ST Rita’s College celebrated 80 years of Catholic education in Clayfield on May 26.
The milestone featured a Mass celebrated by Fr Bill McCarthy and the blessing of a bronze statue of St Rita.
Principal, Presentation Sister Elvera Sesta, said 800 students traced out a large “80” in the college gardens for an aerial photograph.
“The (Presentation) sisters of 1926 must, at some stage, have stood where I was now standing and looked out at the students in the college,” she said.
“There most probably would not have been a sufficient number to form an ’80’.
“I am sure that it would have been impossible for them to imagine this group of 800 young women, looking so smart in their brown and white uniforms, jumpers or blazers and hats.”
She said she was reminded of the theme for the college’s anniversary year, “Acorn to Oak”.
A parchment paper from each house group was bound into a book to become a time capsule with a difference.
It will have a place in the college’s new building and will be opened in 2026.
During the Mass, students brought up offerings for the winter appeal, donations from staff, alumnae and students for a youth study centre in Malol, Papua New Guinea and roses for St Rita’s Day.
The original handcrafted terracotta statue of St Rita, imported from Italy in 1938, that stood in the school grounds, was recast in bronze and blessed by Fr McCarthy as students brought up their rose to place at its base.
After a communal lunch, students celebrated in the Eirene Centre with the traditional “House Heroics, Hoots and Hiccups”, a dance competition among the college’s four houses.
