Melbourne schools offer some of the most diverse curricula and opportunities in the country, and Catholic schools are no exception. In this post, we’ll walk you through some of the best reviewed and top performing Catholic schools in Victoria.
For starters, we’ve divided the list into primary and secondary schools, although do note that some of these schools accommodate students from Prep to Year 12 altogether. Additionally, we’ve focused on highlighting each school’s curriculum and method of teaching, including the inspiration on how and why they’ve adapted the said approach. Now that’s settled, let us give you an overview of the best Catholic schools in Melbourne in 2024.
To find the best primary school in Melbourne for your child, click here.
To look up the best high school in Melbourne suitable for your child, read here.
Primary School
The following primary schools made the list of our top schools in Melbourne in 2024:
St Cecilia’s School
Aside from excellent pastoral care, St Cecilia’s at Glen Iris is said to offer a good mix of spiritual development, cultural studies, and sporting opportunities to its co-educational students. The school champions contemporary learning by providing opportunities for class-wide explicit learning, a smaller need-based learning group, and independent learning. The high-priority areas in St Cecilia’s primary class are literacy and numeracy, which is done in order to provide a stronger base for learning the rest of the curriculum.
Address: 4 Van Ness Avenue, Glen Iris, 3146
St Joan of Arc School
The St Joan of Arc School at Brighton is a proud family-oriented school community that values academic success, student wellbeing, and child safety. The academy strives to let their students develop a strong connection not just with themselves, but with their peers, faculty, and the school community. The primary school curriculum is based on an inquiry approach and is focused on English, mathematics, contemporary learning and religious education. Meanwhile, performing arts, creative arts, Japanese, physical education and student camps are some of the supported extra-curricular programs at St Joan.
Address: 30 Dendy St, Brighton 3186
Sacred Heart School
The Sacred Heart at Kew is known to instill the importance of social justice and global awareness as part of its curriculum. The spacious campus hosts a slew of recreational courts for basketball, tennis, and track and oval. Children are also able to collaborate or take a break in the sand pit, sensory garden play spaces, school garden, and covered adventure playgrounds. As a Catholic school, Sacred Heart runs an expansive religious education program that includes participation in class liturgies and masses along with standard lessons in English, mathematics, Mandarin, digital technologies, visual arts and more.
Address: 116 Cotham Road, Kew 3101
Holy Trinity School
Holy Trinity School advocates for its TORCH values (Tolerance, Optimism, Respect, Confidence and Honesty) to establish its identity and teachings among its students and school community. The students are taught a range of studies that align with the Victorian Curriculum and their experiences are enhanced by extra-curricular activities that include programs in visual arts, digital technologies, performing arts, music, physical education and engineering. Holy Trinity is part of an established Catholic school community in Wantirna South, and an active part of St Jude’s Parish, Scoresby.
Address: 10 Riddell Road, Wantirna South 3152
St Dominic’s School
St Dominic’s is a co-educational school that offers a mapped pathway to Catholic secondary education opportunities. The key subjects and extra-curricular learning opportunities in the school’s inquiry-based learning curriculum include classes in English, visual arts, STEM, performance arts, mathematics, Italian, sustainability and gardening and religious education. The school also supports an expansive student well-being program that is highlighted by social-emotional learning development, the evidence-based mental health program called the resilience project.
Address: 816 Riverdale Road, Camberwell East 3124
St Michael’s School
St Michael’s boasts a vibrant and nurturing learning community at the heart of Ashburton. The school also sees students come from the nearby suburbs in Burwood, Ashwood, Glen Iris, Alamein and Solway. The institution supports a vast curriculum that includes literacy, numeracy, civics and citizenship, math, public speaking, religious education and many other electives. Specialist programs are also available in physical education, performing arts, visual arts, science and Mandarin.
Address: 268 High Street, Ashburton 3147
Our Lady of Lourdes School
Our Lady of Lourdes‘ curriculum is underpinned by its Christian values and is made dynamic by its personalised teaching methodology that values the needs, interests and learning styles of individual students. Their approach is further refined by a pedagogy that aims to empower young learners to demonstrate agency, know themselves, inquire and critique the world around them, make a difference, and ultimately collaborate with, learn from and contribute to the learning of others.
Address: 7 Wynnstay Rd, Prahran East 3181
St Roch’s School
St Roch’s is proud of its three core virtues in faith, hope and love, which it aims to reflect on their school-wide community and contemporary learning methods. The school notably offers one of the deepest selections of extra-curricular activities in Melbourne, which ranges from programs in spiritual development, sporting showcases, academic specialisations, student wellbeing, the arts and leadership. The main curriculum, meanwhile, focuses on math, STEM, inquiry, health and physical education, Italian, visual arts and more. As an extension, St Roch’s also supports distance learning.
Address: 5 Glenvale Road, Glen Iris 3146
Good Shepherd School
Good Shepherd incorporates its Catholic traditions in a powerful curriculum that features classes in STEM, English, LOTE (Mandarin), mathematics, inquiry learning, music, physical education and sports. The school also gives way to a variety of programs that champions specialised learnings in robotics and coding, the Wushka reading program, SMART spelling, school choir, instrumental program, Year 6 leadership opportunities and more. Ultimately, Good Shepherd envisions its students leaving the campus with a strong sense of belonging to their extended Catholic community along with the lifelong pursuit of learning and personal development.
Address: 30 Academy Avenue, Wheelers Hill 3150
Our Lady’s Primary School
Our Lady’s Primary School in Surrey Hills is a welcoming Catholic school focused on nurturing the whole child within a supportive community. The school emphasizes academic excellence, pastoral care, and the development of each student’s potential. It offers a rich curriculum, personalized learning, and various extracurricular activities, including spiritual, academic, sporting, and artistic programs. The school values strong relationships and provides a positive environment for both students and their families.
Address: 31 Erasmus Street, Surrey Hills 3127
High School
The following secondary schools made the list of our top schools in Melbourne in 2024:
St Kevin’s College
St Kevin’s is a Catholic school for boys with several campuses in Melbourne that hosts middle school and senior school for students. The school focuses on mathematics, English, science, history, geography and language as its core subjects in middle school. Meanwhile, the final three years of secondary school will see the boys attend the aforementioned core classes, along with Australian History and a variety of elective subjects. The school also offers a dynamic co-curricular program that includes music, sport, performance arts, debate and public speaking and outdoor education.
Address: 31 Moonga Road, Toorak 3142
Loreto Mandeville Hall
Loreto offers a safe and supportive environment for educating young women in Melbourne. The school is known for its outstanding academic results as well as its extensive history and success in teaching music and instrumental. Leadership is also taught at a young age (Year 6), including public speaking and presentation training and opportunities for all students. Thus, allowing for a smoother transition into Year 7 and beyond. The students are then given the chance to choose their core and elective subjects for secondary education among the 31 subjects available for Year 7 to Year 12.
Address: 10 Mandeville Crescent, Toorak 3142
Sacré Coeur
Sacré Coeur is an independent Catholic school in Melbourne for girls from Prep to Year 12. Student well-being is central to the life of Sacré Coeur students as demonstrated by the school’s Pastoral Curriculum that emphasises on the Wellness Program (P-6) and the Cor Unum Program (7-12). Similarly, the school champions personalised learning and small classes to maximise opportunities for each child to receive a contemporary, individual learning path. Aside from undertaking the Victorian Curriculum as their core for secondary school, the students receive Japanese and French classes and are encouraged to take creative and performing arts.
Address: 172 Burke Road, Glen Iris Melbourne, 3146
Genazzano FCJ College
Genazzano is an award-winning college that prides itself in its extensive academic curriculum and dynamic co-curricular programs for girls. The exclusive school also thrives in promoting cultural development and social justice campaigns, while also being highly regarded as the only Catholic all-girls boarding school in Victoria and its international students programme. Genzzano also offers a wide range of co-curricular activities that range from social and spiritual development, language, the arts, sports, meditation, various clubs and more.
Address: 301 Cotham Road, Kew 3101
De La Salle College
De La Salle is an exclusive college that was founded in 1912 as an independent Catholic college for boys. While students are challenged and supported at every level, standouts or gifted students are also granted access to the school’s Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program, which aims to present appropriate challenges and learning opportunities for advanced learners. Meanwhile, co-curricular activities in De La Salle offer a variety of exciting opportunities, including international cultural tours and immersions.
Address: 1318 High Street, Malvern 3144
Xavier College
Xavier stays true to its Jesuit roots by employing the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), which encourages students to be lifelong learners. The all-boys college additionally implores students to adopt a framework that focuses on understanding, experience and reflection in their studies, as well as involvement in social justice programs, performance on the stage and participation on the sporting field. The senior school, in particular, reflects the age-old Jesuit Education traditions of offering an extensive Liberal Arts curriculum as an extension of the student’s core studies.
Address: 135 Barkers Rd, Kew VIC 3101
Sienna College
Sienna is an exclusive Dominican girl’s school that has modernised its approach to align learning and technology in the 21st century. For one, the school’s Sienna Central, an LMS, gives remote access to all course materials and learning activities at the student’s or teacher’s convenience. Students are also encouraged to bring their devices, while professors are afforded laptops and access to the school’s connected network. Elsewhere, Sienna also honors traditional learning through the Albertus Magnus Learning Centre. The depository is home to a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction scribes as well as a catalogue of online resources through the college’s Sienna Central.
Address: 815 Riversdale Road, Camberwell 3124
Choose the Best Catholic Melbourne Schools for Your Child
Choosing the best school for your children doesn’t necessarily mean only looking at the academic results each year or just finding the most convenient commute. It could be one or both; though you can always expand the criteria to something more personalised toward the early development of your child and the path that you’ve been slowly building for them.
Regardless, it’s a difficult and exciting choice! We hope that this quick rundown of the top Catholic schools we’ve reviewed in Melbourne could help you narrow down your list further as you look for the ideal school, environment and community that will support your child during their developmental years. If you have questions or suggestions to make this list even better, leave us feedback or follow our blog for important updates and tips.
To look up schools in Melbourne, click here.
