Padua College 62 Oakbank Road, Mornington, Victoria 3931

"Padua has been very supportive to my children over the years. Kind and compassionate staff. We tried another local school initially but found it to be broken in a lot of ways. Is it more expensive than public , yes, is it worth it for your child’s future definitely yes."

"Padua is a nice school and as a student who is at the school still Padua Mornington is spending just about all the money on their campus and not to the other campuses Rosebud and Tyabb if I could I would give it a 4.5/5"

"Unless your child is one of the popular, outgoing students, they will almost certainly get ostracised and bullied by exclusion - especially by the girls. By the time Year 10 rolls around, it's too late to change schools and there's a sense of inevitability about each day. Anxiety, depression, and the fear of being screamed at by one female teacher in particular for some tiny uniform infringement. This teacher, as named in other reviews here, has brought children to tears over the shade of blue that socks are, and millimetres of hair length; not very Christian, is it? School counselling is well-meaning - but not very helpful; it's more of a pep-talk than anything else. When the PAC was opened, the old Head of Music publicly grovelled to Anthony Banks, thanking him for providing the money to build the Centre. Someone should have reminded him that it was the fee-paying parents and the taxpayers who actually funded the building. There are a lot of prayers, and much lip-service paid to the virtues of Catholicism, as one would expect from a Catholic School - but there's not a lot of true Christian practice; love, care, compassion, forgiveness. They're very quick to phone or email if your child is absent or a work task is incomplete - but not if the child is upset, lonely, or being bullied; that's all 'part of the rich tapestry of school life'. Academically... it's OK, I guess - but so is Mornington Secondary. The PAC and Music programs are good, but if your child isn't into music or theatre... then what? I honestly wish we'd taken another option back at Year 6, before our child was damaged by attending this school - potentially permanently. I can only hope that hiding out in the library will be the best way to get through these final years, to avoid sneering girls, intimidating boys, and the umpteen vapers in the filthy toilets. Hindsight is 20:20, as they say. EDIT: Just got a lengthy email from the school about who is allowed to wear the 'old fleece top' in Sports classes. And another spelling out the uniform policy YET AGAIN. What a colossal waste of time."

"Brutally honest review on Padua: (I would give 2.5 stars but that’s not an option) and this is from what I experienced so that can change from person to person. There were good and bad parts to it so I’ll list them all Good . Some teachers actually cared and wanted to teach and enjoyed their jobs (I.e Mr Ribet, Mr Sosic, Mr Barton, Mr Hardy, Ms Hardie and a few more) . For year 7 and 8 it was fantastic, but only gets worse afterwards . Had okay support if needed Bad . They were so strict on uniform, like literally a detention for wrong coloured socks??? . Some teachers certainly didn’t enjoy their job and only there for money (won’t name names but certainly felt like some teachers were there for that purpose) . When faced with genuine issues about getting harassed by other students, they just didn’t care . Overall just felt like a public school and really should just go to one All in all it’s an okay school, and the reason they have such a good reputation is simply because they cover up all their flaws."

"I honestly wish i could give this 0 stars. This school is, was and forever will be the WORST school on the Mornington Peninsula. They don’t care for anything but their reputation. There were only 3 teachers i liked and who genuinely helped me with my troubles there. I was bullied not just by students but by teachers. The teachers pick favourites and consider anyone who is “different” an outcast. I was miserable my whole time there. Shout out to the music department though. That was my only sanctuary. But as for the rest; don’t sent your kids to this school if you want a lifetime of constant mental health struggles."