OUR HISTORY
St Paul's acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which it stands - the Darumbal people - and recognises their ongoing spiritual closeness to the land.
St Paul's Catholic Primary School is located in the town of Gracemere which is ten kilometres west of the city of Rockhampton. The school was established in 1988 with an enrolment of thirty-nine students to service a rapidly growing community. Since then, the school has expanded its programmes and facilities to cater for its current enrolment of over 300 students.
The very foundations of the community began back in 1870 when the first St Peter’s Church was built. The church was built by the local Catholic community who were principally employees of the Archer brothers. The church was rebuilt in 1919 after being destroyed in a cyclone and in 1995 the new St Paul’s Church was built on its present site in Victoria Street.
St Paul's School was founded by Bishop Bernard Wallace in 1988 as the second school in the Parish of South Rockhampton. As the Gracemere community was growing rapidly, St Peter's Primary School was no longer adequate for the total parish population. Sr Josephine Redmond was appointed principal of St Paul's while the remaining staff were lay people.
Rising out of a vibrant, expanding community the key charism of St Paul’s has become its sense of being a welcoming community and as a respected presence in the broader community of Gracemere.
St Paul’s is a part of the Catholic Education family within the Diocese of Rockhampton. As a Catholic school, we are an integral part of the Church’s mission to proclaim the gospel. As members of the St Paul’s school community, through our words and actions, we strive to give witness to the defining features of a Catholic school:
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Give witness to the message of Jesus and the mission of the church
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Have a clear Catholic identity
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Be open and accessible to all who seek our values
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Offer a relevant and holistic curriculum of quality teaching and learning
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Be a community of care
