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Our school is one of many Catholic primary schools which fall under the broad guidance of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria. We are a vital part of the St Mary’s Parish, Colac and the Ballarat Diocese.

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The Sacred Heart School community incorporates families from both Colac city and surrounding rural areas where children access a network of buses which service local schools over an area from the south coast to Cressy, north of Colac. Community involvement is encouraged through participation in sporting events and support for local celebrations. Sacred Heart school was built on the corner of Hart Street and Pound Road Elliminyt and opened on 2nd February 1962. The parish priest of the time, Monsignor Louis Conway, provided the hard work and guidance needed to establish the new school.

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The original staff came from the Sisters of Mercy, who pioneered Catholic Education in Colac in 1888. The school was built to cater for the increasing Catholic population as the town was extended south of Murray Street away from St. Mary’s which served the older established areas of Colac. In 1966 a new wing was built which allowed grades prep, one and two separate rooms. Over the next two decades further buildings were added and enrolments increased. In 1974 Monica Mackie, the first lay principal was able to secure funding for the multi-purpose and art room which were opened in July 1983.

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The physical environment of the school has undergone dramatic change in recent years. A new prep wing was added in 1999, the administration area was remodeled in 2000, the senior wing refurbished in 2001, and the Junior wing in 2004. In 2008 the school built its 12th classroom as enrolments continued to grow. Three further classrooms, a new stand alone gymnasium and an extension to the Multi Purpose Room were completed as part of the Building the Education Revolution Federal Government initiative in 2009-'10 as enrolments crept up to over 340 students. In 2013, a conversion of our old Computer lab. allowed us a 16th classroom to accommodate the 393 students now attending the school.

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Further developments to the buildings and grounds have continued including the purchase of 2400 square metres of vacant land in 2014 to accommodate extra students and to allow the school to continue to flourish. In 2019 a further 2 classrooms were added to accommodate the 403 students who are enrolled in 2022.

The Master Plan for the school is for the school to be capped at 21 classrooms, giving us 3 classes for each of the 7 Primary school grade levels. This development and improvement of our buildings and grounds is a physical representation of our community's dedication to providing the very best school that we can for the students and families of St Mary's Parish and the Colac and district.

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