School History

1918

Fr James Joseph Rowan, Parish Priest of St. Mary’s West Townsville, purchased two acres of land in Norris Street Mundingburra for a future church and school - Blessed Oliver Plunkett’s Church and St. Joseph’s Primary School.

1922

On 24.09.1922, the Blessed Oliver Plunkett Church was blessed and opened by Bishop Joseph Shiel. The building had been moved from Charters Towers, where it had served as an Anglican Church. It was moved to Norris Street, in the Hermit Park suburb belonging to St Mary’s Parish, (area later called Mundingburra) at a total cost of £1,908. 

1924

The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart returned to Townsville 46 years after having been withdrawn. They established St Joseph’s Convent School in the Blessed Oliver Plunkett Church in Norris Street Mundingburra, and commenced teaching on 28.01.1924. 

1933

On 19.02.1933, Bishop T. McGuire blessed and opened further additions to the Blessed Oliver Plunkett Church and school in Norris Street Mundingburra. The building was now twice its original size. 

1936

The Sisters of St Joseph, six in number, moved from the Norris Street convent to ‘Glenroy’ on Ross River Road in Mundingburra. ‘Glenroy’ had been the estate home of the Gordon sisters who had donated it to Bishop McGuire for his use.

1936

The Blessed Oliver Plunket Church / school building and the Presbytery were also relocated to ‘Glenroy’. The Presbytery became the Infants School and the original convent in Norris Street became the Presbytery until a new Presbytery was built on Ross River Road in 1940. During the transition period, Sunday Mass was celebrated in the Rising Sun Picture Theatre.

1942

After Japanese planes flew over Townsville three times in July 1942, St Joseph’s Convent School in Mundingburra was closed but two Sisters of St Joseph stayed on and taught a few of the remaining local children in the convent.

1954

On Sunday 21.03.1954, Bishop H. E. Ryan solemnly opened and blessed a new two story school building of reinforced concrete for the Sisters of St Joseph in Blessed Oliver Plunket Parish, Mundingburra. It consisted of two upstairs classrooms, with a verandah along both sides and at the back. Downstairs was one classroom and a concreted area enclosed by hardwood lattice. It is now the oldest of the present buildings that make up St Joseph's School, Mundingburra.

The building was constructed at a cost of £6 500.

1956

The toilets at St Joseph’s school were blown away on 06.03.1956 by Cyclone Agnes and new toilets were built. The school had an enrolment of 214 with four sisters teaching in school and one sister teaching Music.

1959

On 1.11.1959, Bishop H. E. Ryan blessed and opened a new building for infants attending St Joseph’s Convent School in Mundingburra. It consisted of two upstairs classrooms with an open area downstairs for lunch and play (It was destroyed by fire in 1989). The original presbytery / Infants school (The Hut) was sold and relocated to the Black River, north of Townsville, for use as a beach hut. It was washed away by flood waters in January 1998.

1959

School registers from 1959 to 1965 inclusive, have the school’s name as Blessed Oliver Plunket, but all other registers throughout the school's 75 years have the name recorded as St Joseph’s. 

1962

Enrolment at St Joseph’s now reached 351 with six teaching sisters and one sister teaching Music. A new schoolroom was provided for Grades 7 and 8 by closing in half of the downstairs open area of the Infants school.

1963

St Joseph’s Convent School Mundingburra appointed its first lay teacher. The position was for a Grade 1 teacher.

1964

A Parents’ and Friends’ Association was formed at the school.

1967

Enrolment at the Mundingburra convent school was now nearly 400, with five religious and four lay teachers (including one male, Mr. Bill Ormes) on the staff. The infants’ school building was extended on both ends resulting in the opening of four new classrooms. Work was completed on 08.06.1967.

1971

Four Religious and eight lay teachers made up the staff at Mundingburra Convent School. Another school building, now known as Block C, was constructed.

1971

During Cyclone Althea on 24.12.71, the two storied convent (Glenroy) lost its roof and suffered massive structural damage inside and out. The sisters were on holiday at the time. The building was beyond repair, and was demolished by a controlled fire with assistance of the Fire Brigade on 29.07.73 after being stripped of anything of value.

1972

The new school library at St Joseph’s, Mundingburra was blessed and opened by Bishop Faulkner on Sunday 28.05.1972. Enrolment was now 374.

1974

On 11.04.1974, the St Joseph Sisters moved into their new convent behind the Holy Trinity Church in Mundingburra. The convent was blessed and opened by Bishop Leonard A. Faulkner on 21.07.1974. The builder was Mr. Kevin Williamson.

1979

The old school toilets at Mundingburra were demolished and new ones built. In August 2012, these toilets were also demolished when the layout of the school was altered.

1980

St Joseph’s Mundingburra had an enrolment of 295 with 3 religious and 8 lay teachers. A covered area incorporating the tuckshop was added at the rear of Block A. The administration area and staff room were altered to become a breezeway.

1983

St Joseph’s Mundingburra adopted a School Crest. The motto on the Crest read, ‘Love Is Service’.

1984

The P &F Association of St.Joseph’s Mundingburra purchased the school’s first computer, an Apple IIe.

1985

A house was rented across the street from the House of Prayer in Marron Crescent, Mundingburra to serve as a residence for the St Joseph Sisters.

1986

Vandals attacked St Joseph’s School Mundingburra with paint.

1986

1986 - 1987 Acting Principal of St Joseph's Mundingburra was Marie Radford. Marie later became the Education Consultant for the school.

1988

On Sunday 31.07.1988, the site of a new building for St Joseph’s School in Mundingburra was blessed.

1989

On Sunday 12.03.1989, the Fr Tom Ivett Classroom Block at St Joseph’s School in Mundingburra was blessed and opened by Bishop Benjamin. The Principal at the time was Sr Francine Caesar R.S.J. and the Parish Priest was Fr Kevin Clancy. 

1989

On Friday 26.05.1989, a fire lit by vandals burnt out most of the Administration Block of St Joseph’s School in Mundingburra. The repaired building was blessed and opened by Fr Kevin Clancy on 18.02.1990.

1991

On 08.09 1991, Bishop Raymond Benjamin blessed a new library on the top floor of Block A at St Joseph’s Mundingburra,. The library was then opened by Mr Ted Lindsay, Member for Herbert.

1991

After 67 years of service to Catholic Education in Mundingburra, the Sisters of St Joseph withdrew from the parish at the end of the school year. The last Principal was Sr Francine Caesar who was farewelled at a dinner in the Rising Sun Hotel on 19.11.1991.

1991

On Tuesday 26.11.1991, the memory of the Sisters of St Joseph and their founder was marked in a permanent way. A newly completed landscaped courtyard, situated between two of the school’s buildings was dedicated and named the Mary MacKillop Courtyard by Bishop Raymond Benjamin.

1992

Mr Ed Burke became principal of St Joseph’s School Mundingburra, and was the school’s first lay principal.

1993

St Joseph’s Pre School in Mundingburra was opened in January 1993 and the school library was automated.

1996

On 3.08.96, a meeting between Holy Trinity Parish in Mundingburra and the Sisters of St Joseph marked the end of a long association. The Sisters had withdrawn from the Parish School in 1991 and would vacate the convent building by the end of 1996.

1997

The former convent in Mundingburra was renamed MacKillop House and was restructured to provide accommodation for university students.

1999

On Sunday 8.08.1999, during the 75th Jubilee Year celebrations of St Joseph’s Mundingburra, new and refurbished school facilities were blessed by Bishop Raymond Benjamin and opened by Mr Peter Lindsay MP, Member for Herbert. They included a new covered area, tuck shop, P.E. store room, new administration area with offices, sick bay and staff room. The old office and staff room became refurbished class rooms. The new services, which included air conditioning of the library and music room and a complete upgrade of the school’s electrical wiring, was commissioned by Ms Lindy Nelson-Carr, MLA, Member for Mundingburra.

2005

Indigenous artist, James Doyle, visited St Joseph’s Mundingburra to share the story of one of his paintings purchased by the school. The painting was to become a feature in the newly renovated school library.

2006

Mike Colahan, former deputy principal of Holy Spirit School, became the new principal at St Joseph’s Mundingburra.

2010

The Fr Tom Ivett building at St Joseph’s Mundingburra was demolished on Friday 05.02.2010 to make way for a new two story building.

2011

In mid February, a two and a half tonne statue of Mary MacKillop was delivered to St Joseph’s Mundingburra. The statue, created by Brisbane sculptor Mardi Kearney, was placed between the new school library and new classrooms.

2011

On Wednesday 15.06.2011, Bishop Michael Putney officially opened and blessed new covered areas, tuckshop, new classrooms, a library and a multipurpose area for music and exercise at St Joseph’s Mundingburra. During the celebrations, the Bishop also blessed the large statue of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop in a sacred place at the centre of the school.

2012

On Friday 04.05.2012, the ‘Amenities Upgrade’ commenced. The architect was Warren Kennett from Dillon and Associates and the builder was GABCON. Project Details: 1. Construction of a new toilet block adjacent to the Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) building. 2. Construction of a new storage space in the lower school playground. 3. Renovation of the MPR1 building to become the new staffroom. 4. Refurbishment of the Administration Block. 5. Covered walkways between D Block and the Library and from the Library to the Covered area. 6. Demolition of the existing toilet block.

2013

On Saturday 16.02.13, with the help of NQ Dry Tropics, a frog pond complete with solar powered pump was installed at St. Joseph’s School, Mundingburra. The pond was an initiative of NQ Tropics as part of their Healthy Habitat for Schools program.

2013

On Saturday 10.08.13, an Anniversary Mass was celebrated in the Holy Trinity Church Mundingburra to mark 25 years since the death of the then Parish Priest, Fr Tom Ivett. Following the Mass, the school library at St Joseph’s Mundingburra was dedicated to his memory and a photograph and plaque were unveiled.

2014

A sensory garden was established at St Joseph’s Catholic School, Mundingburra, through a $500 grant from the Reef Guardian Schools Ripple of Change initiative. The garden was planted with a range of herbs, flowering shrubs and succulents that allow students to explore their environment using all five of their senses.