It began with a school. In the late 1920s, Catholics around Glen Iris asked for their own Catholic primary school.

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And towards the end of 1929, Our Lady of Victories Parish in Camberwell bought four blocks of land: two in Hillside

Parade, and two more in Van Ness Avenue. The building of the school began in 1930. It was blessed by Archbishop

Mannix on the 12th of July, 1931. The first Mass here was celebrated a fortnight later, at 9am on Sunday the 26th of July 1931. That was 90 years ago.

 

St Cecilia’s School opened in 1932. There were 44 children, and two Josephite sisters to teach. The Sisters of St Joseph remained at the school for 41 years until the end of 1972. Since then, for the last 49 years, our school has been a lay staff.

 

Over time, there has been a major redevelopment of the school and parish facilities. Between 2007 and 2014, older buildings were removed; the Tennis Club was relocated with new courts and a new clubhouse; new classrooms and a massive new building were constructed; there were significant renovations of the original school building and the presbytery; and there was extensive landscaping and other projects.

 

All up, about 5.2 million dollars was spent. This included a large grant from the Federal Government’s Building the Education Revolution. A Masterplan Committee with school and parish representatives consulted with all stakeholders, planned carefully, and saw the project through to a great outcome.