About our School
St Paul’s Primary School is a warm, welcoming and inclusive school where every student and staff member is supported to grow, thrive and feel a true sense of belonging.
Founded in 1928, St Paul’s Primary School is a Catholic school located in the heart of Bentleigh, around 15 km south of Melbourne’s CBD. Today, we are proud to be home to around 340 students across 14 single-level classes, each filled with energy, curiosity and a love of learning.
At St Paul’s, we are dedicated to creating a caring environment where every child is known and valued. We strive for excellence in teaching and learning, and we place just as much importance on the wellbeing and personal growth of each individual.
Our students enjoy a rich curriculum that includes specialist programs in Sport, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, ICT and Japanese. We also offer a range of engaging extracurricular activities like chess, tennis and instrumental music through trusted external providers.
With the active involvement of our wonderful families and parish, St Paul’s is more than just a school, it’s a community where strong relationships, shared values and a deep sense of connection are at the heart of everything we do.
History
St Paul’s has a rich history, closely tied to the growth of our local community. As the population expanded in what was once a thriving market garden area, the parish priest at the time commissioned the building of a church and school. Building began in 1928, led by an Italian builder with limited English.
A much-loved story from those early days tells of a small mistake in the stonework. When carving the word school, only one “o” was included. Although the priest requested it be corrected, there was no room to add another letter. Thinking quickly, the builder joined the two “o’s” together and this clever solution remains carved in the stonework today.
The area around St Paul’s looked very different in those days. Where the Woolworths supermarket now stands, there was once a livery supplying everything needed for horses, while the oval across the road was used as a racecourse.
St Paul’s officially opened in 1928 and was originally staffed by the Presentation Sisters. In 1934, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart took over the running of the school. As the local population grew, the school continued to expand. In 1945 the original three classrooms were extended to five and in 1951 a new building was erected with three additional rooms.
In 1992, the Sisters made the decision to devote their resources to their Secondary Girls’ College in Jasper Road and in 1993 St Paul’s appointed its first Lay Principal.
The school has continued to grow and evolve, with the final stage of building works completed in 2015. Today, St Paul’s is proud to offer 14 modern classrooms, a refurbished hall and outstanding facilities, while remaining deeply connected to the values and traditions on which it was founded.
