Today, our vibrant and culturally diverse community at
St Joseph's Hindmarsh is one of faith, inspired by love
and empowered through learning, to make a difference.
We value respect, forgiveness, compassion and service
in a spirit of hope, working in partnership with parents
and children to provide a quality learning experience
from Preschool to Year 6.
Our motto - "In Omnibus Caritas - In All Things Love" - has served as a continued source of inspiration for our school community since the Sisters of St Joseph founded our school almost a century ago.
Our School logo which also includes our motto serves as a visible reminder of our heritage and responsibility to continue the ground-breaking work of our founder, Saint Mary MacKillop.
Through her steadfast commitment and pioneering spirit, she established the Sisters of St Joseph and a network of schools across the country to give even the poorest children, an opportunity to aspire, learn and achieve.
One of those schools was St Joseph's, Hindmarsh.
We celebrate as central to our story, the visionary agent of change, Saint Mary MacKillop.
Mary MacKillop's unwavering belief that children should have equal access to education regardless of their family's financial means transformed Australian society. In the mid-1800s, only children from wealthy families were educated and even then, girls often didn't receive the same level of education as their brothers.
The school opened on its current site in a purpose-built building with five rooms. Both the land and building were funded by the Hindmarsh Catholic Parish.
The Sisters of St Joseph bought the house next door and used it as a convent and living quarters for the teachers of the school who were all Josephite Sisters.
The Sisters of St Joseph extended the convent. This included adding a Chapel which was used by both the Sisters and the children of the school.
A house on the eastern side of Bertie Street was purchased and a secondary school was established.
Siena College (Crittenden Road, Findon) become the Catholic secondary school for young adults in the parish. The secondary school classes closed at St Joseph's Hindmarsh and the Junior Primary classes moved to the former secondary school site.
The former secondary school site was sold and a property in Albemarle Street next to the convent, was purchased. New buildings and playspaces were added.
Two upstairs classrooms were built to provide more room for a growing student population.
The plaza area was built in order to add new classrooms to the school.
Our school continues to evolve, with new and upgraded classrooms and administration areas, a Multi-purpose Hall, Preschool facility and the MacKillop Centre of Learning.
We've transformed the playspace to include a new oval, Astroturf and an interactive nature playground.
