St Declan's

This small weatherboard building, located on the school site, was built in 1865 by Irish 
migrants. It was relocated to Waterford in the 1870’s and the church was renamed St James. The church was originally named after a hermit who lived near the Irish town of Waterford, where it was originally built. In 1949 it moved again to Eight Mile Plains and opened in 1950 as St Declan's before finally moving to Daisy Hill in 1963. It was used as the local parish but as the parish grew in numbers and a new church was built in 1963, the old timber church was placed at St Edward's school and used until 1978. In more recent years, the deconsecrated building was used by the school’s Outside School Hours Care service until its final move to its current location beside the St Edward’s Parish Church in 2010. It now serves the Parish as a meeting place.

St Edward's Church

As the population in Daisy Hill increased throughout the 1970s, a new church and school were in demand.  A new church, built from logs with a concrete floor, was instigated by Fr Rollo Enright and built by the parishioners on the site now occupied by the St Edward Centre (Hall). The much appreciated new church was named St Edward the Confessor by the first parish priest – Fr Leo Burke and opened on 30 April 1978.  In 1985 it was extended to accommodate four hundred people but was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1988 and replaced by the present brick and glass church. 

 ​© BCE, St Edwards School, 2017​

St Edward's School

The school opened in 1978 with seventy-eight students in the lower school from Years 1-3. The present classroom buildings were constructed in a substantial building program in the early 1980's. The first Principal of the school was Sister Gabrielle (Gaye) Shears P.B.V.M., who left the school in December 1981 and was replaced by Mr Brian Devitt who remained at the school until 1990. Mr Peter Blundell was appointed Principal in 1991 and continued in that role until December 1998. Mr Mike Norris commenced as Principal in 1999 and continued in that role until he retired in December 2005. Mr John Spillane commenced in January 2006 and left in 2015. Ms Bronwyn Buckley accepted the role of Acting Principal in 2016 and in 2017 Mr Richard Sheehan was appointed to the position of Principal at St Edward's.

​With an enrolment of 553 students in 2017, St Edward the Confessor Primary School caters
for both boys and girls from Prep to Year 6. The school seeks to provide a safe environment where children are able to live and grow in faith, life and learning through its motto of 'Love Growth and Peace'. Along with the various classroom buildings, the school also has a Library/Resource Centre and a recently constructed hall – named the St Edward Centre. This facility provides the school with a large all-purpose building, complete with a music room, additional student toilets, tuckshop and uniform shop. The most recent site additions saw the opening of the administration building and additional classrooms in 2013. In 2016, refurbishments throughout the school have ensured that St Edward’s is asbestos-free. In 2017, renovations were completed on our Library/Resource Centre, creating a contemporary learning space conducive to 21st-century learning.

© BCE, St Edwards School, 2017​