St Joseph’s Catholic School Mundingburra marking 100 years with celebration weekend
A Townsville primary school is pulling out all the stops to mark its centenary with a jam-packed weekend of celebrations. Check out what’s on.
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A Townsville primary school is holding celebrations for past and current students, staff and families to mark 100 years.
St Joseph’s Catholic School Mundingburra is holding a family fun day, a mass and presenting a musical on the history of the school.
The school has more than 350 students in Prep to Year 6 and is one of the oldest Catholic schools in the Townsville area.
Past students and staff are invited to take a trip down memory lane on August 22 and 23 with the performance of the ‘Centenary Chronicles’ musical, starring current students.
The family fun day will feature school tours, food trucks, rides, entertainment and displays of old photos and school year books at the school on August 24.
St Joseph’s sister school St Margaret Mary’s will be holding a bake sale on the day, with the Picnic Bay Surf Life Saving Club will be running a bar.
The celebrations will finish with a mass, followed by morning tea on August 25.
Students Grace, Nathaneal, Piper, Easton, Edie and Evie said some of their favourite memories of being at St Joseph’s included sporting carnivals, extra-curricular activities and making friends, and said everyone at the school was ‘very nice’.
“We got new shirts that say ‘100 years’ on them which is cool,” the students said, with some saying they will keep them forever as a great school memory.
The students also said they were excited to perform as part of the ‘Centenary Chronicles’ musical.
Principal Tracy Nuttall said the 100-year celebrations meant a lot to the whole school, particularly the teachers who have taught for many decades.
The school’s pastoral chaplain, Ms Clare Plant, has been a part of the school for 40 years, with Year 3 teacher Julie Franklin marking 31 years. Former student Michael Feaver now teaches Year 5 and has been working at the school for nine years.
Ms Nuttall, who has been principal since 2022, said the celebrations were planned with a large community focus.
“We’ve been planning this for a while, and it’s exciting that the weekend is getting closer,” she said.
Former students and staff have been sending in pictures, and we’ve had people reaching out on Facebook interested in coming to the events, which is fantastic to see.”
Ms Nuttall said the school had a large generational history, with many grandparents and parents of current students also having attended the school.
“We have former staff travelling down from Brisbane, and we are looking forward to catching up with past families,” she said.
“We have so many families here where the teachers that taught them are now teaching their kids, which is really special.”
“The students follow the Joey’s Way, which is based around the acts of respect, responsibility, safety, being proud and serving others.”
Ms Nuttall said her favourite thing about the school was the students.
“We are so proud of our school, and the kids give their all in everything they do.”
For more information on the centenary celebrations visit the St Joseph’s Mundingburra website.
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Originally published as St Joseph’s Catholic School Mundingburra marking 100 years with celebration weekend
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