History

School Information

The school was blessed & officially opened on 1st March 1956 by Bishop Bernard Stewart. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work by dedicated families and members of the church in the Kennington area.

The site was originally bought by the Vincentian Fathers with a view to establishing a boys’ high school. When the high school was set up in Junortoun, some members of St Killian’s Parish saw the opportunity for building a new school to the east of Bendigo.

The original school comprised of one building with 3 classrooms and was begun by the Sisters of Mercy. In 1959 another 3 classroom building was added. As the student population grew, at one stage the school was spread over two campuses with the Junior School being housed in the old St Aidan’s Orphanage and the Grades 3 to 6 at the current site in Lowndes St.

An initial enrolment of 52 mushroomed to a student body at a full capacity of more than 430. To meet the needs of local families a second Parish school, St Francis of the Fields, opened at Strathfieldsaye in 1994. Approximately 100 students from St Therese’s and several staff, including principal, John Hermans, moved to the new school.

The plan to reduce the size of St Therese’s student body was short lived as the numbers quickly grew back and remain around the 470 mark. The year 2000 saw a large building project with a new Library, Administration Building, Computer Lab, a new classroom and new toilets constructed.

In 2008, thanks to federal government funding, further facilities were added. They included a new Expressive Arts Building (housing Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Languages/Meeting Room), 9 refurbished classrooms and a new toilet block.

This building project more than adequately catered for the needs of the students until 2017 when the Languages room was commissioned as a classroom.

In early 2021, a significant governance change occurred with governance of Sandhurst Catholic schools shifting from the Parish Priest as Canonical Administrator to Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd.

Our Patron Saint

St. Therese of Lisieux was a Carmelite nun who lived during the late 1800’s in France. St. Therese felt the call to religious life early, joining the Carmelite order at the age of 15. Unfortunately St. Therese lived a short life, passing at age 24, however this short life is one that has inspired others in their faith and taught them how to love and serve God in their daily lives.

As a Carmelite nun St. Therese dedicated her time to prayer and great love. In her writings she stated that her mission was to “Make God loved” and that “What matters most in life is not great deeds but great love”. The spirituality that St. Therese lived and taught was one of doing the ordinary, with extraordinary love. It is from St. Therese our school motto Amor Vincit Omnia (Love conquers all) comes.

The first Parish Priest of this community, Monsignor Arthur Owens had a strong devotion to the Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux. Upon his request Bishop Stewart agreed to St. Therese becoming the Patron Saint of the School and Parish. Our school emblem was designed by Monsignor Arthur Owens himself.

As the patron saint of our school the spirituality and teaching of St. Therese is promoted within our school through the spirit of this community and the Annual celebration of the feast of St. Therese where we award our prestigious St. Therese award to a student of each class who embodies the spirit of St. Therese.