Our School has a wonderful history and many stories that our community is deeply connected to. As we celebrate our 125 Year Anniversary, we invite you to step back in time through some of the many stories that make up life at St Catherine’s.

1896 School Prospectus

St Catherine’s School was founded in 1896 when teacher Miss Jeanie Hood opened a school in Templeton Street, Castlemaine, which she named Castlemaine Ladies’ College.

The more general expectations of Miss Hood’s school were first set in train by a brief news item in the Mount Alexander Mail in December 1895. The first School prospectus hinted at the educational framework of a sound, theoretical basis of traditional subjects – expanded to embrace the best that the new colony has to offer; firm consistent discipline; recognition of and reward for sustained effort and excellence.

To read an excerpt of the 1896 School Prospect, outlining Miss Hood’s vision for the school click here.