St Joseph's Tobruk Memorial School
Original school crest
Location
53 Kokoda Street, Beenleigh, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates	27°42′45″S 153°12′02″E / 27.71245°S 153.20042°E / -27.71245; 153.20042
Information
School type	Private
Motto	Courage, Faith and Love
Established	1953
Principal	Kevin Billion
Grades	Prep - Year 6
Enrollment	448 (2023)
Website	Official site

St Joseph's Tobruk Memorial School, also commonly known as St Joseph's or simply Joey's, is an independent, Roman Catholic, co-educational primary school, located in the town of Beenleigh in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia.^[1][2] It is administered by Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) and is a member school of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission, with an enrolment of 448 students and a teaching staff of 32, as of 2023.^[2] The school serves students from Prep to Year 6.^[1][2]

The school was announced in May 1951, under the name St Joseph's Convent and was to be an all-boys school.^[3] The permit was granted in June 1951,^[4] and the foundation stone was laid on 16 March 1952.^[5] Despite the weather on 16 March, many still attended the laying of the foundation stone.^[6]

Originally budgeted at £20,000 in 1951,^[7] the final cost of the school ranged between £26,000^[8] and £27,000^[9] by the school's opening in 1953. The school opened on 25 October 1953,^[10][11] to honour those who served in the Siege of Tobruk during World War II.^[12] Despite originally being planned as an all-boys school,^[3] it opened as a coeducational facility for day school, but only accommodated boys for boarding school.^[9] It had 97 foundation students.^[13]

The school was blessed by Archbishop Duhig, with Leslie Morshead and 55 members of the Rats of Tobruk Association attending.^[14] In July 1955, the only replica of the Australian memorial in Tobruk was unveiled at the school,^[15] with approximately 300 members of the Rats of Tobruk Association present, and Archbishop Duhig unveiling the memorial.^[16]

1998 saw the school celebrate its past by inviting the project team for the Rats of Tobruk to plant rose bushes in remembrance.^[17] A rose garden featuring a memorial with 18 rosebushes was created.^[17]

On 21 October 2006 the school was deliberately set ablaze,^[18] and was severely damaged.^[19] The cost of the repairs was more than $500,000;^[18] being the second incident in the last 10 years (since 1996), the first fire caused roughly $60,000 in damage.^[18][20] A number of surviving soldiers from Tobruk were involved in the school's rebuilding efforts, assisting with the RSL sponsored fundraiser for the school.^[12]

The 60th anniversary was celebrated on 25 October 2013, with a Thanksgiving Mass and a 1950s dinner dance being held as the main events.^[13]

The students wore yellow clothing on 1 August 2014 to support the Wear Yellow for Allison Day movement to remember Allison Baden-Clay, after an 11-year-old suggested the idea to the school council.^[21]

In January 2024, the school's playground was replaced.^[22]

In 2023, the school had a student enrollment of 448 with 32 teachers (30.2 full-time equivalent) and 21 non-teaching staff (14.4 full-time equivalent). Female enrollments consisted of 225 students and Male enrollments consisted of 223 students; Indigenous enrollments accounted for a total of 7% and 10% of students had a language background other than English.^[2]

• List of Schools in Greater Brisbane

• School Website