Our school and parish emerged from humble beginnings, when a wooden hall in Tamar Street was hired for five shillings a week. The first lessons were taught in this hall in 1923 by Sister Mary Lawrence McNamara, Sister Mary Modwena Bell (both from the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions) and a lay woman, Mrs Searle. The Sisters would travel from East Fremantle by tram along Canning Highway and then walked to Tamar Street each day.

In 1925, the school and parish were opened in Foss Street, our current site, which was named St Gerard’s Hall. On Fridays, the students and Sisters would push aside the desks and set up the Church pews and on Mondays, they would spend the morning putting the desks back in position for lessons. School fees were six pence per week, but financial circumstances were taken into consideration. The school received government aid for pads, art paper, brooms and dusters only!

In its early history, St Gerard’s Palmyra had a playground with only sand and gum trees. By 1941, the school had three Sisters on staff from the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions and the playground evolved to have a bitumen area the size of a tennis court with a small shelter on the side.

Following the appointment of Mr Tom Roberts in 1976, the school began planning for significant improvements to the school facilities, including 3 new classrooms and an administration space, which was opened in 1977. Also, during this period, a second-hand bus was purchased by the school and helped transport children from the areas of Bicton, East Fremantle, Melville and Willagee. In 1979, two new classrooms, a toilet block and garage were commenced.

In the early 1980s, a lot was also happening in the parish. The Shrine to Our Lady of Fatima needed urgent repair, as well as the original St Gerard’s Hall built in 1925, which served as the Church. A tough decision was made by Father Dowling, after extensive consultation with parishioners, to demolish both the shrine and hall. Our current Church was constructed and in 1984, it was dedicated by Archbishop Foley.

In 1984, Mr Tony Giglia was appointed as Principal. In the 1980s, there were new facilities constructed adjacent to the existing classrooms. These new facilities included a new library, Pre-Primary, art room, new administration (where the stained glassed windows from the old Shrine were placed) and two other new classrooms.

Mrs Wendy Dobra was appointed as Principal in 1990. Further changes to the physical development of the school occurred, including enclosing the upstairs verandah, which is currently a breakout space for our Year 6 students. In 1993, an application was made to seek funding to upgrade the hall and canteen, as well as to create a new school entrance and office, and improve the staffroom.

Our Lady of Fatima School continued to change physically. In 1998, the school applied for funding to develop a space for Kindergarten students. A new library was constructed, and the old library was turned into Pre-Primary.

In 2001, Mr Hamish Valentine succeeded Mrs Dobra and Father Francis Ughanze became Parish Priest. To celebrate 80 years as a school and parish, a commemorative courtyard was designed, linking the classrooms and school hall in 2003. During this period, the school was involved in a large maintenance program, which included a modern library, a well-equipped technology centre, improvements to the playgrounds and the Pre-Primary classroom was also renovated.