On Monday, March 2nd 2020, St Barbara’s Catholic Parish School in Roxby Downs celebrated its 20th Anniversary of Catholic Education. It was a time to reflect on the school’s past and thank those who have helped in creating such a sustainable, vibrant and engaging R-9 Catholic School in one of our state’s most remote regional environments.
This special day also marked the 25th year milestone of service provided by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Various distinguished guests were present from Catholic Education South Australia and the local Roxby Downs community, including Mrs Nichii Marden (Director of Catholic Education Port Pire), Mr John Mula (Deputy Director of Catholic Education Adelaide Archdiocese) and Mr Roy Blight (Roxby Downs CEO).
The main school activities on the day included a special Mass led by Bishop Greg O’Kelly sj and many of our diocesan priests. The occasion also welcomed back the first Principal of the school, from the Year 2000, Mr Paul Delahunty and Fr Jim Monaghan who was the local parish priest at
the time. After Mass, Mr Delahunty paid a special tribute to the foresight of the then Director of Catholic Education, Mr Peter Cibich, who worked tirelessly with Bishop Eugene Hurley and parish priest Fr. Steve Ardill in getting approval from the SA Commission for Catholic Schools in 1999, to open a new school in Roxby Downs in the Year 2000.
The longest serving principal, 12 out of the 20 years, Mrs Bernadette Lacey also reflected upon many highlights for St Barb’s School. She thanked the many families, staff and students that had passed through the doors of the school and acknowledged the work of the pioneering families in laying the solid foundations, culture and chrism of the school that still holds strong today. She thanked, Sister Patricia Hogan, well known in both the school and local communities for over 20 years, for her guidance, hard work and commitment to the faith community. As quoted from Mrs
Lacey’s speech, “Sr Pat holds a mountain of history and the students love to hear her stories of St Barbara’s from the past, including the moving of her house and the early days of school buildings arriving on the school site. ”The formalities concluded with a number of special photos, cutting of
the cake and a lunch for invited guests. This was also an opportunity for guests to reminisce about days gone by while the staff and children of the school had a celebration in the school yard playing games and activities for the afternoon.
Mrs Ros Oates, Acting Principal St Barbara’s Parish School
