February 5th 1957 Heidelberg Girls Secondary School opened in temporary accommodation at
Heidelberg High School.
Three Classrooms, staffroom. Office, toilet facilities and recreation area were made available .
The original staff of the school comprised
Headmistress Kate Payne
Staff :
Gwenda Caldwell
Wendy Clarke
Dorothy Lurajud
Sylvia Heffey
Office Mrs J Hall
Three divisions of Form 1 , with 126 girls were enrolled. The uniform consisted of SUMMER : Beige cotton dress with sky blue collar and cuffs. Tan shoes, beige socks, straw hat with sky blue binding.
WINTER : Navy Tunic, beige blouse, sky blue tie, navy blazer and pullover with school colours- beige and sky blue. Navy beret , tan shoes and beige socks.
BADGE AND MOTTO : A badge featuring the Southern Cross and the Fleue de Lis was designed and the school motto was
Fortitudo et décor Indumentum - Strength and Beauty are her Clothing
March 1957 Formation of houses named after Australian Olympic Women Athletes
CUTHBERT named after Betty Cuthbert
FRASER named after Dawn Fraser
LEECH named after Faith Leech
STRICKLAND named after Shirley Strickland
Letters were sent to Kate Payne from the Australian Olympic Athletes authorising the use of their names