, motto_translation = Everything for God , established = 1873 , closed = 2020 , 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 * Independ ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, gender =

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

, denomination = , slogan = , principal = Filina Virgato (at closure) , key_people = , city =

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, state =

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, country =

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, coordinates = , enrolment = 648 , grades_label = Years , grades = 7-12 , num_employ = , colours = Navy blue and green Presentation College, Windsor (PCW) was 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 * Independ ...

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 lette ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

for girls, located in

, an inner

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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 met ...

, Australia. The school was founded in 1873. The brother school of PCW was the

Christian Brothers College, St Kilda St Mary's College (formerly Christian Brothers College, St Kilda) is an Independent school, independent Catholic school, Catholic secondary school for boys and girls, located in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The school was f ...

(CBC), located adjacent to PCW.

History

Presentation Convent, Windsor was established upon the arrival of seven

Presentation Sisters The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congre ...

from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1873. Prior to their arrival, from 1839, the Church and colonial government debated the need for education to be provided by local church schools. The Victorian government wanted to alter the education legislation. It was said that the system of denominational schools was too great a burden on the economy of a young country and left many areas with no access to education. That was resolved following the election of

James Wilberforce Stephen Hon. James Wilberforce "Wilber" Stephen, M.A., (10 April 1822 – 14 August 1881) was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Attorney-General of Victoria and Supreme Court judge. The Stephen family was a prominent legal dynasty in A ...

to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1870, representing St. Kilda. Appointed Attorney-General in 1872, he had responsibility for the proposed Education Bill, which provided for free, secular and compulsory education. After the passage of the bill, financial grants given to denominational schools were discontinued, making the continuation of Catholic schools staffed by lay people financially impossible. Father Corbett, Parish Priest at St Mary's, East St Kilda, acted quickly and sent a letter to the Presentation Convent in

. It opened in dramatic fashion: "Dear Reverend Mother. From the ends of the earth I write to you for help ..." Responding to the request in September 1873,

Sister Mary Paul Mulquin Sister Mary Paul Mulquin (1842 – 10 February 1930) was a Roman Catholic nun and educationalist born in Adare, Limerick, Ireland. Born Katherine Mulquin to John Mulquin, a landowner, and his wife Catherine, née Sheehy, she changed her name in ...

, together with six

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, boarded the steamer, the

SS Great Britain SS ''Great Britain'' is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great W ...

, at Liverpool, arriving at

Sandridge Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England. History The original name was "Saundruage" meaning a place of sandy soil serviced by bond tenants. The earliest recorded mention of Sandri ...

(Port Melbourne) 21 December 1873. Presentation Convent Windsor became a reality on Christmas Day 1873. The school commenced in January 1874 with 33 enrolments. By 1883, the enrolment of pupils at Windsor Convent was 367, with 11 sisters and three lay teachers forming the staff.

Closure

On 29 July 2019, it was announced that Presentation College Windsor would close at the end of 2020, due to declining enrolments.

House system

The four

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

were formed in 1940 by the Principal at the time Mother Bertrand Rahilly, who was very interested in sport and wanted to encourage students to become more active. Within their House girls compete in the Music Festival, Athletics and Swimming as well as participating in other sports. Mother Bertrand introduced the names of the Houses and allocated the colours: * Nagle (yellow): After

Nano Nagle Venerable Honora Nagle ( – 26 April 1784), known informally as Nano Nagle, was a pioneer of Roman Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), com ...

, founder of the Presentation Sisters * Kostka (red): After

Stanislaus Kostka Stanisław Kostka S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568) was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Stanislaus Kostka (as distinct from his namesake, the 11th-century Bishop of Kraków S ...

, renowned Jesuit who died young and came to symbolise youth * Xavier (blue): After

St Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1 ...

, Jesuit missionary and patron Saint of Australia * Loyola (green): After

St Ignatius Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

, founder of the Jesuits

Notable alumni

Jana Wendt Jana Bohumila Wendt ( ; born 9 May 1956) is an Australian Gold Logie award-winning television journalist, reporter and writer. Early life Wendt was born in Melbourne to Czech parents who emigrated to Australia in 1949. Wendt attended Presentat ...

, journalist *

Katherine Bourke Katherine Louise Bourke is an Australian lawyer and judge. She has been a Judge of the County Court of Victoria since December 2007. Biography Judge Bourke was born in Melbourne on 5 July 1961. She is one of five children, all girls, of Dr Joh ...

, judge *

Anna Burke Anna Elizabeth Burke (born 1 January 1966) is a former Australian politician and current Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. She was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to May 2016, representing the ...

, politician *

Sheila Florance Sheila Mary Florance (24 July 1916 – 12 October 1991) was an Australian theatre, television and film actress. She was best known for her performance as elderly, alcoholic convict Lizzie Birdsworth in the television series ''Prisoner''. F ...

, actress * Clare Oliver, health activist *

Pia Miller Pia Whitesell (née Loyola Blanco, previously Miller; born 2 November 1983) is a Chilean-born Australian fashion model, actress and television presenter. Whitesell came to prominence after winning '' Dolly's'' annual modelling competition. She l ...

, actress *

Lydia Schiavello Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish prov ...

, television personality
Matilda Boseley
reporter for

7NEWS ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are ...

and

Guardian Australia ''Guardian Australia'' is the Australian website of the British global online and print newspaper, ''The Guardian''. Available solely in an online format, the newspaper's launch was led by Katharine Viner in time for the 2013 Australian fede ...

References

{{Reflist

External links