School History

Brief History

St. Brigid’s Catholic Learning Community is one of two Catholic primary schools within the Parish of Gisborne. St. Brigid’s incorporates the areas of Gisborne South, Bullengarook and the Gisborne township south of Jackson’s Creek.

There has been a school at St. Brigid’s located on the Aitken Street site since 1853 with only 2 recorded periods of closure between 1869-1877 and 1966-67. The school was under the guidance of the Sisters of St. Joseph from 1950-1989. Since 1989 the school has had a lay principal.

Steady growth during the 80s and early 90s saw the enrolments rise above 400. An over crowded site and the knowledge of projected future growth saw the Parish review the needs of Catholic education in Gisborne. The result was a second Catholic school in New Gisborne, named Holy Cross, which opened in February 1996. This saw the original St. Brigid’s school drop to an enrolment of 215 which is the size the Parish would like to see it remain. The school was totally refurbished early in 1996 to accommodate the needs of a one stream school including, a large multi-purpose space, a suitable library/resource area and computer laboratory. For the first time the school was internally linked with the administration area part of the main building. The school community’s next major project is to develop an outdoor environment which will complement the indoor facilities.

The school is geographically close to the Gisborne township and there is an emphasis on using its facilities to broaden the children’s educational experiences.

The parent body is extremely active in the life of the school. Parent participation is welcomed and encouraged at many different levels from classroom support to tuckshop and working bees. We are very well supported by an active and enthusiastic Education Advisory and Parent’s and Friend’s Association.

Parish unity is a priority of St. Brigid’s and there is an emphasis on developing a strong relationship with our sister school, Holy Cross. Parish based Sacramental Programs and joint camping programs are ways in which we try to foster a Parish unity. Joint fundraising and social events coordinated by the respective P.F.A.’s are also very important in fostering Parish unity.

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