Bayview College is an Independent

Independent school

An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

, Co-educational (Primary), (Secondary), Day

Day school

A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...

 located in Portland, Victoria

Portland, Victoria

The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

About the school

Bayview College is a Christian Community College, situated in a position which overlooks Portland Bay. It has both historic and new facilities and further developments are currently under construction,

History

Bayview College has a long history, as part of the Loreto Sisters' school that was established on that location in 1885. Mother Gonzaga Barry planned a Loreto foundation in Portland after spending time by the sea convalescing from an illness in around 1882. She was very keen to be able to provide holidays for her nuns and pupils and also a boarding and day school for young children. She, and a community of five, came to Portland in December 1884 and rented the six room cottage with lean-to belonging to David Edgar in North Bentinck Street. This bluestone cottage had been built by Stephen Henty in the early 1830s and from 1864-1865 had been Mary Mackillop

Mary MacKillop

Mary Helen MacKillop , also known as Saint Mary of the Cross, was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on...

’s family home and school. In 1885 the Loreto school opened.

In 1977 the school, at the time a Catholic girls' school, became an ecumenical, co-educational Christian Community College, which in turn became Bayview in 1996. Member churches are Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Lutheran and the Uniting Church of Australia. Loreto continues actively to support Bayview.