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Published: 21 January 2026.

St Patrick's Special School was originally established in 1944 next to St Patrick's Church on Grote Street. The school was founded as part of Father Russell's desire to facilitate the schooling of children who struggled with the standardised curriculum, providing a specialised education which allowed individual children to learn at their own pace.

The campus was moved to a prefabricated building on West Terrace from 1951 until 1969, when it moved to its current location at the former St Peter Claver Primary School on Warwick Avenue, Dulwich. The new school site included three classrooms, multi-use tennis/basketball courts, a hall and $500 worth of gymnastics equipment donated by the Lions Club of Adelaide Light.

Demand for enrolment was high and the school's waitlist was quickly overwhelmed. In 1975, leadership was overtaken by the Josephite order and one of the most well-known principals of the time was Sister Genevieve Secker. By 1978, the school had 37 students aged from 5 to 16 who were struggling to learn in a leaky building with no heating or air conditioning. As the school wasn't funded by the Catholic Church, teachers, students and families fundraised $43,700 to upgrade the school's facilities. In 1982 new school buildings were constructed, with further renovations undertaken in 1985.

In July 2001, the school transferred from the Josephite's leadership to lay principals appointed by the Catholic Education Office. Today St Patrick's Special School educates up to 50 students across seven classrooms, with small class sizes ensuring each student receives specialised attention catering to their individual education needs.

Photograph: Sister Genevieve Secker with students at St Patrick’s Special School, September 1978. Courtesy of The Advertiser and the Burnside Local History Collection.