Four generations of St Margaret’s women For the Webb family, their St Margaret’s school ties run deep. The family’s connection with the school goes all the way back one hundred years when Margery Webb (married name Adnam) and her sister Cecilie (married name Anderson) were students in the 1920s. Current Year 9 student Georgia Bradshaw is continuing the family’s tradition into the 2020s. “It is a wonderful feeling to be our family’s fourth generation student to attend the school. Following in the footsteps of past generations reminds me we are part of a long history here at St Margaret’s,” Georgia said. Georgia’s adored grandmother and Margery’s daughter, Margaret Joyce (nee Adnam) attended St Margaret’s as a boarder, graduating in 1965, and Margaret’s sister Sally Coffey (nee Adnam) graduated in 1961. Kim Joyce, Georgia’s mother, graduated in 1987. Georgia admits her grandmother loves to share her memories of St Margaret’s, in particular her boarding experience. “When my grandmother was a boarder there were two large dormitories with rows of beds. Two or three girls shared a cubical with a chest of drawers and a small cupboard for each girl. “By comparison, boarders in the boarding house today sleep in year levels and I share a room with just three other girls. “We have amazing food too. Dinners are often a buffet as opposed to during my grandmother’s era when meals were brought to the table. We also have a boarder kitchen which we can use on the weekends,” Georgia said. While these days boarders are encouraged to write letters, letter writing was a compulsory task on Sunday mornings
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for boarders in Georgia’s grandmother’s era and, upon completion, each girl’s letter was inspected by Sister Mary. “Boarding has changed and become more relaxed in its restrictions since my grandmother and even my mother were boarders. “In my grandmother’s day there were no mobile phones and no phone calls were permitted either. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t phone home. “There was also no radios and boarders were never allowed to leave the school grounds. Whereas we always have planned activities on the weekends and are allowed to go running or walking whenever we like, so long as we are with at least two other girls. We can take leave whenever we want; we just need to submit a leave form,” Georgia said. Possibly one of the more significant changes in boarding life at St Margaret’s over years is its cultural diversity. While the school has always been a home away from home for daughters of rural and regional families, it has only been in more recent times overseas students have also called the boarding house home, an aspect that Georgia really appreciates. “St Margaret’s is immersed in so many different cultures and I love that the school brings many cultures from across the world together and everyone just fits together and is happy,” she said. While St Margaret’s may have changed immensely since Georgia’s grandmother and even her mother were boarders, Georgia says she wouldn’t change a thing about her experience so far. “I love the atmosphere and I love the sisterhood!” she said.
