Holy Rosary School, Derby

The St John of God Sisters, who remained until 1988 when the De La Salle Brothers assumed leadership, established Holy Rosary School, Derby in 1954. In 1959 St Joseph's Hostel was established to accommodate students from outlying settlements and cattle stations. Lay missionaries, some of whom also taught at Holy Rosary, cared for the students at the hostel.

Over the years, Holy Rosary School has promoted teacher training for Aboriginal people. With cooperation between the school's principal and Signadu Teachers College in Canberra, local people completed teacher training with school support. This was the first off-campus teacher training initiative in Western Australia.

Holy Rosary School is a co-educational Catholic primary school catering for approximately 250 students from Kindergarten to Year Seven. The school has an active Parents and Friends' Association and an Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness Committee, both of which provide opportunities for students and parents to participate more fully in school life. The school's first lay principal was appointed in 1994.

Today, the school is well resourced and has a computer laboratory and library. A physical education program runs throughout the school and there are a variety of extra-curricular activities available to the children. Special needs children are catered for and the classroom teachers work as a team with Aboriginal teaching assistants and Aboriginal trainee teachers to provide all students with a well rounded education.