Datchelor Tea Party
Last Friday afternoon, we were delighted to welcome alumnae from Mary Datchelor School to Mollison Drive for a tea party.
Prior to its closure in 1981, Mary Datchelor was situated near to the original Wilson's School site in Camberwell. This annual event serves as a celebration of the long-standing connection between the two schools, and also gives attendees the opportunity to view the Datchelor Frieze - a mural, named 'Success Crowning Endeavour', which was gifted to Wilson's and is now in pride of place in the John Jenkins Hall.
Following a few words of welcome from Mr McLaughlin, Amos (Year 10) gave an exceptionally strong piano performance which was warmly received by our attendees, whose delight only grew when they discovered that he was one of over 200 boys in Datchelor house!
Once the tea party in the Britton Centre had concluded, Mr Straw led attendees to the JJ Hall to view the Datchelor Frieze with Penny White (Datchelor alumnus) sharing information about the mural.
We look forward to welcoming more alumnae from MDS to Wilson's in 2027!
Our Communications Prefect, Savir (Year 12), attended the Datchelor Tea Party and penned the following report...
"At the Datchelor Tea Party, Wilson’s welcomed many alumnae from Mary Datchelor School to Wallington. This was particularly significant as Mary Datchelor was seen as a sister school to Wilson’s at its original site in Camberwell. As it happened, some of the alumnae had married Wilsonians who attended the school in Camberwell during that time, so the event definitely brought back fond memories of times past!
The event began with what you would expect - our distinguished guests sat at round tables enjoying tea and cake, accompanied in conversation by myself and the Datchelor House Captains at Wilson’s, sharing how Wilson’s has transformed over the last few decades. The school photographer, Alex (Year 12), was also hard at work, capturing moments from this important annual event in the school’s calendar.
After an address from Mr McLaughlin, guests were brought to the JJ Hall where the Datchelor frieze - donated by Mary Datchelor School to Wilson's in 1981 following the closure of the former - was unveiled. It was a beautiful moment, enabling alumnae to reminisce about their school days as the frieze had originally hung at the back of their main school hall. The moment also underpinned how Datchelor has been ingrained in Wilsonian life today, this reflected further by the fact that it bears the name of one of our six school Houses carried by over 200 of our students as key part of their identity at Mollison Drive.
All in all, it was a fantastic event for the alumnae of Mary Datchelor School and Wilson's staff and prefects alike. A huge thanks to Mr Straw and the other members of the Senior Leadership Team who made this event possible!"
