Former Island head teacher enjoys rare meeting with the Pope

Sister Marie Louise Serveau, along with students from Beaulieu’s school chamber choir, are currently in Rome to celebrate her 90th birthday.

Sister Marie Louise meets Pope Francis at the Vatican

And on Thursday she was given several minutes with the Holy Father after the school’s headteacher Chris Beirne contacted the Vatican to let them know of Sister Marie Louise’s service to Jersey’s young people.

Sister Marie Louise, who retired as headteacher 25 years ago but is still a trustee at the school, said she felt ‘very privileged’ to have had the meeting.

The nun, who spent 31 years as head teacher at Beaulieu, said: ‘Meeting Pope Francis, who is the head of our Catholic Church, is the greatest honour.

‘I said to him “Holy Father, thank you very much for the message of hope that you have given to the world and also for your message of joy”.

‘As I was talking to him he took my hand in his hand and expressed his pleasure and his happiness to hear these messages.

‘I was deeply, deeply touched by this unique experience.

‘I feel very privileged to have had this great honour.’

During their visit, two Beaulieu students presented Pope Francis with a scroll of dedication signed by all students and staff at the school, which pledges to complete 10,000 hours of service to the poor and in aid of charitable services during 2015 and 2016.

Meanwhile, 35 singers from the school’s chamber choir performed for the Pope in St Peter’s Square last weekend and also sang to members of the National Catenian pilgrimage at the Villa Del Cardinale – a hotel just outside Rome.

The students have also visited a number of religious sites as part of their trip.

Chris Beirne, who accompanied the students, said: ‘It is a great honour for Beaulieu to have this wonderful opportunity to travel to Rome during Sister Marie Louise’s 90th year.

‘The chance for Sister Marie Louise and our students to meet the Holy Father is truly special for us as a Catholic school.’

Sister Marie Louise opening Beaulieu's new primary block on her 90th birthday

The JEP interviewed Sister Marie Louise in September 2014 when she celebrated her 90th birthday:

WHEN most head teachers retire, they are more than happy to leave their days of education behind them.

But a quarter of a century after Sister Marie Louise Serveau passed on the headship of Beaulieu Convent, she remains an important figure in the day-to-day life of the school.

And, this week, the entire Beaulieu community – which includes both primary and secondary pupils – came together to celebrate the Sister’s 90th birthday with a special mass, a large tea party, and the official opening of the newly refurbished primary school.

Originally from Laval, near Mayenne, in France, Sister Marie Louise first arrived in Jersey to become the head of Beaulieu in 1958. She would go on to spend 31 years as head teacher, before retiring in 1989. Today, she remains a member of the Catholic school’s board of trustees and continues to visit the staff and pupils two or three times a week.

‘I’m very interested in the running of the school and I’m keen to continue getting involved,’ she said. ‘I enjoy taking in the school atmosphere and I think some of the younger children look upon me as a grandmother figure.’

But it’s not just the current pupils that the Sister, who turned 90 on Monday, has a close connection to. She also remains in contact with many of her past pupils and their parents.

‘So many of them still write to me, especially at Christmas,’ she said. ‘I keep a close link with them all over the world. I regularly receive letters and at Christmas I receive hundreds of cards from across the world – from America, New Zealand, France, Australia and Jersey – and I always write back to every one to keep that link.

‘Many of my past pupils have gone on to some great achievements – many are now working in high positions in various industries across the world.’

As well as her love for correspondence, Sister Marie Louise also takes a lot of interest in keeping archives of her former pupils, cutting birth and marriage notices and stories about them from the JEP each day.

The oldest of three – she has a brother, Leon, and a sister, Simone – Sister Marie Louise joined the Order of the Immaculate Conception at the age of 16.

‘I realised from a young age that was what I wanted to do,’ she reflected. ‘I had inspiration and it was my goal to join the order. I have a great devotion to the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit.

‘I have an excellent family and my parents were happy for me to carry on my vocation.’

After joining the order in 1943 at its mother house in St Meen Le Grand in Brittany, she spent three years preparing to become a Sister, and soon after she did, in 1946, was sent to the order’s community in Ilfracombe, Devon. While there, she was a student at Exeter University and achieved a BA degree in classical studies with a teaching qualification, before going on to become a teacher, then head teacher, at a school in Ilfracombe run by the order with 150 pupils.

In 1958, her superiors then asked her to go to Jersey to take on the headship of Beaulieu, which they had established there seven years earlier, in 1951.

‘I’d never been to Jersey before moving over, except for a day to visit the school, but I settled in straight away,’ she said. ‘Jersey is a very homely place and I have made so many friends in the Island.

‘When I arrived at Beaulieu it had around 200 pupils and they had just finished the first building of six classrooms. From then onwards the school continued to grow and we carried out building work regularly to create more classrooms. By the time I retired it had 600 pupils.

‘The waiting list for the school was always growing, so we kept building and we carried on increasing the number of students. I was keen to carry on the vision of the sisters, who set up the school – it was like a mustard seed and just grew and grew.’

Sister Marie Louise during her days as headmistress of Beaulieu

Sister Marie Louise said that one of her proudest achievements during her time as head of Beaulieu was setting up the Island’s first parent-teacher associations.

‘When I arrived in 1958 it straight away became obvious to me how much the parents were supporting the school, so I suggested to the community the idea of starting a PTA,’ she recalled. ‘I knew about PTAs at schools in England, but at that time it was unheard of in Jersey and we were the first school in the Island to introduce one. I launched it straight away in January 1959 and we immediately had over 80 join. That was the start of a very successful PTA – the first in the Island – and now almost all schools here have one.

‘Another thing that I’ve always been proud of is the fact that Beaulieu has such a good continuation of staff – most stay at the school for years and take to heart the vision of the school.’

Reflecting on the changes she has seen during her many years of involvement with education, the Sister said: ‘At one stage it was obvious that the emphasis of education was being put on the sciences, but lately that has reversed to the importance of languages. The world that we live in now is so multi-national, so I think it is so important for young people to have language skills.’

Commenting on her other interests, the 90-year-old, who continues to return to the Order of the Immaculate Conception’s mother-house every year, said: ‘I take great interest in the garden – I find it very therapeutic. I also do a lot of visiting, as well as a lot of correspondence and archiving.

‘I like to keep busy and active, and I think it’s very important to be motivated.’

Sister Marie Louise added that she enjoyedcontinuing to visit Beaulieu on a regular basis, as she loved being a part of day-to-day school life.

‘I’m very happy to be able to carry on being involved in following the vision of the order in education and I am so grateful for the overwhelming kindness that I receive from everyone,’ she said. ‘I’m absolutely overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness that I have experienced from the Beaulieu community over the years.

‘Since I retired, the school has carried on being very successful and I’ve enjoyed sharing in the evolution of Beaulieu with the head teachers who followed me, Rosemarie Hill (1989 to 2006) and Chris Beirne (2006 to the present). I couldn’t have chosen two better heads to follow me as they have both been so devoted to Beaulieu.’

Sister Marie Louise, pictured on her 90th birthday

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