Our History

Holy Cross Primary School is one of two Catholic Schools within the Parish of St Brigid's, Gisborne. The school began in 1996 with an enrolment of 161 children, and currently 250. Initially all the school's operations were conducted from relocatable buildings six of which were loaned to the Holy Cross by the CEO and two were owned by the Parish.

In 1989, the St Brigid's School Board recognised that the school based in Gisborne, St Brigid's, would never be large enough to cope with the projected number of Catholic children in the Parish and was already stretching resources, both human and physical, trying to cope with those children already attending. The Board decided that a new school was needed and so Holy Cross would be built. St Brigid's would be refurbished at the same time and would have a ceiling of 220 enrolments. Holy Cross would eventually become the larger of the two schools in the Parish.

In July 1996, with the assistance of a $1.37 million Capital Grant and a $100,000 loan from CDF, the building containing the permanent administration, staff, library and multi-purpose areas was completed. The classrooms will remain in relocatables until the second stage funding is finalised and work can commence on the permanent classrooms.

The Architect of the project was Derek Cameron from Fish, Payne, Pattenden and Viney while the builders were Stonecon Constructions Ltd.

10th Anniversary

In December 2005, a celebration was held to mark the 10th Anniversary of the school. This included a mass followed by a BBQ and Bush Dance. This was a great opportunity to reflect on how far we have come in a short time...

Fr Noel	Holy Cross Choir
The Team - past & present	BBQ!
Bush Dance	Some 1st Preps with their teacher (Mrs O'Donnell) 10 years on!

The Site

The school grounds are located on a paddock with an area of approximately 22 acres. The site of the school covers around 8 acres.

We currently have an Administration building which includes staff offices, library, staffroom, multi purpose room and canteen. There are ten permanent classrooms which are fully carpeted, air conditioned and very well resourced.

Our outdoor facilities include car parks, a public performance area, soccer and football ovals, basketball and netball courts and a shelter shed. An Outdoor Education project started in 2004 includes a vineyard and animal nursery. This still leaves an area of about 10 acres yet to be developed.

Geographic & Social Settings

Holy Cross is approximately 60 kilometres from the Melbourne GPO. The school is situated on the outskirts of the town of New Gisborne, approximately two kilometres from the Calder Freeway. Travelling to and from Melbourne takes a leisurely 40 minutes on the newly constructed dual roadway. The school site is within the Macedon Ranges Shire and all our pupils reside in towns within this Shire.

The majority of children (approx 60%) are bussed to and from schools from the following towns - Riddells Creek, Macedon and Mt Macedon. This service is provided free of charge by the State Government in cooperation with a Conveyance Allowance. As at June 2004 there were 160 families at the school.

Other Interesting Facts

• Most families draw incomes from professional careers, small family businesses or trades.



• A great number of families have both mother and father working either full time or part time.



• The semi - rural nature of the Macedon Ranges area means that, generally, families are able to purchase larger blocks of land at a cheaper price and build bigger homes than in many suburbs of Melbourne.



• The average age of residents in the Macedon Ranges area is thirty years. ( Statistic gained from the Macedon Ranges Shire 2001.)

Holy Cross as Part of the Parish of St. Brigid's

Holy Cross is the second Catholic school established for the Catholic community of the Parish of St. Brigid's, Gisborne. The Parish Priest, Father Gerry Spillane, takes an active role in the Parish and the running of the two schools. Since he began his term as Parish Priest many committees have been formed involving the laity and these groups have taken on responsibilities which are most important in the "every day" functions of Parish life eg the Parish Liturgy Team.

There are three churches in the Parish that the families of Holy Cross may access - St. Brigid's Gisborne, St. Patrick's Macedon and St. Ambrose Riddells Creek. There is no church on the school site. School Liturgies are held in the Multi - Purpose Room or classrooms.