St Brigid’s School, Mordialloc: a place for faith based contemporary education
September 9, 2020

When Michael Russo began as Principal of St Brigid’s Mordialloc over six years ago, he was immediately welcomed by the school community. Now leaving soon to take up a new position as Principal at Sacred Heart Primary School in Croydon, he reflects upon his time at the school; 


“St Brigid’s Parish is over 110 years old, and our school is truly part of the parish. Father Andrew Jekot works alongside all of us at the school to ensure faith is at the heart of everything we do. 


When I first arrived, I was warmly welcomed and that wonderful sense of support and community has never gone away. However, when I began, I was aware that the school buildings were quaint and prospective parents would comment that the buildings looked ‘tired’. In addition to the look of the buildings, the classroom design wasn’t conducive to a contemporary education experience for our students. 


Working with Fr Andrew, our staff and members of the school community, we soon had a vision for what we needed. I’m pleased to see that we’ve now been able to deliver that vision with our new classrooms and administration building. 


The new building has flexible spaces that can be flipped to resemble a traditional classroom or opened to create collaborative learning areas. It meets child-safe standards, and the enlarged common will be a great place to gather in the future. 

Our staff are currently in the new building, alongside children of essential workers, however most students are yet to experience the new space fully. We are looking forward to the moment our students can come to enjoy all that the building has to offer. Our official blessing and opening will take place via a remote celebration on September 16 – a new innovation between the State Government and Catholic Education, until such a time we can be together in person, you can visit our website for a 360 degree ‘walk through’ of the new space (click here). 


I’m thankful for our partnership with CDF, and our Relationship Manager Aaron Gupta, who believed in our vision and gave us funding to make it possible. They’ve been a true partner to us in this project, that means so much to our students and St Brigid’s community. 


My hope as I leave, is that I’ve been able to play a part in creating a place where faith–based education can occur in a contemporary setting. This in turn enables our teachers to educate and equip our students for the modern world.”


Pictured right: Fr Andrew and Michael Russo

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CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has indemnified the Catholic Development Fund ABN 15 274 943 760 (the Fund) against any liability arising out of a claim by investors in the Fund. In practice, this means your investment is backed by the assets of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Fund is required by law to make the following disclosure. Investment in the Fund is only intended to attract investors whose primary purpose for making their investment is to support the charitable purposes of the Fund. Investors’ funds will be used to generate a return to the Fund that will be applied to further the charitable works of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Dioceses of Sale and Bunbury. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by ASIC. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and investments in the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed here or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.