The school was founded in 1895 by the religious sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent.[1] It has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently enrolls approximately 1175 students from Pre-Preparatory to Year 12,[2] including 185 boarders from Years 5 to 12.[3] St Margaret's has eight houses: Chaucer, Bede, Herrick, Kendall, Tennyson, Milton, Spenser and Lawson.
In 1895, the religious sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent opened a boarding school for girls at Eton High School, a former boys' school in Nundah.[8][9] The school was on land bounded by Bishop Street, Buckland Road, Wand Street and Olive Street.[10] Sister Emma was the sister-in-charge and Isabelle Caine was the headmistress. In 1907, the school moved to Toorak House in Hamilton, Juliet Lyon (1907–1917) replaced Caine, and the school roll grew to 35 pupils.
As well as the usual lessons, students participated in tennis, rowing, basketball and swimming. Three years later the school moved again to Albion Heights. It was housed in Donatello, a home built in the 1880s for Patrick Durack. The building was renamed St Margaret's House and the school's name changed to the Church of England High School. Two years later the school became known as St Margaret's Church of England Girls’ School and has remained on this site ever since. Donatello is still in use today as the community house for the sisters.
By 1910 there were 47 boarders and when the University of Queensland opened in 1911, two St Margaret's girls were among its first students. Lyon resigned in 1917 and was the last lay Headmistress until 1978. It was during Lyon's time that the School motto, Per Volar Sunata (Born to Fly Upwards), came into being and the middy uniform was introduced.
Under the leadership of Sister Teresa (1918–25) the school grew and the adjoining property, Avoca, was acquired in 1918 to provide extra accommodation. It was originally named Mooloomburram when it was built in 1886 by Andrew Petrie. Sister Teresa introduced the house system, a student representative school council and the Dalton method of education. Sister Elisabeth (1925–1936) embarked on a building program, including the West Wing with classrooms, dormitories and dining room; the Darnell Art and Music buildings and the swimming pool. After Sister Bernadine (1937–1939), Sister Mary (1940–1964) led the school through the years of World War II and the resulting changes to School life – closures, reduced enrolments, rationing and shortages.
After the war, a new assembly hall (Eton Hall), extra classrooms and dormitories in East Wing; a gymnasium; the school chapel; Dalhousie classrooms and a boarders’ recreation block and library were erected. The school continued to grow under the leadership of both Sister Jean-Marie (1965–1970) and Sister Helen (1971–1977). The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1970 with the opening of Toorak and its library, staff room and science laboratories. In 1977 the sisters took the decision to appoint a lay Headmistress, while still retaining ownership and guidance of the school. Margaret Kugleman (1978–1982) was followed by Evelyn Heath (1982–1993), Mary Hutchings (1993–1995) and Judith Hill (1995–1996). The Avoca and Jackson Wings were built at this time to provide additional classrooms.
A separate primary school building, Chaseley Wing, opened in 1992 to accommodate growing primary enrolments. It is named after Sister Chaseley Anne who was in charge of the boarding house from 1979 to 1990.
In 1995, the school's centenary year, the Philip Harris Sports Centre was built. It is supplemented by outdoor facilities at Windsor Park and a rowing centre at Breakfast Creek.
An art room and music block were built in the 1930s, and in 2003 a new arts centre was built. This has three art studios, pottery area and a display gallery.
The Eunice Science and Resource Centre was opened in 2012, named after Mother Eunice.
In 2020, the school built a new sports precinct. This has a water-polo sized heated swimming pool with two 50m lanes, tennis courts with lights, gymnasium with an oak sprung floor, a strength and conditioning gym, an indoor climbing wall featuring seven belay stations and 76m2 of climbing, a dedicated ergometer room to support rowing and modern health and physical education classrooms. The rebuilt gymnasium within the sports precinct took Philip Harris' name again and is called the Philip Harris Gym.
Academics
Curriculum
In the secondary school, girls in Years 7 and 8 study English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Health and Physical Education, Religious and Values Education, Drama, Visual Art, Music, French or Mandarin, Science of Learning (Year 7) and Digital Technologies (Year 8).
Students in Years 9 and 10 choose from a large number of electives. Compulsory subjects are English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education and Religious and Values Education and History.
In Years 11 and 12 students choose one of the following QCE pathways: Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) pathway or Portfolio Pathway.
Global Exchange Program
The school is part of an exchange program with 11 schools in six countries:
Shawnigan Lake School, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Crofton House School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Saint-Nom-de-Marie, Montreal, Canada
St Anne's Diocesan College, Hilton, South Africa
Ursulinenschule, Bornheim, Germany
Konan Girls High, Kobe, Japan
Nga Tawa, Wellington Diocesan School for Girls, Marton, New Zealand
Chatham Hall, Chatham, Virginia, USA
Augusta Preparatory Day School, Martinez, Georgia, USA
St Margaret's College, Christchurch, New Zealand – Rowing Exchange
In 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school implemented a Domestic Exchange program.
Recent results
In 2020, the St Margaret's Year 12 cohort 15.9% (14) of students achieve an ATAR of 99 or above, placing them in the top 1% of the state. 43.2% of St Margaret's students achieved an ATAR of 95 or above, placing them in the top 5% of the state. 62.5% (55) of the Year 12 cohort achieved an ATAR of 90 or above, placing them in the top 10% of the state. Across four subjects, eight students received perfect scores of 100 out of 100. 100% of students received a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE).
Recent sporting achievements
2020: Aggregate Cup Winners at the Brisbane Schoolgirls Rowing Association Head of the River Rowing Regatta
2019: Aggregate Cup Winners at the Brisbane Schoolgirls Rowing Association Head of the River Rowing Regatta
2019: First VIII Head of the River Champions
2018: Aggregate Cup Winners at the Brisbane Schoolgirls Rowing Association Head of the River Rowing Regatta
Awards
Year
Award Body
Award
Awardee
2018
The Educator
Innovative School Award
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School
Hot List 2018
Ros Curtis, Principal
Australian Council for Education Leaders
Excellence in Educational Leadership Award
Ros Curtis, Principal
2019
Australian Education Awards
Finalist – Principal of the Year – Non-government
Ros Curtis, Principal
Finalist – Primary School Principal of Year – Non-government
Angela Drysdale – Head of Primary
Finalist – Boarding School of the Year
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School
Winner – Boarding School of the Year
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School
The Educator
Innovative School Award
St Margaret's Plus
2020
Australian Educator Awards
Finalist – School Principal of the Year
Ros Curtis, Principal
Finalist – Best STEM Program
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School – STEM Program
Finalist – Boarding School of the Year
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School
Winner – Boarding School of the Year
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School
Excellence Award – School Principal of the Year – Non-government
Ros Curtis, Principal
Excellence Award – Best STEM Program
St Margaret's Anglican Girls School
The Educator
Innovative School Award
Gidhal publication and STEAM initiative
The NEiTA Foundation
National Excellence in Teaching Award (NEiTA) – Primary
Lucardia Moulton, Primary Teacher
Australian Boarding Schools Association
Premier Leadership Award
Lesa Fowler, Head of Boarding
Peter Doherty Awards
Outstanding Teacher of STEM Award
Chris Dunn – Head of Faculty – Science and Technology
2021
The Educator
Rising Star Award
Jane Martens (VR and AR)
Notable alumnae
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(May 2022)
^"Annual School Report 2007". School Reports. St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School. 2007. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
^"Procedures". Enrolments. St Margaret's Anglican Girls' School. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
^"Queensland". School Directory. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
^Butler, Jan (2006). "Member Schools". Members. The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.