History:
With the newly formed parish of Braybrook only in its infancy, Fr Thomas Murray approached almost every order of nuns in Victoria with a view to establishing a school. Although already heavily committed in schools, the provincial of the Sisters of St Joseph at the time agreed to supply two nuns to establish the school. Thus, in 1955, Sister Antonine and Sister Martinian established a temporary school in railway huts adjacent to Tottenham Station.
In 1956 the Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart, under the guidance of Mother Quilligan, took over the running of the school. On 25 May 1958 Archbishop Mannix opened the new school and Catholic centre on Churchill Ave that first housed primary children but was soon to include both primary and secondary students. At the beginning of 1961, parishioners worked tirelessly producing new curtains to shield the classrooms from the summer sun. It was these curtains that on 3 February 1961 contributed to a devastating fire that gutted the pride of the Parish of Braybrook . A fire of this magnitude tested the resolve of the parish but the community and in particular its parish priest, Fr Murray, rose to the challenge and immediately began the task of accommodating approximately 900 students. The answer came in the form of what could be termed the first ‘state aid’, as the school was given temporary access to buildings in the showgrounds by the government of the time. By the end of July the school moved back to its present sight into relocatable classrooms rented from the Victorian Government.
In 1968 the school was divided into a secondary and a primary school with Sister Kathlyn Ragg remaining principal of the primary school. The first lay principal of the primary school was Mrs V Corbett. The existing primary school building was built over four stages, finally completed in 1982.
Description:
The school has an enrolment that has fluctuated between 260 and 300 students in recent years, representing over 20 nationalities. Presently the major cultural groups are Vietnamese, Latin American, Filipino and Chinese, with a smaller anglo and southern European population. We have a growing African population in the school. Many families have a low socio-economic background and a significant percentage of the school population tends to be transient, with families living in low-cost or ministry housing. This is balanced by a new trend of newer more expensive housing developments and a smaller long-term and more stable residential population.
Features: