Life in the last years of the boarding school

'I loved my six years at school, the first four at Roehampton, and the last two in evacuation.

The classes were small, usually no more than fifteen or sixteen, and, on the whole I think we were well taught. Most of the teachers were Religious, there were only a few lay members, for example Miss Hockley for PE and Games, and Dr. Wardale for Music.

Looking back I think that as I had not had an early Catholic upbringing I relished some of the religious practices and customs, such as early morning daily Mass and evening Benediction, more than some of my companions. Like other boarding schools of the time we were pretty regimented with a lot of silence, but there was a lot of fun too, especially on Feast Days. Evacuation to Newquay and Stanford brought much greater relaxation for both nuns and children. I look back with much gratitude to the many Religious who certainly gave me a sense of lasting values and who led me to asking God for a vocation to the Society.'

Dorothy Bell RSCJ