A RICH TRADITION
Baradene College of the Sacred Heart is part of a world-wide network of Sacred Heart Schools in 41 countries, which offers an education based on the philosophy of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat who founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1800AD.
This philosophy has been deepened and developed over time and today is summed up in the five Goals that each Sacred Heart school is committed to.
Read more about our goals here
ATTRIBUTES OF A SACRED HEART EDUCATION
The qualities of mind and the desires of the spirit, valued in this tradition are:
- The love of learning, the art of wonder, the savouring of truth and beauty
- The search for knowledge and understanding through the discipline of persevering inquiry, insight, order, structure, communication and imaginative expression
- The inter-relating of knowledge and experience in a manner informed, reflective, critical, tolerant, constructive and decisive
- An interest in and appreciation of branches of learning both practical and academic beyond any one subject discipline and a concern to humanise the study of science and technology
- The recognition of each person as the agent of his or her own growth, capable of ever new understanding of the human world
- A strong desire for justice in human society as the school community learns to discern the face of God in human experience
Our tradition urges us to balance the claims of immediate vocational requirements with an offering from the school that is educationally deep and broad.
Mindful of a tradition that 'what we do, we do together', the staff work with each other and with the students to continually create a learning environment where each person is valued and respected for who she is; gifts are brought to light and shared, differences and limitations are recognised and accepted, leadership is fostered at many levels, and young people are encouraged to find hope, purpose and meaning in their lives.
As a microcosm of the larger world, the school community becomes the place where staff and students are made aware of the personal love of the heart of Jesus Christ for each one, and the power of love to transform society.
The above information on the Society of the Sacred Heart was kindly provided by two of Baradene College's Sisters, Sister Elizabeth Snedden rscJ and Sister Annett Hanrahan rscJ.
For more information on the Society of the Sacred Heart, click here for RSCJ Australia New Zealand Province at:
HISTORY OF BARADENE COLLEGE OF THE SACRED HEART
The Society of the Sacred Heart opened their first school in Auckland in 1909, in a house in Mountain Road, Epsom, and then moved to the Victoria Avenue property in 1910. The school established itself on a property previously owned by the Hon E Mitchelson, and by the end of the first year of existence had enrolled 28 children. The children were first housed and taught in the original wooden house which was also the residence of the Sisters.
In 1911 the main building, now known as the Duchesne building, was opened and blessed by the then Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Cleary. An extension was added to this building in 1957. In 1959 the Jubilee Wing, which held the chapel and hall, was opened and in 1975 the original Barat Block was opened. The Years 7 and 8 school block, known as the Centennial Building, was opened in 1980. In 1991 the Duchesne building was completely strengthened for earthquakes and refurbished to meet the requirements of government regulations under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act. Extensions were added to the Centennial block over four stages, adding an extra six classrooms, lunch bar and uniform shop, finishing in 2001. A new Chapel/Auditorium opened in Term 4 of 2002.
In 2005, the school enjoyed the first fruits of the Campus Redevelopment Plan, when four new tennis courts and three netball courts were finished in April of that year. Next was the refurbishment of the Jubilee building that saw the old Chapel and Hall transformed into new a Performing Arts Faculty/Theatre with Dance/Drama Studios, a Music Department and also the Social Sciences Faculty with four new classrooms and two computer rooms. The new Barat Block was opened in 2009, providing art, science and technology facilities. In 2019 the new Music Block, Hockey Turf and underground was opened. In 2023 we began work on a new gymnasium.
Baradene College was both a boarding and day school until 1985 when the boarding section was finally closed. Baradene College became a State integrated school in 1983.
THE SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART
The Society of the Sacred Heart, begun in France in 1800, founded Baradene College of the Sacred Heart and continue to exercise influence on the life and education of the school through Baradene College Limited which acts as the Proprietor of the College, through the Network of Sacred Heart Schools and through the presence of two communities of Sisters on the site.
The Australia/New Zealand Network of Sacred Heart Schools is an Association of the four schools in Australia and New Zealand that share the same history and tradition of education. This Association aims to support in a variety of ways the living out of the Goals of Sacred Heart education in each school.
The position of Principal was held by the Religious of the Sacred Heart until 1975 when Mr W J Fryer became the first lay Principal. He gave dedicated leadership for twenty two years. This leadership role was then taken up by Mrs Gillian Trotman who introduced a number of innovations to Baradene. Ms Anna Heffernan, a former staff member, returned to Baradene as Principal at the beginning of 1998 until mid 2002. Mr Alan Burton took on the duty of Acting Principal of Baradene for six months to the end of 2002. Mrs Patricia Radich was Principal of Baradene from the beginning of 2003 until the end of 2010. Mrs Marge Scott was Acting Principal for Terms 1 and 2, 2011, and Mrs Sandy Pasley began as Principal in Term 3, 2011.