived in early September, 1959. Sr Elda remained at the convent to look after house maintenance and the garden. Sr Sarah took over the Grade 3 class from Sr Frances. Sr Teresa Fossati came regularly to take the Grade 3 girls for sewing. Among other things the girls made aprons which were then stamped with a design which they embroidered. While the girls were at sewing, Sr Sarah took the boys for sport. As the playground was a rocky hillside, the dads held working bees to clear part of the land to create a safe playing area.

Fr Ciantar insisted that the Sisters put on a Christmas concert that first year because he knew they were good at it, being well schooled in the Salesian tradition. The Sisters reluctantly agreed and began the daunting task. Sr Frances was a perfectionist, but with few resources, what could be achieved? The hall had no stage, so for the concert, all the desks were pushed together and covered by a platform to form a stage.  Curtains were made and pinned to a rope on pulleys so that they opened and shut and the Sisters made the costumes for the Christmas play.

Sr Josephine’s Kindergarten shone at the concert. Sr Frances had organized a display of the children’s work and sewing. During supper served at interval parents were able to view their children’s work on display.

And so ended the first year at St John Bosco Primary. Divine Providence remained with the Sisters in human form, the “battlers” of Engadine and Heathcote, who put their trust in Fr Ciantar and in this courageous band of Salesian Sisters. The teaching of the psalmist rang true: Cast your care upon the Lord, and he will sustain you (Ps 55: 22).