Sacred Heart Primary School at Yea is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and is inviting past students, families and staff to join them in the celebrations.
Founded in 1923 by the Sisters of St Joseph, the school was run out of Scared Heart Catholic Church by the sisters who taught small classes in one building.
Sacred Heart moved to its current location at The Parade in 1957, and at the same time began employing teaching and management staff, marking the move away from the Sisters of St Joseph and their way of operating the school in its early years.
Sacred Heart Primary School business manager Leanne Jones said this year was about celebrating the school and its stories from the past.
“I think we’re really just celebrating that we’re still here,” she said.
“We’ve always been a smaller school but some of our staff here had parents or grandparents that were involved with the school, so there’s a multi-generational aspect to our school and community.”
The school currently has 59 students in attendance from foundation to grade six, 17 staff across a range of roles, and a small number of outside staff who work as classroom assistants or specialist teachers.
To celebrate the anniversary, the school is hoping to form a committee that will organise a centenary walk that the school’s community can contribute to through a ‘buy a brick’ system.
“It’s for anyone that has had anything to do with the school in the past to buy a brick and put their name on it. Maybe we’ll have an open day later in the year to celebrate,” Ms Jones said.
“We’ll form a committee to help spread the word, it depends on how quick we can get the word out for our community, because there are a lot of people from far and wide.”
Ms Jones is also planning to compile a slideshow on the school’s website featuring past memorabilia and historical photos.
People can visit www.shyea.catholic.edu.au to find out more.
