I feel that my old school has been wiped from history. I started form one (year seven) at St Paul’s College, Traralgon, in 1979. I progressed to year 11 at the co-educational Lourdes College in 1983 and finished my high school education there in 1984.

These schools no longer exist, because of amalgamations, and their histories seem to be poorly acknowledged on the web.

When I started in 1979 the Marist Brothers ran St Paul’s College. The principal was Br Doug Walsh, who was a cousin of the television personality Mike Walsh. The other Marists who taught me were Br Aubrey (maths), Br Chris (Duke of Edinburgh and sport) and Br Ken (English literature at Lourdes).

The brothers who taught me were all decent men. Br Doug used the strap sparingly and Br Aubrey only whacked the stupid and naughty kids, which was fair enough.

We wore ties and blazers in my time at St Paul’s. The college owned, or had access to, sports ovals across Grey Street which today are housing estates. We were on the edge of town and cross-country runs were held into farmland. Today the school is in the middle of a residential area.

We were a boy’s only only school until year 11. The co-ed tech school was next door, but 90 per cent of its students were male. Today the tech school is merged with the high school and St Paul’s has merged with the all-girls’ Brigidine Kildare College.

Originally it was called Catholic Regional College, but now it is called Lavalla College. Follow that link and you will learn little about the history of the original schools, hence this blog.

So when people ask me where I went to school, what do I tell them? It used to be Lourdes College, which in Victoria at least was known for a few years after I finished there in 1984. Later, I found it easier to say St Paul’s College.

Today, in Western Australia, I find it easiest to say that I went to a Marist Brothers school in Traralgon; St Paul’s if they want the specifics. Lourdes and Catholic Regional College were short lived and I know nothing about Lavalla.