History & Identity

1896-1926

Early History

1896 – Mrs Edith Ross forms a small school situated on Stirling Highway (formerly Fremantle Road), opposite Christ Church in Claremont. A commemorative plaque was installed at the site in 1996. Mrs Ross remained with the school until the birth of her daughter.

1898 – Miss Elisabeth and May Allen take charge of the fledgling school relocating to the Congregational Hall and later to the Parish Hall in Claremont, naming the school Claremont Ladies’ College. There were no uniforms, but the school colours were white (purity) and yellow (bright futures). The School’s moto became “Mihi Cura Futuri’ (The Care of the Future is Mine).

1905 – Miss Melina Parnell purchases the School naming it Girls’ High School and changed the motto to “domine Dirige Nos’ (Lord Direct Us). The Girls’ High School grows to include Macedon House (formerly in the grounds of the former John XXIII site on Stirling Highway, Claremont).

1907 – Gunnersbury House on the riverfront (now in the grounds of Christ Church Grammar School).

1912 – Miss Parnell moves the whole school to the riverfront in Claremont. Understanding the importance of sports education, she forms the Girls’ Secondary School Sports Association in 1913 and presides as President. She also establishes the Old Girls’ Association. Believing in the importance of service to others, Miss Parnell insisted that each girl learn to knit, and set students to work on bake 57 Christmas puddings and filling 89 billies with Christmas presents, all to support the frontline soldiers during World War II. In 1918 she made a moving speech to the students, “We hear on every side what the boys who have left school have done. Does it ever occur to any of us what the girls have done?”

Interestingly, during this time, despite many GHS graduates going on to have meaningful and successful careers in teaching, nursing, armed forces, banking, Civil Service, dentistry, music, science and academics, many parents were not interested in their girls pursuing careers.

1926 - 1946

The Great Depression And WW II Years

1926 – Miss Parnell retires.

1927 – Miss Marjorie Rooney, a previous GHS student and then staff member, is appointed Headmistress (resigning in 1930). The Girls’ High School is purchased by the West Australian Church Schools Company.

1929 – The Girls’ High School is sold to the Council of Church of England Schools. It is the first school for girls in Perth to be controlled by the Diocesan Trustees.

1930 – The Church Council purchases land in Bay View Terrace, Mosman Park and appoints Miss Small as Headmistress. Miss Small is a 27-year-old with an M.A. from Oxford University, where she had rowed, played hockey and debated.

1931 – On Sunday, 22 March, the Governor of Western Australia, Sir William Campion, officially opens the School, and the Archbishop of Perth, the Most Reverend Henry Frewen Le Fanu, dedicates it with the name of St Hilda’s Church of England School for Girls. St Hilda’s begins under the direction of Miss Catherine Small with 54 pupils from the Girls’ High School and 45 new pupils.

Miss Small

Miss Small was an impressive woman. Daily life during the 1930s and 40s were often challenging, after the devastating effects of the Great Depression and World War II. Not only was Miss Small the Headmistress, but she also taught, worked in the garden, cooked, cleaned, and nursed the boarders at night when they were sick. During World War II, the School was used as a first aid post and the girls’ dug trenches around the School for protection. The Boarders were eventually moved to Bencubbin (Wheatbelt).

She can be credited for introducing the Houses of Fitzroy, Blackwood and Gascoyne in 1933, and creating an official sports uniform, which was a first among girls’ schools at the time. She also formed the Parents’ Association.

Miss Small was very progressive for her time but understood her limitations. At the time, parents still viewed it as immoral for women to take the jobs that ‘rightly belonged to men’. Instead, she encouraged girls to educate themselves and to actively participate in the world “because a democracy requires an educated electorate” and “women should have the power to choose men of wisdom, courage and integrity as leaders”.

In 1946, Miss Small married and was forced to retire, as at the time married women were not permitted to work. At the time of her departure, there were over 200 students. She said, “St Hilda’s exists possibly only because of Archbishop Le Fanu’s conviction that girls need the best schools, as much as boys”.

1947 - 1967

The Una Mitchell Years

St Hilda’s experiences a surge of growth and development under the guidance of Una Mitchell, growing from 200 students to 600!

1949 – The Kindergarten opens.

1954 – De Grey House is introduced.

1957 – The new Junior School opens.

1958 – Innerhadden is purchased, which becomes Mitchell House.

1960 – Parnell House opens. Science, Biology and Chemistry buildings emerge, and a biology garden.

1962 – New Library and Physics Laboratory opens.

1964 – New Margaret House opens for Junior Boarders, and we see the introduction of a new sickbay.

1965 – St Hilda’s unveils its own swimming pool on campus. The St Hilda’s School Council is established, with nine members. The Council of the Church of England Schools ceases to exist and St Hilda’s forms its own governing body.

1969 - 1975

Miss Patman As Headmistress

With Miss Patman as Headmistress of the School, substantial development is undertaken. She instills in the students a sense that the world is their oyster and that they can accomplish anything as long as they had a backbone. She holds current-event lessons to ensure the students are aware of what was happening in the world. She creates a Students Representative Council who meet fortnightly and comprises of 32 girls from Years 8 to 12.

The LM Hoskings Science Lecture Theatre (open 1970) and Roger Goode Centre (open 1973) provides excellent new facilities; Grand View House is an important acquisition and addition to the school grounds and Cultural Day (now known as the St Hilda’s Arts Festival) is introduced.

1976 - 1979

Mrs Rita MacGregor is Headmistress

Mrs Rita MacGregor is Headmistress, and aims to give the girls a sound, modern, humanitarian education, and to develop their characters and personalities in the life of the community. She encourages the girls’ interests in dramatic productions and directs several plays herself. She also reintroduces the Prefect System.

1976 – Una Mitchell Building opens

1978 – Music, Art and Junior School building opens

1980 - 1989

The 1980s

1980 – Mrs June Jones appointed Principal

1981 – The School is re-named St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls and celebrates its Jubilee year on the Mosman Park site.

1983 – Rowing is introduced

1986 – School Foundation is established

1989 – Introduction of the Whitby Parents, and the Women and Technology Course for Year 10s, which consisted of lessons in basic home maintenance, car maintenance and computing

1980’s – Enrolments increase rapidly. An extensive building program encompasses all corners of the campus, from the Library to the Maths and Science areas and the Early Learning Centre.

1990s

Chapel, Centenary Celebrations, New Principal And Fire In The Boarding House

1990 – Chapel Appeal launched and in September 1990, the Archbishop of Perth, the Most Reverend Dr Peter Carnley, lays the foundation stone. Outward Bound Camp is introduced.

1992 – A laptop program is introduced for Year 8s.

1994 – Chapel consecrated in March 1994.

1996 – Centenary Celebration. This was a landmark occasion, not only in the School’s history but also in the history of the education of women in Western Australia. The school family, Old Scholars and members of the community participated in a variety of functions and activities to mark the occasion. A commemorative plaque was installed on the footpath on Stirling Highway, Claremont, opposite Christ Church, at the site of the first school.

1998 – Mrs Joy Shepherd is appointed Principal.

1999 – Disaster strikes when Parnell Boarding House is gutted by fire while the boarders are at lunch. Students relocated to the Chidley Educational Centre.

1998 - 2014

New Boarding House and New Junior School

St Hilda’s enjoys unprecedented success in terms of growth, facilities, and academic results. Enrolments exceed 1200 students.

2001 – Designed to accommodate 150 students, the stylish new boarding house is opened by Dr P F Carnley, Archbishop of Perth and Primate of Australia. All the School’s boarders formerly housed in Parnell, Margaret and Catherine Houses are accommodated in the new facility. Chidley Campus is acquired and new sports courts and an underground car park are built on Palmerston Street.

2006 – The new Junior School at Chidley Campus opens in September and is a credit to the vision of our teachers and the architect. Subsequent refurbishment on the Bay View Campus includes new areas for English, Art and Music. A new Library and Technology Centre is completed.

2011 – St Hilda’s Bay View Campus gets a 50-metre swimming pool, heated by a geothermal bore, makes year-round watersports an attractive option.

2012 – The magnificent 900-seat Joy Shepherd Performing Arts Centre is opened, giving increased scope for music, dance and drama performances.

2014 – The Nicholas Rinehart Science Centre is officially opened in October, and Mrs Joy Shepherd retires as Principal in December.

2015 - 2018

Growth

2015 – Mrs Kim Kiepe joins St Hilda’s as Principal in January and focusses on student and staff wellbeing.

2017 – The Wellbeing Centre is established, the Senior School staffroom is renovated, and the Australian Army Cadets is introduced (the first all-female cadet unit in WA).

2019 - 2020

A New Direction

Mrs Fiona Johnston joins St Hilda’s as Principal in January 2019. St Hilda’s purchases its third campus, Yeagarup, located near Pemberton. Under Fiona’s direction, she leads the School through the COVID pandemic, ensuring the community is well supported during periods of lockdown. She also delivers the 2021 Strategic Plan: St Hilda’s Reimagined. During this time, the Boarding House is refurbished, and the Wandering Spirit program is launched.

2021 - Onwards

125 Year Celebration

In 2021, St Hilda’s celebrated 125 years of sparking extraordinary futures. Our many celebrations have enabled us to connect with our current, past and future communities, from combined musical events, special assemblies, chapel services, and a memorable Gala night, all filled with the sharing of historical stories, memories and defining moments that have, together, shaped the St Hilda’s we know and love today. In 2023 St Hilda’s celebrates its proud history with the opening of the Heritage Centre.

The Ammonite

Ammonite fossils found on the shore at Whitby are said to be the petrified remains of snakes that once infested the Whitby area. Hilda brought the infestation to an end turning the snakes into stone so as to clear a site for the building of her abbey. There are three snakestones in the arms of the town. And Hilda is often depicted holding an ammonite, or snake stone, in one hand and a model of her abbey in the other.

Today our Bay View campus features a stunning ammonite sculpture, donated to the school by the Old Scholars Association to celebrate its centenary.

School Prayer & Hymn

Prayer

Almighty God,
in whom we live and move and have our being,
make this School as a field which the Lord has blessed,
that whatsoever things are true, pure,
lovely and of good report,
may here forever flourish and abound.

Preserve in it an unblemished name,
enlarge it with a wider usefulness
and exalt it in the love and reverence of all its members
as an instrument of your glory,
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Hymn

Your hand, O God, has guided
Your flock, from age to age;
the wondrous tale is written,
full clear, on every page;
Your people owned your goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both of this bear witness;
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Your heralds brought glad tidings
to greatest as to least;
they bade them rise, and hasten
to share the great King’s feast;
and this was all their teaching,
in every deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Through many a day of darkness,
through many a scene of strife,
the faithful few fought bravely,
to guard the nation’s life.
Their gospel of redemption,
sin pardoned, earth restored,
was all in this enfolded:
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Your mercy will not fail us,
nor leave your work undone;
with your right hand to help us,
the victory shall be won;
and then, by all creation,
Your name shall be adored,
and this shall be our anthem:
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Words: Edward Hayes Plumptre, 1889 / Music: Thornbury, Crüger

Junior School Song

Here within these walls, our journey’s just begun.
To grow and learn and dream, beneath the Aussie sun.
We have all that we need, and it is clear to see.
Our potential is unlimited, and lies in you and me.

From the smallest bloom, that’s nurtured to grow.
Such wonders can arise, more than you’ll ever know.
And we will change the world; some help is all we need.
Just remember that the flower was once a tiny seed.

If St Hilda could see, that just beyond the Swan,
Beneath peppermint trees, it’s there.
Like an ammonite, a hope preserved so long.
Where we are taught to stand, shoulder to shoulder and so strong.

We ask Lord please direct us, to be fair and kind and free.
St Hilda’s is our school; we’ll be the best that we can be.

Our Houses

The first Houses; Fitzroy, Gascoyne and Blackwood were established in the 1930s by Miss Catherine Small, with De Grey being added in 1954. All Houses are named after Western Australian rivers. Each family is allocated a House, with granddaughters, daughters, sisters and cousins following in the footsteps of their predecessors.

The four Houses are:

Blackwood

Colour: Blue
Emblem: Boronia

De Grey

Colour: Yellow
Emblem: Rough Bluebell

Fitzroy

Colour: Red
Emblem: Native Hoya

Gascoyne

Colour: Green
Emblem: Slender Petalostylis