Kilbreda College

The original façade of the building was built by the Royal Coffee Palace Company Limited. It was opened in November 1887 and was known as the Mentone Coffee Palace. The Coffee Palace was the social centre of the town, situated on the corners of Mentone Parade, Florence Street and Como Parade. It is also near Mentone station (formerly known as Balcombe Road Station until 1884) and is surrounded by the local shops. In the 1890s due to competition with Mentone Hotel and the Depression, the Coffee Palace could no longer be run. In 1894 it fell into the hands of the Mercantile Bank of Australia, and the name of the building was changed to Como House. After this the Coffee Palace was only used occasionally for varying purposes. The Brigidine Sisters bought the Coffee Palace in mid-July 1904 for £2,050, considering the actual cost of the building and furniture, excluding land, was £25,500.[1]

On 7 August 1904 the Brigidine Convent School was officially opened and blessed by Archbishop Thomas Carr, and classes began the next day. On opening, the school had three pupils enrolled in their Convent School and 25 pupils enrolled in St. Patrick's Parish Primary which was located in the Church. The fee-paying convent school began taking boarders in 1905 and subsequently obtained registration as a sub-primary, primary and secondary school. The nuns owned a farm in nearby Johnston street which the students often visited. Boarders and students of primary school age have been phased out; the final primary class being in 1978. The school has been single sex (girls) for many decades. In the 1930s the school's name was changed to Kilbreda College, the name coming from the Gaelic Cill – church or community and Breda – Brigid. Therefore, Kilbreda means Church or Community of Saint Brigid.[2]

The following individuals have served as College Principals:

St. Brigid's cross

Most Brigidine schools follow the same core values, motto and school symbols.

The Brigidine Schools' symbols are:

• Brigid's Cross – The kind of cross St. Brigid used when teaching about the Catholic faith. It is made from woven reeds.
• The Oak Tree – St. Brigid's monastery in Tullow, is called Kildare. Kildare meaning 'the church of the oak'. Many Brigidine schools grow an oak tree from an acorn taken from one of the oak trees in Tullow.
• The Lamp of Learning – represents the light of Christian faith
• School Badge – was designed by the Irish College of Heraldry. The large cross of diamonds is taken from the badge of Bishop Daniel Delany, the bishop who founded the Brigidine Sisters in 1807. The middle diamond contains an image of the lamp of learning, and the image of St. Brigid's cross is contained in the top section.

• Catherine Arlove – three-time Olympian who competed at the 2008 Beijing, 2004 Athens and 2000 Sydney Olympics in judo
• Simone De La Rue – Former dancer turned Hollywood fitness expert, and founder of Body By Simone dance based fitness studios
• Noeleen Dix AM
• Maggie Fitzgibbon OAM – actress and singer
• Ann Henderson – Former Australian Politician
• Dr Bridie Kean – wheelchair basketball player, bronze medalist at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London
• Judith Kinnear – the first woman to head a New Zealand university
• Tania Luiz – Olympian who competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in badminton
• Bree Munro – 2010 Winter Olympian who competed in freestyle skiing
• Vikki Petraitis – author of crime novels
• The Honorable Marilyn Warren AC – former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and former lieutenant governor of Victoria

• List of non-government schools in Victoria
• St. Brigid
• Victorian Certificate of Education
• Vocational Education and Training
• Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning

• Underwood, Margaret (2004). A View from the Tower Kilbreda 1904–2004. Melbourne: Kilbreda College.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kilbreda College.

• Official website