Sister Deirdre Jordan
Principal 1954 – 1968
Deirdre Jordan came to St Aloysius College as a boarder from Loxton in February, 1939. She was twelve years old. An outstanding student, Deirdre went on to become dux of the school and head prefect in 1943. Deirdre received the holy habit on 6 October, 1946, was temporarily professed on 9 October, 1948, and finally professed on 6 October, 1951. Sr Deirdre (Sr Mary Campion Jordan) was appointed principal of SAC in 1954 when she was in her mid-twenties.
During Sr Deirdre’s principalship, heavy emphasis was placed on the education of members of staff, especially in the field of religious education. Teachers, both religious and lay, were given every opportunity to improve their qualifications and to become professional educators. Teaching nuns were given sabbaticals that allowed them the time in which to further their studies, sometimes in universities overseas.
A professional administrative structure was created at the school that gradually led to the separation of its leadership from the leadership of the convent.
The school embarked on an ambitious and innovative building programme that eventuated in the old image of the Convent of Mercy, Angas Street, giving way to that of St Aloysius College, Wakefield Street.
Sr Deirdre was a strong and influential lobbyist among the Independent Principals in South Australia and was critical to the subsequent changes made to the funding of Independent and Catholic schools.
Significant numbers of lay teachers were successfully absorbed into the teaching staff of the college, a trend that was to become increasingly more pronounced.
