Historic St Paul’s Catholic Primary school in Camden held another super successful Grandparents Day today.
It was so successful parking was more at a premium around the Camden central business district than it usually is these days with the footpath work under way in Argyle Street.
Scores of grandparents – and parents – were ready as activities got under way with a splendid, fully catered morning tea from 10.30am.
The school band played some beautiful music as grandparents and other guests enjoyed their sandwiches, cakes and tea and coffee.
This was followed by open classrooms, when grandparents dropped in on their grandchildren between 11am and noon.
Activities in the classroom included grandparents being interviewed by their grandchildren and also having their photos taken.
The final activity for the special day was liturgy in St Paul’s Church, hosted by kindergarten.
St Paul’s has been teaching Camden children for almost 150 years.
While John Macarthur provided a building and a Catholic teacher to teach the children of the employees that worked on his estate, formal Catholic education did not start in the local area until 1879.
The Macarthurs had donated the present day site for St Paul’s Catholic Church almost 40 years earlier in 1840.
The Parish of Camden was established in 1859.
Father Sheridan, who arrived 20 years later in 1879, began the task of finding suitable teachers for the school.
He wrote to Mother Mary MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph requesting them to establish a properly run school similar to St Anthony’s at Picton.
Finally, in the third week of January in 1883 two nuns arrived and began classes in the Old Church which is at present the school library.
Rima Katrib