Reference #04
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After 130 years, school's out … forever
THE writing on the wall for St Ignatius Primary School came in May when it was revealed the small Catholic school was closing after 130 years.
And it was among the farewell messages pinned on the walls of the Richmond school that the true feelings of the departing students could be found.
Not surprisingly, the children's words speak of how much they will miss their friends, their teachers and the school. But there's also their fondness for the food.
"The tuckshop ladies are so nice," one child wrote, while grade 4 pupil Victor offered this parting compliment: "The tuckshop ladies made food as good as my mum and dad."
For the 104 children of St Ignatius, today is their last as students of the historic school, which is merging with the nearby St James Primary School in North Richmond.
They will say goodbye to classrooms that have educated the likes of Richmond Football Club great Jack "Captain Blood" Dyer and Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy.
More recently, the school attracted some public attention about another former student, executed drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, who was a student there in the 1980s.
The new amalgamated school will be called Trinity Catholic School, and most St Ignatius students are enrolled there for next year. All the teachers have been offered a job at the new school, although not all will take them up immediately.
According to parish priest Father Peter Norden, the neighbourhood's "gentrification" was part of the reason for the closure of St Ignatius, as the influx of single people and childless couples had led to a decline in enrolments.
Father Norden said that based on current patterns, enrolments would have dropped to 40 in several years. "We weren't able to provide a first-class education at St Ignatius in recent years … not enough students equals not enough teachers and not enough resources."
The Trinity school will have about 200 pupils — almost double the number at the St James school — and work is scheduled to begin next year to build new classrooms.
The buildings at St Ignatius will be used by community groups and may even continue hosting students, with some country Catholic secondary schools expressing interest in using the property as an inner-city base for their students.
Grade 5 pupil Melissa Jong will be in the first year 6 class at Trinity Catholic School, and said the move was "good and bad". "I feel sad that I'm leaving but then I get to make new friends."
Classmate Huy Lieu is also in two minds about the change. "I'll miss the playground … but I feel happy because I'm going to make some more new friends — and to be the biggest grade at the school."
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