Our History

St Joseph's School, Ottoway had very humble beginnings.

For a number of years, there had been a growing need to provide an education for the children of migrant families who had settled in the area. This need was finally addressed in 1954 when two Sisters of St Joseph began classes in the small prefabricated church. This has since been demolished and replaced by our present church dedicated to St Maxamilian Kolbe.

Year 1 to Year 3 were the only classes catered for in those early years. When the school moved to a larger community hall, classes for Year 4 were added. By 1975 classes were available up to Year 7.

In 1971, a new building was constructed to house all classes, while sections of the hall continued to be used for the library, the canteen, the school office, resource room and staffroom.

In 1976, laying of the bitumen and  landscaped paving,  was completed. This was followed by the construction of the building for the Preschool in 1977. St Joseph's has catered for Preschool since 1974, and prior to the new facilities being available, classes for Preschool were conducted in the hall.

An additional two classrooms were added in 1979 with the much needed administration building which housed the library, staffroom, sick room, resource room and offices.

Transportable buildings had become part of the changing face of the school from 1976. By 1987, there were four transportable classrooms on the site to help house the growing number of children. This number changes according to needs of the school.

In 1989, another building was put in place, housing the senior class of the school plus an additional room which was used for art/science.

The next stage in the continuing development of St Joseph's took place in late 1991 with the construction of two classrooms and a canteen. The 1971 building was demolished. This new building was named the Mary MacKillop Building. In 1996, a new administration building was erected with substantial Commonwealth Government finances.

Since 1997, St Joseph's has been led by a lay principal. In 2004, new facilities were added to provide modern up-to-date accommodation for classes. Four new classrooms were built on top of existing buildings. These rooms have air-conditioning, sinks and computer access.  A library and ICT suite was created from two classrooms. The ICT suite contains up-to-date computers allowing children to be involved in a range of ICT activities.

A new Preschool and Expressive Arts Centre, created a flexible space which is also used by Out of School Hours Care, Playgroup, and music. A change to the administration block has created offices and small group learning spaces which are used for meetings.

At the end of 2005, an extensive playground was erected, with shade added in 2006. The same year an outside learning area was developed when a large verandah was added to the Junior Primary Building. The most recent improvement to the yard has been the resurfacing of courts for use in PE lessons and play time.

In 2009 as part of the Rudd Government's Building the Education Revolution program, the Tenison Woods Hall, an open flexible learning space, which is used for music, assemblies, liturgies, drama, indoor sports, parent gatherings & workshops and hot weather play was constructed.

In 2021 the school's Nature Play Space and Sustainability Garden along with 2 new hardcourt play spaces was constructed to provide additional play space for children, an outdoor prayer space and increase the green space footprint across the school. 

In 2023 work commenced on the construction of the school's Education and Administration Centre which would replace the existing front office building. Building works were completed in 2024 and staff moved into the new building in Term 2 of that year.

The building provides the school with a number of contemporary learning spaces which are used for inclusive education learning programs, student wellbeing support programs, allied health services (speech pathology, occupation therapy, psychology services) and instrumental music programs. The building also provides the school with a much-needed contemporary front office entry and administration space.