St Francis' College

 

The oldest part of the school is situated in the angle between The Broadway and Spring Road. It was built in 1919 for Theosophist students and was known as St Christopher’s School. In 1928 St Christopher’s moved to its present site on Barrington Road and the building was unoccupied until it was purchased in June 1933 by the Congregation of Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary.

A new school   

The Sisters decided to open the new school in September 1933 and over the summer over 50 workmen began repairing and transforming the school. Most walls were re plastered and painted in cream and green. The school was dedicated to St Francis’ de Sales. As well as classrooms looking out onto the Loggia there were needlecraft rooms, music rooms, a laboratory, art room, gymnasium and library. The boarders slept in dormitories, and there was a chapel and theatre sitting 600 people. The theatre was built in 1924, the foundation stone laid by Annie Besant a well-known reformer and theosophist.

Kindergarten opening   

The Kindergarten and Preparatory School opened on Monday September 4th and the SeniorSchool on September 20th 1933.  The school opened with 29 pupils, but numbers soon increased to over 200 by the end of the 1930s. Boarders came from Belgium, Siam, Holland, Spain, England, Ireland and USA.  

A move to Broadway 

By 1938 the school was experiencing a lack of space and the decision was taken to build the present Broadway building. This would allow more sleeping accommodation for the increasing number of boarders, a larger chapel which would accommodate the whole school, a separate junior school to be developed and more teaching space for subjects such as domestic science and commercial subjects.    

The foundation stone was laid on October 24th 1938 by Monseigneur Van Rechem, Bishop of Carpasie and Auxiliary Bishop of Ghent. Building work continued throughout 1939 and the new building was opened to boarders in September 1939 just as the Second World War began. The building was predominantly used for the boarders and Sisters. Teaching was still done in the former school building.