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Re-connect with Helen Bennett-Jones (nee Cornish) |
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Helen Bennett-Jones (nee Cornish)
Beaulieu student 1966 – 1980
The Beaulieu Convent at which young Helen Cornish began her schooldays in the mid-sixties was a very different place from what it is today. As Helen has two daughters who have come through the Junior School and are now in Year 7 and Year 12, she is very aware of this.
She started in Kindergarten in the current Year 6 classroom and remembers the old “tin gym” where the Junior School stands today. First teachers were Miss Bastin, Sister Margaret (later to become known as Sister Suzanne) , and Miss Connery, all teaching in the main house. One of Helen’s early memories is of Sister Marie-Louise, in those days called ‘Reverend Mother’, “Sweeping down the stairs in full habit - quite an intimidating sight for a small girl!” It is the presence of the Sisters in those days which is one of Helen’s abiding memories. “They were so much in evidence,” she says. “I had, as form teachers, Sister Joseph, Sister Aline, Sister Emmanuel and Sister Marie-Elizabeth. And in the sixth form, it was Sister Marie-Louise herself! I was proud to be a member of St Agnes House. What a pity it doesn’t exist any more.”
Helen contrasts the experience of her younger daughter Katie, who has last year transferred into Senior School along with 29 others from Beaulieu Year 6 and 70 from other schools. “When I made that move,” says Helen, “we hardly noticed it. We moved from downstairs in the Middle School (M3) to upstairs (M4) and were joined by half a dozen “new girls” from other Primary Schools. And elder daughter Louise is now part of a 130-strong sixth form whereas Helen at that stage in her education was in a 6th form of approximately 20 girls.
Languages were popular with Helen and she attended Spanish ‘O’ level and French ‘A’ level lessons at De La Salle. “But I was no good at Maths!” she adds. Helen well remembers the weekly tests and the giving out of the yellow report books by Sister Marie-Louise. The results for the whole class were read out in front of everybody, from highest result to lowest, and the report book stated the class average mark. Hers was not a controversial year but there was one incident when some of Helen’s class locked a teacher out of the room and refused to let her in. The arrival of Sister Marie-Louise at the scene stopped that. “She did it with one of her looks, nothing more!” laughs Helen. Male teachers were a rarity then (so different from today) but one, Helen remembers, had little classroom control and lessons often turned to chaos.
That small sixth form of the late seventies were given a special privilege: although they had to wear uniform, they could choose a material for their summer dress and have it made up in the style of their choice. But it had to be worn with the blazer. “We decided on something very flowery and floaty.” (Helen seems to have mislaid a photo of the group, taken on the Main House stairs, so if anyone has a copy of it, we’d love to see it.)
Two other teachers who were teaching at Beaulieu when Helen was a pupil and are still teaching now are Louise Warran and Ev McNulty and she is very pleased that both have taught her daughters. Other little memories include the Christmas Bazaar in the dinner rooms and the sixth form common room in the Summerhouse. “And one weekend, we called in to school to find one of the sisters balancing precariously on the parapet of the second floor of the Main House cleaning the windows!” (Not so many Health and Safety regulations in those days)
Helen has always loved the ethos of Beaulieu and is sure that it will be maintained, with the best of the school’s past combining with its exciting future. She is so pleased that her daughters have followed her and she hopes that daughters of other former pupils will be able to as well, ensuring that links with the past are preserved.
DCT
Feb 2010
Helen models the First School uniform c. 1968
Helen and Friend at Sports Day
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Re-connect with Dominique Lamy and Lucy Le Cornu |
Re-connect with Dominique Lamy (nee Le Luyer)
and Lucy Le Cornu
I recently had the pleasure of meeting up with two of my former students over lunch. Dominique and Lucy first met at the age of four on arrival at Reception Class at Beaulieu. This was a particularly daunting time for Dominique as she had been brought up at home to speak only French. However, she says that this gave her a strong affinity with the Sisters.
They agreed that one of their earliest memories concerns the rocking horse in Mrs Sinclair’s class. (“And wearing navy knickers!” adds Dominique.) But back to the horse. It seems that turns on it were strictly rationed and Lucy remembers having a ride only on special occasions. Bringing Pets to School Day was popular and Lucy’s guinea pig attended one of those. Friends at this time included Solene Le Gall, Catherine Le Huray, Giulia Mausolle (“We could tell even then that she would grow up to be a journalist!”) and Natalie Ranise. Other memories of Junior School days include sewing with Sister Suzanne and macramé with Mrs Charlton (“Who could be a bit scary on occasions but she kept us in order!”)
Both friends agreed that transfer to the Senior Department was intimidating. “There were 34 new girls to meet and a form of competition took place to see who, of the Beaulieu contingent, could make most new friends,” says Lucy. (At this point in the interview, I mentioned that our current Year 7 is 100 strong, a fact which surprised both former pupils.) “There was a bit of a rebellious element in our year and although we mainly all got on well, there were couple of volatile ones who could rub each other up the wrong way.”
History lessons with Mr Thomas were popular, especially the gory films and the “Haggis Breakfast” brought in to show what a medieval diet would have been like. Science with Sister Marie Elizabeth (known, of course, to all generations as Sister Bubbles) or Mrs Smart was also enjoyable, especially when there was an opportunity, during a more boring lesson, to cause the latter teacher to go off on a tangent! I asked about cultural events, but Lucy admitted attending one choir practice just to get the badge then giving up! Also, hiding in book cupboards was regularly used as a way of not being sent out of the classroom at lunchtime. Less pleasant memories include communal showers after PE and changing at the poolside for swimming at De La Salle.
“When we were feeling a bit under the weather, a visit to Mrs James in the office would always provide sympathy, while Sister Helene would supply crisps and snacks to those who had forgotten their packed lunch,” remembers Lucy.
“And who could forget Mrs Omer’s potted plants,” adds Dominique.
Lucy’s own rebellious moment came on a notorious PE trip to Greece during the summer between Year 10 and Year 11. “A few of us absconded from our hotel for a night on the town. We must have been keen as it included climbing a wire fence and tripping over some geese. We were found out and detention sessions followed when we got back to school!”
In the sixth form, both girls decided that they would not seek a university place but would take up careers in Jersey. One slight criticism from Dominique was that there was so much emphasis put on university entrance that they were rather forgotten. But thanks to good teaching and some tuition from Sister Marie-Louise, both passed their French ‘A’ level, a feat described to Lucy by her French teacher as “a miracle!”
Both now hold diplomas from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. And since it was now time to return to work, Lucy at Ogier's and Dominique at LGL Trustees, we finished our lunch, having enjoyed reminiscing about school days. |
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Re-connect with Carla Benest |
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Re-connect with Carla Benest
Pupil at Beaulieu from 1990 to 2001
Beaulieu was always the school which Carla’s mother had wanted for her daughter. However, her name had not been put down in time for Carla to attend reception class. “Some girls had their names down 12 years before they were born!” jokes Carla. But after brief stays at two other schools, a place became available due to a family moving away from Jersey, and the future advocate was able to become a member of Miss Connery’s Year 3 class.
Carla’s memories of her time in the Junior School include how Sister Aline would astound the class by guessing the contents of her end-of-term presents by simply looking at them or feeling them. She says others of her generation will remember “Badger Girl”, a TV programme which was watched in class and on which homework was set. “There weren’t too many shocking incidents at that age,” says Carla, “But one unfortunate child did wet her knickers in class. It wasn’t me!” she adds.
The angle of the mirrors in the toilets allowed the trick of raising one arm and leg to produce the illusion of both arms and legs being raised. (What some very old people will remember as stunt done by TV comedian Harry Worth, back in the 60s). Carla also recalls with some pride her days in Mrs Charlton’s class. “We were the “big girls” and prefects, too!” She still has her macramé pot-holder from those days. She cannot remember why she went to drum lessons. Her mother did not sanction them but somehow she followed her friend and joined in!
In her senior school career, Carla developed an enjoyment of modern languages and is grateful to Mrs Garton for her guidance in French and German. Sport was also a favourite, especially hockey, netball and tennis. She hated cross-country. Textiles was one area of the curriculum which Carla found “challenging”. She is somewhat embarrassed that her two projects - a jester and a kimono – were never completed.
Another teacher whom Carla remembers fondly is Mr Horne, partly for his famous “Triangle Song” and also because he was in charge of the school bells which regularly needed adjusting. This meant that science lessons often ended with a Quasimodo impersonation as the teacher rushed out of the lab shouting ‘The bells, the bells!’ And like all her generation, she says she learnt at an early age that ‘a lot’ is two words.
Carla’s close friends were Sarah Huelin, Fiona Connelly, Laura Hendrick and Kirsten Faichnie. The school’s relatively small size meant that it was easy to get to know most people in all years. One of the highlights of the year for Carla was Feast Day, December 8th, and although she was never too keen on the sticky buns she thoroughly enjoyed the knockabout humour of the show that followed the Mass. At that time, of course, the whole senior school fitted in the gym. Compare that with the current situation where we now only just all fit into St Mary and St Peter’s Church!
Carla took English, French and Sociology at ‘A’ level. In her year-group everyone got on well with each other, except for the time in the common room when one group of friends insisted on playing the same song over and over again until the fur flew! But if life got her down or she was suffering from a tummy ache, Carla well remembers the one person to whom she, and all others, would go to for sympathy and remedy – Mrs James.
Her University career took Carla to Nottingham Trent, not a place she was particularly keen on at first, but she stayed 4 years, graduating in law and completing her LAC. Returning to Jersey, she was first employed at Crill’s then at Mourant’s where today she specialises in employment law and litigation. Work colleagues include fellow Beaulieu past pupils Sarah Huelin, Eloise Layzell and Fritha Ford. The Beaulieu Foundation would like to wish Carla and her new husband Matt every health and happiness together. |
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Re-connect with Vicki Charlesworth (nee Gouedard) |
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Re-connect with Vicki Charlesworth (nee Gouedard) (Pictured right with sister Debbie)
Student at Beaulieu from 1981 to 1995
It was at an early age that Vicki Gouedard considered a career in teaching and, looking back, she believes that one of the main reasons for this decision was the admiration she had for her own teachers at Beaulieu. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Education and Professional Studies from Kings College, London where she met her husband. Having now completed 10 years in teaching, Vicki is enjoying the challenge of being Deputy Head at St Luke’s Primary School in Jersey. Meanwhile, her younger sister Debbie has followed a similar career path in is working at St Martin’s Primary.
Vicki speaks glowing of her time at Beaulieu and of her teachers. She was in the care of Miss Warran in Year 5 and remembers the fun of lessons and the natural respect for children shown by this inspiring teacher. From her time in senior school Vicki speaks fondly of Miss Donoghue – “Always covered in chalkdust but fully committed to her subject and her class” – and of Miss McNulty who made History interesting and who was always interested in her pupils.
From her Junior School days, Vicki remembers Sister Aline’s handwriting lessons and how girls would wait eagerly on fine days to find out if taking lunch outside was to be permitted. Then there were the 100-word spelling tests where the last word was always “Beaulieu”. In Sister Suzanne’s class, knitting featured but this was not one of Vicki’s strong points. “My scarf was always very odd-shaped,” she confesses. A visit from the “nit nurse” would mean girls having to line up for inspection. “If you were given a letter, you knew you were infested!” smiles Vicki.
A particular memory is the day Jenny Marek managed to get blue paint in her hair. And of course the place girls did not want to find themselves was sitting next to Mrs Van der Vliet in the library as this was well-known as “The Naughty Seat”! Vicki recalls clearly the three items girls were told to take with them to the Christmas bazaar –“Your purse, your plastic bag and your manners.”
Vicki played in school netball teams and was a member of the choir. She was a cast member in three productions, including the last joint Beaulieu/DLS pantomime at The Opera House, Dick Whittington in 1993. Other highlights for Vicki were of course the fun of December 8th (“Even though I didn’t really care for the buns!”) and the Fetes when John Nettles (a.k.a. Jim Bergerac in those days) would be the regular visiting celebrity and enormous queues formed with tourists and locals keen to obtain his autograph. Two trips away which stick in her mind are the Year 7 day trip to France with Mrs Cousin and Mrs Ahier and the Year 12 cultural visit to Stratford and London.
Vicki is still in touch with classmates Jenny Marek, Natasha O’Connor, Heidi Stevenson, Nadia Guglieri and Lizzie Dimsey. She enjoyed her time at Beaulieu and considers that the school’s greatest asset is its sense of community. She is pleased to know that, despite changes and modernisation, this is being preserved and encouraged. She says that it is a place where positive values are shaped and she wishes the school well as it approaches its Diamond Jubilee in 2011.
Vicki Today
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