PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION

Junior School staff, 1961

During the 1950s Loreto Toorak was the largest Loreto institution in Australia. In 1950 the Provincial, Mother Colombiere Lillis, wrote during her annual visitation that ‘there is a very good spirit in the Community, who work well together. But the staff is really inadequate for the number of pupils. As the staff cannot be increased for the present, it would be advisable to keep the number of students at about 300.’ Her brief comment was indeed pertinent. By 1951 there were three hundred and seventy-six pupils, seventeen religious and sixteen lay staff. Mother Colombiere was a highly respected teacher and administrator with a stately bearing. She had a gruff, throaty voice and poor hearing. By 1959 there were five hundred and fourteen pupils, eighteen religious and ten lay staff. The major change during the 1950s was the gradual increase in the number of lay staff members appointed at Loreto Toorak.