ONE family has spanned nine decades of catholic education at Waratah’s Corpus Christi Primary School.
The school was established in June 1935 through the work of the Dominican Sisters, and on Thursday, June 19, celebrated its 90th anniversary.
Norma Tracey, now 96, was the school’s first paid secretary. Her daughter Louise Wilson continued in that role after her from 1987 to 2017.
Her granddaughter Katie Castles has been a teacher and religious education coordinator at the school since 2022.
The trio celebrated the school’s 90th anniversary on Thursday, June 19, remembering its official opening in June 1935.
“It’s very special and it hasn’t been planned or designed for us to have three generations in one school, but just through fate that’s the way it’s worked out,” Ms Castles said.
Mrs Wilson said the family always had an association with the church and she came from a family of educators.
“It was pretty exciting when Katie decided that would be her career as well,” she said.
She said the school had a very special family feel, and it had always been like that.
“From even when I was in kindergarten here, it’s been very much a community. You’re part of one big family,” she said.
Ms Castles said the current 2025 year group was curious and inquisitive about the school’s history.
“They watched a video of Norma talking about Corpus Christi in the past and how it had changed, and they were really curious, which was nice to see,” she said.
Corpus Christi Primary School started as an institute for children with hearing impairments and opened the initial primary school, Rosary School, in 1907, later named St Joseph’s.
By 1933 the school’s enrolment had outgrown the original location on Alfred Street, leading the to construction of a purpose-built five-classroom school, which opened in 1935.
A second floor was added in 1954, and in 2002, a modern library, administration building, canteen, staffroom, and classrooms were introduced.
A mass was held to celebrate the milestone, followed by morning tea, a historical display, and classroom tours.
Former alums shared memorabilia and stories with many of the items contributed by local historian Ed Tonks, who was a former student who began at Corpus Christi in 1961.
Principal Katie Kingsford is also a former student who attended the school in the 1990s.
