Yesterday, the Morning Cruise invited St. James Roman Catholic Primary School Principal Lynette Saunders to chat about her school celebrating its 150th birthday this year.
Saunders explained that Father John Duignam, an Irish priest, founded St. James in 1874 as a community school or the fishing village of Kalk Bay.
To celebrate the century-and-a-half milestone, St. James has hosted a series of celebrations—and will continue to celebrate throughout the year. On THursday, July 25, the school celebrated St. James’ day with a party sponsored by local business in the community. The students ate, sang, danced, and played.
The next day, St. James held a special mass at the school’s church, and in the evening held a special dinner-dance, with students from the past 60-70 years.
Saunders, who has been with the instruction for 38 years, noted that the St. James’ pupils are very proud of their school. A former student even traveled from Dubai to take part in the festivities last week.
While other schools didn’t survive Apartheid, St. James remained strong. Saunders attributed the school surviving the Group Areas Act due to the fact that fisherman needed to stay near the ocean and fishing territories. While some of the community had to relocate to Ocean View, Cape Town, the St. James bought a bus to transport students safely to and from the school.
“Even today, most of the children at the schools re descendants of families who used to live in the area, and the school has two buses now, which provides safe transport—that is how we survive,” said Saunders.
The principal said that a lot of the staff are former students, and the community carries on the culture of the school.
Future Festivities
In September, St. James will take its students to Garden Route, giving some children the opportunity to leave Cape Town for the first time. At the end of the year, St. James plans to have a Christmas play extravaganza, and all former students and members of the Kalk Bay community will be invited.
You can check out their Facebook page here.
Contact St. James at 021-788-7064 or stjamesprimaryone@gmail.com
Listen to the interview here
Presentor: Mkuseli Khusi Veto
Producer: Nikoletta Anagnostou
Written by Nikoletta Anagnostou
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