Sacre Coeur

We played netball against them and they were cursive and swearing at us repetitively and told me friend she’s useless on the teams

What an amazing school! Had an amazing time as a student and love going back as a member of the alumnae committee. The school is a very special place where you build lifelong friendships. I received incredible support from my teachers who ensure everything thrives academically, socially and emotionally. A community I am proud to be part of

First of all, if I could give 0 stars, I would but the review wouldn't post without a star.

My daughter has attended Sacre Coeur since prep, and she has asked me to leave the school every year since year 5. The teachers in Joigny do not care, and her experience in Year 6 sent her home in tears on multiple occasions. Just an idea of what was said to my daughter and/or her peers by their teacher in Year 6: ‘You look homeless’, ‘Your project is awful, look at (blank for privacy reasons) ’s project, yours should be more like hers. ’, Girls were also mocked for getting their period, and constantly screamed at for no apparent reason, and when justification was asked for, it would be for very minor inconveniences, such as girls not laminating something properly, or not cutting their velcro dots into quarters as to not waste anything. The lengths this teacher went to to make my daughter and other members of her class uncomfortable is appalling and this teacher made my daughter and her friends cry for very small things multiple times. This school is awful at dealing with disorderly teachers and conflict in general. The psychologists are good, but they are hardly available, which in itself is concerning. The amount of pressure placed on these girls to achieve academically is enormous, and my daughter has struggled a lot with these issues. The school only cares about it’s reputation and it is frankly disgusting the amount of behaviour and things that get swept under the rug as to not draw negative attention to the school. It’s time this school is exposed for the twisted ways it achieves the high VCE scores it has. The education is subpar, and the opportunities for girls who want to pursue careers in STEM are very limited compared to the vast resources and qualifications of humanities teachers. The high school fees place many families in debt, forcing them to apply for scholarships just to try and keep their daughters at this school. Additionally, the dramatic split between Korowa and Sacre Coeur in late 2019 is ridiculous. Girls enjoyed collaborating with students from another school, and the mix of facilities with Korowa (Sacre Coeur used their pool, and Korowa used Sacre Coeur’s facilities) meant that the intensive swimming program in Joigny and senior swimming training for VCE had to be moved to Harold Holt, meaning that it made the lives of parents, students and teachers more difficult and complicated in regards to transport and convenience. My advice to any parents considering an education for their daughter at Sacre Coeur is to do your homework, and ask students at the school or former students about their experience at the school before enrolling your daughter in this environment. I would not recommend this school for anyone wanting their daughter to have a happy and trauma free childhood, and I would suggest literally any other school in place of Sacre Coeur.

I had a similar experience to another reviewer. My daughter attended the school from Prep to Year 7. First 4 years could not speak more highly of the school but from Year 4 things changed. Our daughter was the victim of bullying in Y4. It was so badly handled by the school, I have no words to describe what they put her through. Her experience belittled her and made her feel worthless. She hated herself and was sent to see the school therapist as an after thought. FYI the therapists are good but very hard to get an appointment with because they are so busy, which is a big ‘red’ flag. In Yr 6 it happened again. Same students this time reported by a teacher in an after school program. Outcome our daughter left the program because she was uncomfortable the bullies remained because they were not asked to leave even after their deplorable behaviour. No consequences was becoming a theme. We wanted to leave the school. Our daughter wanted to try 1 more year as she had been convinced Senior School would be better/different. It was worse! Once again same students and I was not the only parent complaining about said students. It feel on deaf ears. Year 7 co-ordinator was useless. Schools response was unacceptable yet again. There was a serious pattern emerging which was there are 1 set of rules for the well off parent’s daughters and 1 for the other parents daughters working hard to give their child what they thought was a better education. For the former there are no consequences, they don’t want lose the fees or the donations (which they ask for constantly EVEN after your child leaves the school as I found out) so their daughters become what one parent described as ‘protected species’. Half way through Yr 7 our daughter asked to leave. Even with the year COVID has thrown at us our daughter is in a much better space at her new school. Way better subject selection. SAC’s as I have come to find out is extremely limited and seems to be getting smaller. She is still seeing a therapist thanks to her time at SAC. One of her bullies is now a poster child for the school which leaves me speechless. The school is business first and a school second. Nothing will get in the way of them becoming bigger and better build, build, build is important, bad behaviour from students is not. My advice to parents is what you see is not what you get, look around your child can do better and so can you. My only regret not leaving sooner.

SAC is an AMAZING place, they have so many opportunities and they unleash the potential in all of their students!

My family has travelled a lot so I've been to many schools, and I think Sac's the best one I've been to. In particular, the students are really nice and down-to-earth. There's very little drama, and the girls support each other. There isn't an atmosphere of malicious competitiveness: girls will help each other with homework and studying, people share their notes, and in general try to help each other succeed.

The teachers are generally average or good. The English teachers are good or average. The science teachers are okay, but I think some of them could be more engaging, and I don't think the male ones often understand when girls are taking the mickey or playing a joke on them - they're a bit oblivious - but all of them are nice. The maths and languages teachers are absolutely fantastic - the best teachers of any sort that I've had. Music teachers are pretty good. Overall I'd say the best teachers I've ever had have come from this school; they were the ones who have been supportive of me and have gone the extra mile.

If your kid is really humanities-focussed, this is a great school for her. Not so much for STEM though. It's not that the kids don't score well in STEM, but they're just not remarkably good for it, and there aren't a huge amount of opportunities in the area. Then again, you'd be hard-pressed to find a girls' school that does any better, unfortunately. If you're a STEM-oriented kid, you're going to really have to push for things more than humanities kids.

It's also a really great school for music and art. The music and arts communities are both really friendly and tight-knit - and if you've been to the school concerts or art exhibitions you'll really have a fun time.

The uniform rules are pretty strict, although they've grown laxer in the past two years. I still think the uniform could be more practical, however - it's far too hot in the summer.

I know a lot of practicing Catholics feel that Catholic schools are only Catholic by name. If you're after a 'practicing' Catholic school, then this is as good as you're going to get. They're not going around trying to convert kids - in RE they explain the Catechism, and they also cover the beliefs and practices of other religions. But they don't try to convert you to any belief system. They also don't generally try to push political views in class - from the left or from the right. They do have masses every fortnight, and on special events, and they are a normal Catholic mass given by a priest with music and a respectful atmosphere, but there is not pressure or disdain for people who aren't religious. I would say the religious makeup would be almost entirely irreligious/agnostic, and non-practicing Christian. Basically, if you're not Catholic, you'll be fine. If you're non-practicing Catholic, you'll be fine. If you're a practicing Catholic, you'll be fine.

I think there could be more support for high-achieving students. The extension programs are pretty mish-mashed: in primary school, the 'smart kids' do random 'critical thinking' where you basically just faff around analysing some supposedly philosophical short story. In primary and secondary school, there's maths extension, which is pretty good, but that's it. I think a better approach would be to just teach the content from the year above, and to teach it in a structured manner, rather than teaching random new concepts each session. However, I think this is all more of a problem with the country's education system as a whole, rather than the school in particular - people in the middle are fine, but both high-achieving and struggling kids don't get what they need. I'm guessing that I would've fared worse in a different school.

School fees are pretty expensive, but they do have scholarships, which someone told me that not enough people are actually applying for. So it's a good idea to check those out.

So yeah. Good school.

Please don't remove our reviews. Most people rate things according to their experience. Yes there are some nonsense reviews but you can tell when something is real or fake. Reviews are there to help people make decisions. You can't always expect to receive 5 stars, it has to be earned. I would also like to add that this school does not offer support in any way to students who have learning issues. My daughter basically struggled with her education and teachers at this school. They were indifferent, lazy and I basically had to fight for feedback and support. You can write what you want about the school on Instagram and praise it constantly. You are not an inclusive school like you claim to be. Parents be warned do not go through what I did. Pay the extra fees because you will receive better care and issues will be resolved. I started on a high and left with a child who doesn't believe she is worthy or smart enough. Life isn't just about achieving academically, it is about being the best you can be and everything will fall into place. We can't all be high achievers. You also need to sort out your bullying issues and expell repeat offenders. There was a bully in this school who constantly caused problems only to be told to finally leave after three years. Who allows that? I could go on and on and I know the school won't like this but it needs to be said. Why did you cut ties with Korowa? I know you will want to remove this review and you probably will. This is a warning to all prospective parents. Do your homework.

Refuses to end its partnership with St Kevins. Only put its partnership on “hold” after St Kevin’s appalling behavior was to media attention

I went to this school it is a awesome school it is from prep to year 12 I recommend to put your girls in to this school

It is a great school, I recommend it to all girls. The principle always interacts with the students