Catholic Ladies College, Eltham (also known simply as CLC Eltham) 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

single-sex secondary

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

for

girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. ''daughter'' or ''girlfriend'' regardless of age, ...

, located in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. The school provides a Catholic and general education to girls from

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia and England) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 ...

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

History

The school was founded by the

Sisters of Charity of Australia The Sisters of Charity of Australia, or the Congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity of Australia, is a congregation of religious sisters in the Catholic Church established in 1838. Sisters use the post-nominal initials of RSC. History ...

in 1902. The school was originally in

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ce ...

. The land on which the school was built was bought by Mother Mary Berchmans Daly in 1898. Under the mother-rectress Mary Catherine Bruton or Mother Canice, in post from 1914, the school performed well in examinations, and the study of science subjects began. When

Damien Broderick Damien Francis Broderick (22 April 1944 – 19 April 2025) was an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' credits him with the first usage of the term ''virtual ...

's mother attended the school in the 1930s, it was "moderately upmarket". The school moved to Eltham in 1971.

Houses

The four houses and their associated colours are: *Loyola, the yellow house, named after

St Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the So ...

. *Marita, the blue house, named in honor of Jesus' mother. *Aikenhead, the green house, named in honor of Mary Aikenhead. *Vincentia, the red house, named after

St Vincent De Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. A ...

. House activities and competitions include swimming, sports, athletics, and Founders Day activities.

Academic rankings

Notable former students

* Maddy Brancatisano, AFLW player * Jennie Frances Brenan, (1877–1964), dancing teacher * Steph Chiocci, AFLW Footballer *

Virginia Haussegger Virginia Haussegger, (born 21 March 1964), is an Australian journalist, academic advocate for gender equity, media commentator and television presenter. Haussegger presented ''ABC News (Australia), ABC News'' on ABC Canberra (TV station), ABC ...

* Louise Lightfoot, architect, choreographer and dancer * Kate Moloney, netballer * Ashleigh Riddell, AFLW player *

Vicki Ward Vicki Ward (born 30 June 1969) is an Australian politician. She has been a Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch), Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of El ...

, politician

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Catholic Ladies College Website

''Caritas'', the school magazine, for 1937

''Caritas'', the school magazine, for 1938
Art Deco architecture in Melbourne Educational institutions established in 1902 Girls' schools in Victoria (state) Catholic secondary schools in Melbourne 1902 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the Shire of Nillumbik Sisters of Charity of Australia