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St Joseph's Tobruk Memorial School
St Joseph's Tobruk Memorial School, also commonly known as St Joseph's or simply Joey's, is an independent, Roman Catholic, co-educational primary school, located in the town of Beenleigh in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia.[1][2] It is administered by Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) and is a member school of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission, with an enrolment of 448 students and a teaching staff of 32, as of 2023.[2] The school serves students from Prep to Year 6.[1][2] HistoryThe school was announced in May 1951, under the name St Joseph's Convent and was to be an all-boys school.[3] The permit was granted in June 1951,[4] and the foundation stone was laid on 16 March 1952.[5] Despite the weather on 16 March, many still attended the laying of the foundation stone.[6] Originally budgeted at £20,000 in 1951,[7] the final cost of the school ranged between £26,000[8] and £27,000[9] by the school's opening in 1953. The school opened on 25 October 1953,[10][11] to honour those who served in the Siege of Tobruk during World War II.[12] Despite originally being planned as an all-boys school,[3] it opened as a coeducational facility for day school, but only accommodated boys for boarding school.[9] It had 97 foundation students.[13] The school was blessed by Archbishop Duhig, with Leslie Morshead and 55 members of the Rats of Tobruk Association attending.[14] In July 1955, the only replica of the Australian memorial in Tobruk was unveiled at the school,[15] with approximately 300 members of the Rats of Tobruk Association present, and Archbishop Duhig unveiling the memorial.[16] 1998 saw the school celebrate its past by inviting the project team for the Rats of Tobruk to plant rose bushes in remembrance.[17] A rose garden featuring a memorial with 18 rosebushes was created.[17] On 21 October 2006 the school was deliberately set ablaze,[18] and was severely damaged.[19] The cost of the repairs was more than $500,000;[18] being the second incident in the last 10 years (since 1996), the first fire caused roughly $60,000 in damage.[18][20] A number of surviving soldiers from Tobruk were involved in the school's rebuilding efforts, assisting with the RSL sponsored fundraiser for the school.[12] The 60th anniversary was celebrated on 25 October 2013, with a Thanksgiving Mass and a 1950s dinner dance being held as the main events.[13] The students wore yellow clothing on 1 August 2014 to support the Wear Yellow for Allison Day movement to remember Allison Baden-Clay, after an 11-year-old suggested the idea to the school council.[21] In January 2024, the school's playground was replaced.[22] DemographicsIn 2023, the school had a student enrollment of 448 with 32 teachers (30.2 full-time equivalent) and 21 non-teaching staff (14.4 full-time equivalent). Female enrollments consisted of 225 students and Male enrollments consisted of 223 students; Indigenous enrollments accounted for a total of 7% and 10% of students had a language background other than English.[2] See alsoReferences
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