History
Two hundred years of learning
Sacré Cœur is a Catholic Independent School for girls from Prep to Year 12 founded by the French order of nuns, the Society of the Sacred Heart (rscJ) in 1888.
Sacré Cœur is one school in the Sacred Heart network of over 150 sister schools in 44 countries. There are four Sacred Heart schools in the Australian and New Zealand network.
Sacré Cœur, Glen Iris, has its origins in the vision of St Madeleine Sophie Barat who founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in Paris in 1800. Growing up during the French Revolution in the small town of Joigny about 80 miles south of Paris, Sophie felt a strong call to religious life from an early age. Although her attraction was to a strictly contemplative life, her reflections led her to the realisation that an education based on Christian values was essential for a more just society to emerge from the upheaval of the revolution.
Having an unusually strong classical education herself, she envisioned an education for girls which would develop each student's gifts to the fullest, lay the foundations for a solid, active faith, including compassionate service to the poor, and awaken a thirst for life-long learning.
