Holy Rosary has four house teams and all students are assigned to a different colour. Siblings are in the same team. Each house team is named after a significant person of faith in the history of Holy Rosary School. Our students have a reputation in their support and encouragement of each other at sport, and we strongly promote this.
McAuley
Our red house team is McAuley. It’s named after Catherine McAuley, the Irish lady who started the Sisters of Mercy. She needed the Sisters to help her teach the poor and nurse the sick.
Catherine inspired the work of the Mercy Sisters who opened Holy Rosary School. Catherine
said, “We should be shining lamps giving light to those around us. ” These words inspired our
school song and we continue to wear the Mercy Cross on our uniform. The very first principal of
HR was Sister Clare Daly who began in 1916.
MacKillop
MacKillop House is our blue team, and it reminds us of Mary MacKillop. Mary was born in
Melbourne and was baptised at St Francis Church in the city. She had a calling from God to
teach the poorest and most remote children in Australia. To help her important work, Mary
established the Sisters of St Joseph, often called the Joeys. Mary became famous for her words,
“Never see a need without doing something about it.” Her words remind us all to take action to
help those who need us. Mary’s work was very challenging and she inspires us to be resilient and
to act with integrity, even when things are very tough. Mary of the Cross MacKillop became
Australia’s first saint.
Sion
Sion House, our green team, is named after the Sisters of Sion who were at Holy Rosary for a
period of time. The Sisters started their work teaching in France and they first came to Australia
in 1890. The Sisters of Sion define themselves as “women who help to heal a fractured world”.
They are well known for instilling a tradition of welcome and inclusion; important values for us at
HR.
Hennessy
Our yellow house team is Hennessy, in honour of Holy Rosary’s first Parish Priest, Father
Aeneas Francis Hennessy who was born in 1860. Holy Rosary Church was first opened in Derby
St in 1902 but it didn’t become a Parish until 1915. That’s when Father Hennessy left Lilydale and
became Holy Rosary’s first Parish Priest. He lived in Derby Street and moved to Gower Street in
1919. The church was later demolished, and a new church opened, where it is now, in Gower
Street in 1928. Fr Hennessy died in 1932 and is buried at the Melbourne Cemetery
