What started off as a small kindergarten for tiny tots, gradually grew to become the well known “Sunbeam Nursery” that stands today. Being one of the most sought after kindergarten classes in Belgaum even today, it stands tall and mighty, imparting moral values and education to young impressionable minds.
Sunbeam Nursery, the birth of the separate preparatory school for St. Paul’s Primary school..
A Kindergarten class was started by Fr.George Rego SJ about mid 1950s under the motherly guidance of Ms. M. D’Lima and later helped by Ms. Pandit and Ms. Lobo to cater to the number of non-English speaking boys coming from the villages around wanting an English education. The kindergarten class was placed in the last class-room of the Secondary block on the ground floor as the primary school was crowded. It was for the benefit of these tiny tots that a small Centenary park was laid out in the triangular plot to the north by Bro. John Alphonso SJ It had swings, see-saws and slides and in the middle a fish pond with a fountain. Just outside the garden was the colourful and beautiful mayflower tree in all its summer grandeur and glory. When this Kindergarten class was moved to the Primary block it was decided in 1972 to dismantle the garden and move the slides closer to the Primary building to increase the playing fields, as required by the Inspectors, since the numbers had increased on the rolls. Sadly by this time the stately mayflower tree had collapsed with age and had to be cut down. She would have spoken volumes about all the events she had witnessed over the years on these grounds. Her disappearance left a void in the heart of many a boy, who had spent many hours during his school days sitting leaning on her trunk and under her generous umbrella like shade. She was the last of all the huge trees dotting the property — the banyan, and ‘jambul’, the jackfruit and mango trees. All of these trees had provided means for boys to swing and play ‘Jack the monkey’ Tarzan-style from their branches, a costless, healthy, outdoor entertainment for their leisure time.
Glimpses of Sunbeam Nursery | The Playgrounds with boys enjoying their play time. | The Mayflower Tree! | The Playground!
From 1966 onwards the Kindergarten classes began to grow. So the number of divisions was increased. The demand for admission to the Primary school grew proportionately. In 1971 it was decided to start the lower kindergarten to increase the intake rather than take new candidates from other schools. When the hostel boys moved into the newly built hostel and had vacated the three bungalows completely in the early 1970s these buildings fell vacant for a time. The Kindergarten was moved into these buildings. The middle dormitory became the Lower Kindergarten and the top dormitory, Mrs. Mohiddin’s bungalow in B.C.64, became the Upper Kindergarten under the guidance of Mrs. J. Paul and other teachers.
With this the whole kindergarten was shifted away from the Primary to its own premises making it an independent institution. It was also given a separate name: ‘Sunbeam Nursery’ by the then Headmaster, Fr. Mathew Almeida SJ These old buildings needed constant repair. So it was decided in 1987 to rebuild the big boys’ dormitory. Sunbeam Nursery is now accommodated in this new building on two floors and the building was inaugurated when Fr. Agnelo Pinto SJ was Headmaster, on Children’s Day, the 14th of November 1989.