A Brief History of Foundation Day
With Wenona recently celebrating its 132nd birthday, Wenona Archivist (and former Deputy Principal) Mrs Michele Ginswick has produced a fascinating snapshot of the evolution of Foundation Day.
“The first Foundation Day occurred in 1935 when the School’s visionary founder, Miss Edith Hooke made the journey from her home in Leura to spend the day with her girls.
According to the Principal’s Report of 1935, ‘Open House was kept from 9.00am to 6.00pm, and the school was thronged throughout the day with past and present pupils.’ An opening service at 9am was followed by tennis and netball matches, while the official function was held in the afternoon with a huge cake and the drinking of the health of the school by 500 people. The Principal’s Report stated that, ‘The chief value of the commemoration lay, however, in the opportunity it afforded for the reunion of old and present girls, for the renewal of friendships and the cementing of loyalties.’
The earliest Foundation Day Service we have on record is dated 1938.This document is wonderfully annotated with the names of the girls who performed the readings, and with the Benediction given by Canon Baker, Rector of St Thomas’ Church. A delightful aspect is the note about the Welcome given to Woodstock pupils by one of Miss Hooke’s girls, followed by the Welcome to the Old Girls by Judith Moreau and a reply by Miss Hooke herself.
However, for a real understanding of the day, one has to read the report by Betty Rhead, who was a Boarder from 1938 to 1941. Anticipating something ‘awfully boring’, she was pleasantly surprised when the day ‘turned out quite decent for a change’. This might have been due to the unusual allowance of much eating of sweets, or perhaps because of the entertainment provided by the different Houses. This included Messiter’s photo exhibition, where the plans for the school rebuilding ‘looked alright’; Allard’s guessing competition, which Betty said was ‘beyond my brain powers’; and Palmer’s museum, which was judged ‘good enough for the King’. Hooke, of course, was busy forming the guard of honour for Miss Hooke and organising the presentation of the bouquet. Betty commented that only the ‘idle rich’ Old Girls came in the morning! Old Girls won the debate but lost the very muddy Netball match (only those wearing silk stockings didn’t fall over!).
The Order of Service used in 1938 is still recognisable in the current Foundation Day Program. We still sing the School Hymn, O God our Help and respond – May God’s holy name be praised and Lord hear our prayer – although the latter was followed by and let our cry come unto Thee, a most haunting phrase when said by a congregation of female voices! The Exhortation, Members of Wenona, is still there, as are the sentiments of this part of the service giving thanks for the staff, both teaching and non-teaching, for service to community, for the school leaders, and for co-curricular activities. Specific mentions of home and family, memories and friendships have been added while praying for the ‘backward girls’ and for the domestic staff ‘that no carelessness or ill manners on the part of others may make their lot difficult’ have disappeared.
In 1944, further gravitas was added to the service by the introduction of the Oration, usually delivered by a distinguished Old Girl. Focusing broadly on the topic of ‘what Wenona did for me’ the speakers in general show great awareness and understanding of what it was like when they were sitting in the audience listening to the Old Girl, and fearing a boring speech to come. The breadth of their professions is astounding, from doctors and lawyers to engineers and architects, women holding political office, those working in humanitarian fields, academics, businesswomen, journalists, actors and documentary film makers, even a coastal pilot! Many were married with families. Their labels do not really give the detail of these remarkable women.
To end the service, God Save the King, then, in 1952, God Save the Queen was always sung until 1984, when there was a reluctant change to Advance Australia Fair.
The School Song is a little more problematic. Written in 1931 by Nerida Stuart Lauder, it received enthusiastic acceptance by the students. However, even as late as 1955, it was regarded as not quite dignified enough by many. It became part of the Wenona tradition, but as late as the 1960s it was a handwritten addition to the official Foundation Day Service.
The cake has always been a most important part of Wenona’s birthday celebration! Traditionally cut by the youngest girl in the school, it was originally big enough for a slice for each girl. This came to an abrupt halt when, in 1994, the evidence of paw prints in the icing lead to the discovering of a dog in the delivery van! This was followed by the sad decision to dispose of the cake. (A quick dash to the local cake shop saw the cutting of a very much smaller cake!)
Over the years, the entertainment held on Foundation Day has changed. No more Old Girls versus present girls in sports and Debating. No more flamboyant dressing up as in the 1970s. No more Wenona curry lunch for the Old Girls in the school dining room. Foundation Day has been held on weekdays and on Saturdays, in the morning and in the afternoon.
Nevertheless, Foundation Day of 2018 retains the wonderfully strong links to those of the past.
Old Girls come back to their school, the cake is cut and happy birthday sung, but just in case all this is seen as a little trivial, the whole school, present Wenonians and past, gather in one place to use the same words expressing the values and sentiments which have stood the test of time and represent what it is to be a Wenonian.”