About Us

Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic School is situated on a large parcel of land on the south-eastern outskirts of Murtoa. It is a small Wimmera farming community situated 30 kilometres from Horsham with a population of approximately 850 and is part of the Horsham Parish of St. Michael and St. John. A major industry in the area is dryland agriculture.

In 1953 an attempt was made to start a Catholic School in Murtoa, and although plans were drawn up, no further steps were taken at this time.

In early 1961, a building committee was formed and the building of the school was commenced in December 1961 and completed in October 1962.

Bishop James O'Collins performed the official opening and dedication to Our Lady Help of Christians on March 24th 1963.

Classes commenced at the beginning of the 1963 school year with 53 pupils and staffed by Sr. Mary Ethna (principal) and Sr. Mary de Porres, Brigidine nuns from the Horsham convent. A car was provided and the nuns travelled from Horsham daily.

In 1974 Mrs Veronica Slattery was appointed the first lay principal when the Brigidines could no longer supply a teacher. Six more lay principals have served Our Lady’s community over the years while other teachers have provided assistance in the classroom and as support staff in the classrooms, in the library and in administration.

Our school has grown from its beginnings, since 2002 we have seen the building of a multi-purpose room; new student and staff amenities, front foyer and Principal’s office, the building of a library, a student's kitchen and an art room. 

Our Lady's has also moved ahead with the times in technology, with our Senior classroom providing a one-on-one laptop program and the Junior room has a bank of i-Pads for student use. The Library and each classroom also contain an interactive Smart Screen Panel which acts as a TV, Computer Monitor with the use of a Compute Stick and an interactive panel.  All students access Google APPs for Education to enhance their learning.