I commenced my schooling at Sacred Heart in January 1964, been taught by Sister M. Gerard, an Irish sister of The Forbes/ Wilcannia congregation.

My only recollections of that first year of school is that the Kindergarten was in the room closest to Wentworth St. and that one day we painted plastic doilies, a task that must have interested me considerably more than the academic pursuits.

My first class teachers in 1965 were Sister Mary Angela and Sister Mary Madeline who also prepared the class to receive their First Holy Communion.

Third and Fourth Classes in 1968 and 1967 were held in the centre room of the main school and would be taught by Sister Mary Pepetua. I can remember doing a project on Ireland and being rather jealous when one of the boys received a higher mark for his project than I did.

Fifth and Sixth Classes were located in the end room. Sister Mary Bernard taught me in Fifth Class in 1969. Sister Mary Agnes taught me in Sixth Class in 1970 .

The Sixth Class teacher was usually the Principal of the school and the one to give the cane when it was decided to be necessary . I got it once for chasing the boys around the toilets....Terrible behaviour!

Mother Camillus was the head of the convent, and the convent girls used to go to her on the rear verandah of the convent for sewing lessons. 'Mother' taught me the finest crossstich, embroidery and hemming.

It was quite nice sitting in the sun and learning to sew.

When I was in Fourth or Fifth class, the sisters had to employ some lay teachers and I can remember Mrs. Hetherington; who introduced us to the National Bird Guild, so we'll all sported lovely badges and received magazines.

Lewis Hodgkinson brought little bottles of milk for every student, every day. During the the winter we used to go to bring the steel crates of milk into the classrooms and sit them on the fires to warm the milk.

I used to love to be asked to bring the crates in, so that I could hide my bottle outside. I could not stand warm milk!

Every second year some of the students sang or recited poetry or played piano in the Blue Mountains Eisteddfod. My brother and I won a prize each but there was a family from Portland who seemed to win everything - very talented young people.

Several of the mothers of the school students worked regularly in the school tuckshop and others helped make the school float for the Rhododendron Festival, as well as working all year for the Daffodil Fair.

Daffodil Day used to be a treat because we could go to The Fair after school and buy a lucky dip or a toffee and smell all the beautiful flowers.

Before the school had a 'one-day-a- week' Tuckshop I would be given fifteen cents to buy my lunch at the shops if there wasn't any fresh bread at home. I would buy ten cents worth of chips at The Fish Shop and a five cent cream bun at Field's cake shop. Delicious and very filling!

Because the school wasn't very big, whenever the students needed to travel away from school for some event, the Mums used to drive us.

Sometimes we went to Lawson for a Swimming Carnival. When I was in fourth class the whole school went to The Savoy Theatre in Katoomba to see "The Sound Of Music" so there were several drivers who were needed to transport us that day.

Sadly, on the way home there was an accident and Sister Mary Elizabeth was killed and her driver, Mrs. Johnson, also died a few days later from her injuries. Fortunately the students traveling in the car received only minor injuries and shock.

The school closed for a few days of mourning as it was a great tragedy for a small community.

Another time that the school allowed us time off was on the 20th of July, 1969, when we were allowed home to watch the first man walk on the moon.

I wasn't that excited about the moon walk but it was certainly nice to have a half-day off school.

I was a nervous wreck thinking that the Lunar Module would not re-dock with the spaceship and the astronauts would remain in space. Thank heavens it all worked out!

The school always had an end of year concert in the Community Hall. Until Sister Mary Elizabeth's death, she was the director of the concert and it was always great entertainment. Students would sing solo or in groups. They would dance, recite poetry, perform little skits and so on. Once again parents would be busy for weeks preparing costumes and scenery.

Mrs. Joyce Richardson was often called upon to teach us dance steps and I did a Scottish Sword Dance once and our neighbour and good friend, Mr Jack Halpin, made me a beautiful kilt for the occasion

I left Sacred Heart School in December 1970 and moved on to High School at Mount St Marys' in Katoomba.

Sadly Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School had to close a short time later due to lack of numbers.

I remember my time at the school very fondly. There was a lovely atmosphere of community that is still evident throughout Bllackkheath.

The school was a family, a close and loving environment in which we supported one another and were nurtured by the Sisters of Mercy.