We wish to congratulate Br Brian Clery for 70 years of service as a Christian Brother.
Br Clery taught at CBC Warrnambool from 1957 until 1963, where he taught Grade 4 (at the time, CBC offered from Grade 3 through to Year 12). Recently, Br Clery penned some memories for us, giving us some insight into his experience as a new teacher and what school was like during the late 50s.
Thank you Br Clery for your many years of service to Catholic Education. Your influence on the boys of CBC has been an enduring one, which is still as evident as it was when they were boys at school.
When I arrived at CBC Warrnambool in late January 1957, fresh from teacher training, aged 20 years I was given Grade 4 - approximately 90 boys in the one classroom in the new school building.
Before my arrival Monsignor Galligan was not keen on spending money on a new school building. Nevertheless Br H. S. Boylan the Principal was determined to lift the standard of education and needed a decent school building to do so.
Things quickly came to a head after the Inspector of Schools came to check the work of the senior class, which in those days was situated on the open, windswept front verandah of the Brothers’ residence. The Inspector asked to see the exam papers and results of recent testing. Br Boylan answered with a wide gesture of his hands, “Sorry, it seems the wind has blown them away!”
Approvals for the new school building along Canterbury Road quickly followed.
My first year of teaching was a huge challenge. The room was so packed with boys that I had no room for a desk or chair. The pupils’ front row of desks was 18 inches (approx. 45cm) from the blackboard! I well remember the School Inspector when he came into the room. He asked where my desk and chair were. I told him the reason for their absence. He had a look of horror on his face. He heard the boys recite their two times table and left!
As the years passed by class sizes got down to numbers in the 70’s, which still horrifies teachers today – but those were different times.
I got to know the boys well thanks to the many out-of-class activities the Brothers had planned. We had weekend bike rides to Tower Hill, the Hopkins River mouth and the sand hills. There were class picnics out in the sand dunes at Bald Hill, where hill tops were defended and besieged by ‘armies’ of defenders and attackers. There was also sport - football, cricket, athletics and swimming. Each Friday afternoon down at the school oval I’d organise four games of football and select, in turn, four boys to umpire. The old tram acted as change rooms.
For a number of years I coached the Under 14’s football team in the Warrnambool and District League. CBC were Premiers in 1961, 1962 and 1963. Our main rival was the local Tech school (now Brauer College).
The 1963 Premiership was truly unbelievable. We had been well beaten by Tech during the season, including the second semi-final, 10.5 to 2.3. We defeated Koroit by 1 point in the preliminary final and then, somehow, defeated Tech. 7.3 to 6.4 in the grand final! It was a miracle, pure and simple.
We had good athletics teams, well coached by Br Gibbons, Br Chappell and Br Flaherty. CBC often won their divisions in the annual Catholic County Schools Athletic Carnival held in Melbourne. Some outstanding athletes were Stan Carroll, Brian Callaghan, Laurie Foley, Frank Denny, Jim Leishman, Sean Hickey and John Quinn.
My first year of teaching was a huge challenge. The room was so packed with boys that I had no room for a desk or chair.
CBC was also the first school to hold a swimming carnival in the new Warrnambool pool (now AquaZone). I think John de Vos won the first race if my memory serves me correctly.
But CBC and St Ann’s really put themselves in the limelight when they combined not only to enter the Western Districts High Schools’ Athletic Carnival, but CBC also had the task of hosting it at the Reid Oval. Compared with other district high schools, CBC was totally inadequate staff-wise to prepare and collect all necessary equipment. However all the Brothers, especially Br Gibbons and Br Chappell, worked tirelessly to have everything perfectly organised and on time.
The girls from St Ann’s were terrific. Not only did they win many events and gain good places, but they cheered ferociously for the boys and their own girls, and of course the boys did the same. It was a sign of things to come.
In the end our combined team won the carnival.
One year the YCS invited CBC to field representatives in their athletic carnival at Koroit. Brs Gibbons and Hickey were good athletes as was student Frank Denny (from Port Fairy). Br Hickey won the sprint and hurdles, Br Gibbons won the 800 mile and cross country (around Tower Hill) and Frank Denny the jumps. We were never invited again!
The school concerts were great fun and always well attended. Brs. Sullivan and Gibbons produced excellent choirs. Who could forget the quality of Eric Howard’s soprano voice singing the descant solo above the choir in the “Nun’s Chorus”?
There was also Br O’Brien’s Year 9 class reciting “The Man From Iron Bark”. Brother’s sensitivity for the audience was revealed where instead of crying “Murder bloody murder,” it was “Murder gory murder.”
I could not conclude this article without recalling my good friend Br Hehir who taught Grade 6. He had a faithful friend in Bruno, the golden Labrador. Bruno accompanied Br Hehir everywhere, including the classroom.
After the boys had gone into class after lunch, Bruno would spend time nibbling any scraps of food in the playground, then scratch on Br. Hehir’s classroom door. Immediately a boy would dutifully open the door, and salute as Bruno entered. The dog would then flop down under Br. Hehir’s table and have his siesta.
One day the School Inspector was in Br. Hehir’s class after lunch, when Bruno began scratching at the classroom door. Br. Hehir broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, the “door keeper” had enough sense to remain seated, and the dog went away.
Br Clery thanks Brs Gibbons, Chappell, Hickey and Mr. G. Henderson for jogging his memory to compile this article.
