15
NEWSLETTER FOR VILLA MARIA COLLEGE
OUR ALUMNAE
Christine Smith
VMC 1958 – 1966
Two images represent the memories I
hold of Villa Maria. The first is of a figure
bent double in the fields to the right of
the school as we entered the school
grounds from Peer Street. Mr Chin tended
the practical nourishment of Villa's staff
and boarders. Daily, he would tend and
each season he would reap.
The other is the beautiful magnolia
tree which stood at the corner of the
boarding school and along from the
music room. Its tender yet pithy petals on
display signified the Spring of our lives.
It bloomed as exams approached. These
annual events, like Mr Chin's sowing and
reaping, taught me to grasp the concept
of finding balance, of giving and taking, of
tending and nourishing and of recognising
the right conditions for flourishing.
I entered standard three in 1958. Our
classrooms were flanked by the typing
corridor, the old school hall and the
laundry. On winter mornings we sat
on the steps outside our rooms and
drank steaming Milo from mugs which
we brought from home. Eventually, the
laundry buildings were demolished to
make way for our new school hall built by
donations, the proceeds from the annual
school fete and the usual funding from
the Church and the State.
The Hall had great acoustics and it was
here that I continued to develop my
innate understanding of resonance and
vibrations: silence and sound. My love of
music was something that I could share
with the students and I formed a Folk
Music Club with the greatest member-
ship the school had seen with approx-
imately 150 members. We met weekly
and spent hours engaged in the pursuit of
group participation, new repertoire and
inviting guests to perform for and with
us. My public career conflicted with my
school prefecture but this was eventually
resolved and I was permitted to continue
both.
After leaving Villa Maria in 1966 I con-
tinued my career in Television, Concert
Performance, Radio and Recording
throughout NZ and Australia.
Life has seasons and my next one
became a time of personal growth and
marriage with the births of my three chil-
dren. We moved to Brisbane, Australia
and as the children grew I began to share
with them and with their schools my love
of music. Eventually, I became employed
by both State and Catholic Education
Departments, where for nearly a decade I
became a music specialist in primary and
secondary schools. Jacarandas bloomed
during their exams.
We returned to Christchurch in 1993 and
in 1996 I commenced a life of studentship
and as a mature-age student completed
a double major in Political Science and
Sociology, a Grad. dip. Teaching and
Learning at the Chch College of Education
the Cambridge University's CELTA and
Cert TESOL at CPIT. Upon graduation, I
taught at Canterbury University and at
CPIT.
When my children travelled overseas I
decided to use my transferrable skills in
education and accepted a posting first in
the Oil and Gas Industry before moving
into the Aeronautical Industry in Qatar
where I remained for seven years until
2013.
I am currently enjoying time to review
life in Melbourne, Australia and like Mr
Chin I continue to tend and reap the
bounty with which I have been blessed.
This is the winter of my life and soon the
magnolia and jacaranda will blossom as I
examine what I still have to share.
From the Archives
Can You Help?
Do you recognise any of the faces in this photo?
Please contact our Archive Co-ordinator, Sister
Maureen. Email –
or by
phoning the school Office –
(03) 348 4165
Who a re they?
