Our School
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Catholic College is a bilingual school based in the community of Wadeye. Our school is located 420km south-west of Darwin, on the lands of the Kardu Diminin people. We provide quality contextualised education to children and families of the Thamarrurr region, from Early Learning and parent support programs through to Year 12.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Catholic College has a holistic pedagogical approach. We are a bilingual school teaching in Murrinhpatha and English languages since 1978. The majority of students come to school speaking Murrinhpatha as their first language. We therefore require strong teaching partnerships between local Murrinhpatha speaking staff and non-local English speaking staff. Local culture from the Thamarrurr region is at the heart of our school and its teaching and learning. Catholic Identity is shown through a commitment to faith, hope and the sacraments.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrrurr Catholic College’s facilities consist of a Primary Campus connected to the Secondary Campus down the hill with a shared Administration Building, Kitchen, Library, Literature Production Centre, Inclusion Support, Trade Training Centre and Gym. The Primary Campus has a Families as First Teachers and Preschool Building, as well as two playgrounds, ovals and a large undercover basketball court. The secondary campus has a large undercover basketball court, a Ranger Building and various ovals. The school runs a swimming program in the community pool during school hours.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Catholic College started as a mission school in the early days of the Sacred Heart Mission that was established in the region in 1935. The school was run by Sisters of the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Control of the mission was passed to the Northern Territory government in the 1970s and in 1978 this was passed to the local Kardu Numida Council and the community was renamed Wadeye. In 1978 it became a school under the direction of the Catholic Education Office and in 1979, when the Northern Territory became self-governing, the school was funded under a special agreement with the NT Government as one of the 5 'mission schools'. Teaching in Murrinhpatha as well as English commenced in 1978, the Literature Production Centre was established in 1979 to create resources in the local language, and the school officially became a Bilingual School in 1988. In late 2006, a special consultation was held with the school and community to review the school's governance. This was to allow for it to progress its status to either a Catholic mainstream school, an independent school or a government school. In the latter years, the current classification has precluded the maximization of funding support, and also led to some unclear channels of governance. In 2007, the school was officially designated as a Catholic mainstream school. This was a step supported by the community which resulted in changes to funding arrangements. The school then became directly funded by the Commonwealth as well as the NT Government, similar to Catholic schools in Darwin and elsewhere. In this process, extra funding was provided to help bridge the gaps in resourcing that had occurred previously.