, motto_translation = While I Live, I Trust in the Cross , established = , type =

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

comprehensive Comprehensive may refer to: * Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client. *Comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged appr ...

single-sex

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and secondary

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

and boarding school , denomination =

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, religious_affiliation =

Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The con ...

or Loreto Sisters , gender = Girls , slogan = Growing Individuals and Communities , principal = Marina Ugonotti , chairman = , chaplain = Kerry McCullough , location =

Normanhurst Normanhurst is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region, or Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Hornsby Shire ...

, upper North Shore of Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 240 , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in greater metropolitan Sydney , pushpin_label = , pushpin_label_position = top , module = , enrolment = , enrolment_as_of = 2007 , grades_label = Years , grades = 5– 12Loreto Normanhurst- About
(accessed:26-05-2007) , staff = ~200Loreto Normanhurst Annual Report 2006
(accessed:15-08-2007) , colours = Navy blue and yellow , homepage = , affiliations = Loreto Normanhurst is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and secondary

and boarding school for girls, located in

, a suburb on the upper North Shore of Sydney,

, Australia. Established in 1897, Loreto has a current enrolment of approximately 1,175 students from Year 5 to

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory edu ...

, including approx. 185 boarders, and is the largest girls' boarding school in New South Wales.Loreto Normanhurst- Information Booklet
(accessed:16-06-2007) In 2006, the school was named among the top ten innovative schools in Australia. Commencing in 2015, the school reopened their primary school for girls in years 5 and 6. Loreto Normanhurst is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (AISNSW), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), and is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS). The school is one of many around the world established by the

, or Loreto Sisters, founded some 400 years ago by

Mary Ward Mary Ward may refer to: Scientists and academics * Mary Ward (nurse) (1884–1972) English nurse to the boat people on the waterways * Mary Ward (scientist) (née King, 1827–1869) Irish amateur scientist, was killed by an experimental steam car ...

, and its Sydney sister school is Loreto Kirribilli. There are five other Loreto schools across Australia, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

History

Mother Gonzaga Barry led the Loreto nuns to Sydney from Ballarat, Victoria in 1892, establishing a school in rented premises at Randwick. Within five years, the school had grown significantly, and a separate school for the boarders was deemed necessary. Mother Gonzaga's prayers for an appropriate site were answered during a visit to Sydney in 1896, as Mother Oliver explained: LoretoNH1897

This land was purchased, and the foundation stone for the new

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

was laid on 28 February 1897 by

Cardinal Moran Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran (16 September 183016 August 1911) was the third Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney and the first cardinal appointed from Australia. Early life Moran was born at Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland, on 16 Sept ...

. The school opened late in 1897 as "Loreto Convent, Hornsby" with 15 boarders, many of them girls who had come from Randwick. Although primarily a boarding school at this time, Loreto did accept a small number of day students from the local Hornsby area, including some young boys. Enrolments grew over the following decades; however, the Wars and Depression proved difficult times. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the surrounding shire developed and day girl numbers began to equal that of boarders, gradually overtaking them to the present situation where there are many more day girls than boarders.

Principals

House system

As with most Australian schools, Loreto Normanhurst utilises a

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

. The school currently has eight houses, which play an important role in the pastoral program at the school. They are: The houses are an important part of the schools community. To keep the members of the houses together, they make sure the lockers are surrounded by the house mates.

Notable alumnae

Jenny Brockie Jenny Brockie (born 1954 or 1955) is an Australian journalist and documentary-maker, she has previously hosted the SBS program, ''Insight''. Brockie has spent more than 20 years in broadcasting, reporting nationally and internationally for AB ...

– broadcaster *

Kate Eastman Kate Eastman (born 1966) is a leading Australian human rights lawyer and academic. She was co-founder of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) in 1992 and was for many years President. Early life and education Eastman was educated at ...

– human rights lawyer and academic *

Catherine Livingstone Catherine Brighid Livingstone, , (born 17 September 1955) is an Australian businesswoman who has held positions in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, CSIRO, Macquarie Bank and Telstra. Professional After finishing her degree in 1977, Livings ...

– Chair of Telstra

former CEO of Cochlear *

Jessica McNamee Jessica McNamee (born 16 June 1988) is an Australian actress. She rose to fame in Australia playing roles in the Seven Network television programs ''Home and Away'' and ''Packed to the Rafters''. From 2014 to 2015, she starred as patrol officer ...

– actor ''Home and Away'', ''Packed to the Rafters'', ''Battle of the Sexes'', ''The Meg'', ''The Vow'', "Mortal Kombat" * Clare Martin – CEO of

ACOSS The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is an Australian organisation that advocates for action to reduce poverty and inequality, and is the peak body for the community services sector in Australia. It was formed in 1956. ACOSS is ac ...

, former Chief Minister of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

Zoe Naylor Zoe Naylor (born 4 July 1977) is an Australian actress, journalist and television presenter. Early life and education Naylor was born in Sydney, Australia to Richard Naylor, a veterinarian, and Neroli, an English and History teacher. She gradu ...

– actor, ''McLeod's Daughters'' *

Victoria Pendergast Victoria "Tori" Pendergast (born 25 January 1991) is an Australian F58 athletics shot put competitor and LW12.1 classified Para-alpine skier. When she competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, she became Australia's first female sit ...

– Australian Winter Paralympic skier *

Emma Simkin Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Emma'' (1996 TV film), a British television film starring Kate B ...

– SBS journalist and reporter *

Kimberley Starr Kimberley Starr (born 1970) is an Australian novelist and teacher. Her debut novel, ''The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies,'' was followed by ''The Book Of Whispers''. Her next novel, ''Torched'', was released by Pantera Press in 2020. Biography Kimber ...

– novelist * Monica Trapaga – singer and TV presenter * Montaigne – musician * Gordi - musician * Sophie Dwyer - Giants Netball Player

References

External links

Loreto Normanhurst website
{{Authority control Girls' schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1897 Catholic secondary schools in Sydney Boarding schools in New South Wales Catholic primary schools in Sydney Hornsby Shire Catholic boarding schools in Australia Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools 1897 establishments in Australia

Convents in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia