About Our School

St Therese in the Nazareth Parish, is set in a semi-rural area on the Surf Coast. The majority of families at St Therese live in the immediate Torquay, Jan Juc and Anglesea areas.

We are a Catholic Parish Primary School that prides itself on a friendly and supportive environment with a unique sense of community where parents, staff, and students value and respect each other.

At St Therese, all learners have the opportunity to inquire, discover, grow, and be Christ-centered.

We learn:

  • To be resilient, mindful/calm and self-responsible.

  • To do by building positive relationships, problem solving, taking responsible risks, making decisions and communicating effectively.

  • To learn with curiosity, purpose, critical thinking and reflection.

  • To enquire, develop, grow and discover.

We encourage you to explore our website and contact the school if you have any further queries.

Josh McElgunn - Principal

School Profile

St Therese School opened in 1986 with 29 students. As we celebrate 35 years, the current enrolment is 310 students with 38 staff members. The life of St Therese of Lisieux, who believed that what matters in life most is great love and that we must approach all that we do with love, is evident in all that we do.

The Catholic nature of the school is evident in the daily lives of the children, teachers, and community. St Therese lives its school vision through all interactions with staff, students, and the wider community by developing deep understandings about self, others, and the world. Leaders aim to be Christ-centered in all aspects of their leadership.

A well-coordinated Religious Education program that is connected to faith development and social justice and takes a caring community-based approach provides the students with many opportunities to connect their lives and faith.

The learning spaces and improvements to all buildings and grounds support a contemporary approach, emphasising valuing external and internal learning.

Staff & Key Personnel

We aim for a personal commitment from staff to be change agents, to have highly developed communication, team, and problem-solving skills, and to participate and cooperate with other people in all human activities. We expect that staff will have high expectations that every student can learn and an understanding of the importance of having appropriate measures of accountability in place. All staff members are continually working towards a deeper knowledge of how children learn best and then to match the strategies to the learning styles and the needs of their students.

  • Mr Josh McElgunn - Principal

    Mrs Penny Knight - Deputy Principal

    Mrs Joanne Hawksworth - Administration

    Mrs Kerrie White - Office Manager

    Mrs Jackie Richards - Technologies Co-ordinator

    Mr Patrick Delahunty - Learning Diversity Leader

    Mrs Jan Fagan - Religious Education Leader / Wellbeing

  • Foundation

    Helene Richard

    Nicky Aitken

    Liam Jackson

    Jacinta Jamieson

    Maddy Carr

    Junior

    Marty Umanski

    Joanna Medson

    Gemma Pay

    Marisa Joseph

    Rina Morgan

    Leanne Todd

    Middle

    Julie Nicholson

    Jess Chisholm

    Kirsten McCarthy

    Vaughn McCarthy

    Alyce Knight

    Rachelle Thom

    Patrick Delahunty

    Senior

    Leigh Kentish

    Alanna Coughlan

    Gerard McCarthy

    Bethany Volkers

    Specialists

    Simone Segrave

    Seravina Kinanti

    Tracey Huchinson

    Liz Vass

    Jess Hurrey

    Jan Fagan

    Patrick Delahunty

    Learning Support Staff

    Cathy Ball

    Jackie Richards

    Ty Hudson

    Tia Bell

    Kristy Duncan

    Chloe Klein

    Annalise Hardman

  • Elected members of the St Therese Advisory Council for 2024 are:

    Principal: Josh McElgunn

    Deputy Principal: Penny Knight

    Parish Priest: Fr Linh Tran

    Council Chair: Anthony Winter

    Elected Members: Kate Collins, Erin Gleeson, Ellen Miers, Russ Wood, Melissa Iannazzo, Tony Jones

Class Structures

There are currently fifteen classes operating at St Therese with the learning areas arranged in four main buildings – Foundation, junior, middle and senior school. This year we have changed our class structure from a composite style to single stream classes.  These learning areas are flexible, purposeful spaces, with an emphasis on both inside and outside learning. The library collection is distributed throughout the 4 learning spaces to ensure access to books for students at all times.

Our classes are as Follows

Foundation: Foundation RJ, Foundation JA, Foundation MC

Year 1: Year 1GP, Year 1MU

Year 2: Year 2LT, Year 2JM

Year 3: Year 3KM, Year 3NC

Year 4: Year 4AK, Year 4VM, 4TD

Year 5: Year 5LK, Year 5AC

Year 6: Year 6BV, Year 6GM

Teaching and Learning

Our school is focused on providing a contemporary learning environment and continues to evaluate programs for their relevance to living in the twenty-first century. The use of research and data to inform decisions about learning and teaching, have contributed to a change in culture in this area.

The learning and teaching in the early years builds a strong foundation that supports our beliefs and understandings that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic investigations have greater language skills and better developed social skills, empathy and imagination.

Student Welfare

All staff promote a positive wellbeing philosophy based on high expectations for all students within a nurturing environment. It is the basis upon which student learning is developed and extended.

Child Safety

At St Therese Catholic Primary School, we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school. Our commitment is drawn from and inherent to the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the gospel (CECV Commitment Statement to Child Safety).

Statement of Democratic Principles

St Therese Primary School aims to promote lifelong learning and active participation as citizens in Australian society. Learning and teaching practice is based on an integrated curriculum and implemented through an inquiry approach. An important focus of curriculum development and implementation is the focus on Community and Citizenship, which is developed and explored in line with the Victorian Curriculum's Essential Learning Standards - Civics and Citizenship Domain.

The programs of St Therese, and the teaching of those programs support and promote:

  • the principles and practice of Australian democracy;

  • the elected government;

  • the rule of law;

  • equal rights for all before the law;

  • freedom of religion;

  • freedom of speech and association; and,

  • values of openness and tolerance.