Our Parish School

  • New Farm's origins began with the convict days of Brisbane colony when the area was used to cultivate potatoes, maize and pumpkins. Hence the area became known as the new farm and ultimately New Farm. With the first buildings appearing in New Farm in 1847, 1923, saw New Farm gain a house on the land where the school now stands that was used as a Mass centre. In
    Holy Spirit Church was opened on June 1st 1930, with the school being established on July 7th of the same year.

  • Under the guidance of foundation Principal was Sr Mary Benigna, a Sister of Mercy, the school operated in the old mass centre until 1937 when the existing building was erected to replace the old building. The cost was four thousand pounds and paid for by the generosity of the parish and anonymous donors.

  • The building which stands today was blessed and opened by Archbishop Duhig. "A large and distinguished gathering assembled and amongst the guests was His Lordship the Administrator-Apostolic of Kimberley, who delivered an inspiring address to the people" (The Catholic Leader, Sept 30, 1937)

  •  The school operated out of a single two-storey wing until 1959 when enrolments climbed. Extensions were made in 1959 when the ground floor level, which runs parallel to Villiers Street, was constructed to house 4 new classrooms.

  • The hall was opened in 1966 as a memorial hall. The convent was opened in 1970.

  • In November 1984 the library and library annex was opened and named after the librarian Sr Rosita Williams.

  • A demountable was moved onto site to accommodate the library and was later used to set up the outside of school hours care program - one of the first in Queensland.

  • In 2010 the library was extended and the hall and tennis court underwent extensive refurbishment.

  • In 2012 two new classrooms were built under the existing Prep classrooms to accommodate increasing enrolments. Future building works are planned to build more classrooms to accommodate the families that want their children to come to Holy Spirit School.

  • The school now has enrolments of over 280 and has a thriving school community. One of the highlights on the New Farm biennial calendar is the Holy Spirit Fete which attracted visitors not just from the school community, but from all of New Farm and the surrounding areas.