“As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand…” In whatever we do, if we keep always the presence of God foremost in our minds, it will sanctify all our actions and keep us aware of the goal towards which we are working to: eternal life.
The end of the school year has come for the Secondary Girls at St Dominic’s College. It has been a very compressed two weeks, with different activities that challenge the girls to apply themselves mentally, physically, emotionally… not forgetting, of course, that whatever we do, is done in conspectu Domini, in the sight of the Lord.
First we had the end-of-year examinations, which were held over four days in the Hockey Hall. With two papers each day and study time in between, the Form 1 to Form 4 girls worked through their papers, knowing that after the time of testing, it would be their long-awaited summer holidays!
While the Sisters scrambled to mark all their papers and key in marks and comments into the progress reports, the girls had an entertaining afternoon playing Tabloid Sports that had a Maori theme running through the activities. (We do have an interesting time marking though. Some of the responses on the examination scripts provide much mirth for stressed-out Sisters.)
For the music pupils of the Sisters, a piano recital was also held to showcase their talents in playing the violin and piano (and also, the cello). Pieces ranged from a cute little violin piece Polly Wolly Doodle, teacher-student duets, and other familiar tunes from Kuhlau and Mendelssohn. It was fitting end to a year at the “St Dominic’s Conservatory”!
A Thank You get-together was also held to show our appreciation for all the kind benefactors of Signadou – who have helped with the boarding school pupils throughout the entire year, whether by ferrying them to external music lessons, sports competitions, supervising them while the Sisters were at prayers, helping with the massive (and never-ending!) laundry and kitchen jobs … etc. There was food, fun, and entertainment! Mrs McKenna even brought her piano accordion, which the boarding school pupils happily danced to, before presenting different little pieces on the bagpipes, Scottish dancing, and even a little comic piece.
St Andrew’s Day was the Day of Recollection for all three sections of the school. The Junior School had Fr Albert with them, while the Senior girls and boys had Fr Laisney. The primary school children had two little talks, a walking rosary, and some craft activities. The secondary school pupils had conferences, the entire 15 decades of the Rosary, and also Stations of the Cross. (It was a very quiet day on the school grounds!)
December 1st saw the secondary school pupils busy with cleaning up the school. Furniture was moved onto the lawn, and brooms, dusters and scrubbing implements were wielded (to various degrees of proficiency) while the girls scrubbed, cleaned, and tidied up the classrooms that they had used for the entire year.
With the wind blowing outside at an average of 30km/h, it was impossible to hose down the exterior of the building, as is usually done. So indoor activities had to suffice instead. A little break for an impromptu Christmas-Card-making session, and then the girls were again deputed to tidy up various areas: polishing brass, sorting piles and piles (and piles) of music, and untangling embroidery thread.
We also had prize-giving on the evening of 2nd December.
A Solemn High Mass concluded the year for the secondary school pupils.
The Primary School children had a happy occasion to look forward to: the visit of St Nicholas! He interviewed each child in turn, and had a sack-load of presents awaiting the eager hands that reached out for the goodies. Black Peter was there to assist him (together with gobs of jelly, an iguana, and other strange surprises).
