O’Keeffe Campus (Years 7-8)

The O’Keeffe Junior Campus is the home of all Year 7 and 8 students at Mercy Regional College. It is located at Noorat, 6 kilometres north of Terang. The dedicated campus in a quiet rural setting enhances the opportunities for students to make new friends, engage with teachers and subjects, and be involved with a range of extracurricular activities.

The O’Keeffe Campus is a unique feature of Mercy Regional College and is an integral element in our most successful transition program from primary to secondary school. Our Year 7 students come from many primary schools across the Western District of Victoria. When faced with so many new processes and people, the students enjoy the quieter environment of the junior campus and remember it fondly as the stepping stone of their learning journey at MRC and beyond.

The O’Keeffe campus is situated on site of former St Joseph’s Catholic school opened in Noorat in 1924. The students of St Joseph’s were taught by the Sisters of Mercy who travelled from the convent in Terang. Several decades later, in 1975, the secondary component of St Joseph’s school became part of Catholic Regional College. The O’Keeffe Campus received its current name to honour the O’Keeffe family who were students and long-time supporters of the school. The campus name also celebrates Monsignor Martin O’Keeffe, a former Parish Priest of St Thomas’ Church, Terang (1968 – 1981) and a devoted advocate of Catholic education in the region. 

The campus includes eight contemporary learning spaces as well as a Library & Resource Centre, specialised facilities for Visual & Performing Arts, Materials & Food Technology, Science and our trans-disciplinary STEAM program.

Year 7 and 8 students travel to the McAuley Senior Campus located in Camperdown several times a year for whole school assemblies, Masses, sports days and celebrations to ensure they are part of the wider College community.