An Unexpected Reunion in Bathurst

March 24, 2025

 

Dr Jerry Nockles was recently appointed as the Executive Director of Catholic Social Services Australia. On a visit to Bathurst in his new role, he had a wonderful reunion with two of his former teachers, Sisters Patricia Powell and Michelle Farrugia.

Those of us who are teachers, not infrequently have a stranger approach and say “Sister, do you remember me?”. It turns out to be an ex-student, and it can be quite embarrassing because a 50 year old seldom resembles the five year old you taught in Kindergarten!

That wasn’t the case when Institute Leader, Sister Karon Donnellon, paved the way for a meeting between us and an ex-student of St Philomena’s School South Bathurst, where we taught in the 1970’s. Jerry Nockles was one of four boys in Michelle’s Kindergarten Class in 1972. His older brother, Rodney was in Patricia’s composite 5/6 Class. We both served as Principal of St Phil’s during those years.

This year, Dr Jerry Nockles was appointed the Executive Director of Catholic Social Services Australia, a role that draws on his extensive experience in leadership, policy development and advocacy across various sectors of society. Jerry came to Bathurst to visit Centacare, but he also wanted to call on the local Mercies to thank them for the seeds of mercy planted in his heart during his primary school years at St Phil’s – seeds which have flourished and borne fruit in a remarkable life of practical action to facilitate change in the lives of people most in need of mercy.

From the beginning, St Phil’s was a Mercy School for poor families: the children from the Orphanage, the children who came to school hungry, the children who brought their sixpence a week school fees knotted in the corner of their hankie, if their Mum could afford it, the children who came from broken homes and homes where alcohol was abused and violence was not uncommon. St Phil’s was in the oldest part of Bathurst called Milltown, where many of the houses ran along the railway line, or were the housing commission area on the edge of town. But it also became a demonstration school for trainee teachers from Mitchell College of Advanced Education, as well as from the Mercy Novitiate at St Joseph’s Mount. And other families who were not “poor” also chose to send their children to St Phil’s, because from the beginning there was something special about the culture that developed there.

When Michelle asked Jerry what it was about St Phil’s that made such a lasting impression on him, he spoke about love. Jerry and his siblings had a less than auspicious start in life. But he remembered how good the Sisters were to his mother and how, at school, he felt loved, happy and secure. He remembered how he and the other boys piggy-backed their kindergarten classmate, who had muscular dystrophy, to the toilet, or later, when Mark progressed to a wheelchair, doing hair-raising donuts with him round the basketball court! Jerry said he didn’t just receive mercy himself and his family, he was encouraged to show mercy to others and that experience influenced his career choices all through his life. His Morning Prayer became quite simply “Send me!”

Michelle acknowledged that School at St Phil’s was fun. “You never set your clock by the school bell because if we were having fun outside, we did not go inside. And if we were having fun inside, we did not go outside!” The spirit of community and inclusivity was tangible. Parents and Friends were very involved in maintaining the school plant and raising money for essentials. Neighbours, like old Mr Gebbie who lived over the road, was the volunteer security guard/cum handyman, who raked up the leaves in Autumn and lit the fires in the classroom grates in Winter. At the weekend, the school was transformed into the Parish Church. St Phil’s parishioners were proud of their identity and fiercely loyal to their Parish, their Pastor and their school. Locomotive driver and former Prime Minister of Australia,

Ben Chifley lived in a modest cottage in St Phil’s Parish, and was often among the worshippers on a Sunday, kneeling unobtrusively at the back of the Church. There’s a new St Phil’s Primary School in South Bathurst now but the old culture of inclusivity and love is still treasured and nurtured by a new generation of lay teachers.

We  don’t think we would have recognised Jerry if he had approached us on the street, not because of the fifty plus years that have elapsed since we saw him last, but because we could not imagine that a little boy who started out in life so far behind the eight ball would become a man of such incredible competence, grace and influence. But such is the power of mercy!

Written by Sisters Patricia Powell and Michelle Farrugia.