The 29th April 1854 four Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur came to Wigan. They were invited by The Bishop of Liverpool and the Jesuits serving the parish of St Johns to help with the parish school. Within days they had begun classes in the school and a week later the Convent day school to be the forerunner of the future girl’s school opened with five pupils. Providing education for pupils from both ends of the social spectrum was necessary. The Sisters needed an income for their basic necessities and the parishes whose schools they were supporting were in very poor areas.

The work of the sisters increased dramatically during this period. Not only did they have the parish schools of St Johns and others and the Convent school but also in 1856 they took on the work of pupil teacher training. This centre provided part time training for women working in the schools as teachers prior to them obtaining full training at a training college. In 1904 the Centre provided full time training helped by staff from Mount Pleasant Training College. Needless to say more Sisters were required for this work

Eventually the Convent School began to accept boarders and in 1888 two houses adjacent to the property belonging to the Sisters were bought. These original houses no longer exist. In 1891 the foundation stone for a new Convent School was laid. This was extended in 1900 and in 1917 the school ceased to take boarders to make way for more day pupils. No more room was available on or near this site, so a third storey was built over certain parts of the buildings. In 1906 Sr Edith of the Blessed Sacrament came from the training college in Glasgow in to be head mistress and remained in this position until 1947!
During WW1 the school became a refuge for refugees from Belgium and Poland, while the convent provided shelter for Sisters from their Institute in Antwerp.

In WW2, Sisters from The Mount Pleasant High school in Liverpool were housed in the convent as were the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary from Bootle whose pupils had been evacuated to Blackburn.

The school became a direct grant school in 1946 .

In 1954 there were more than 500 pupils in the High School and nearly 200 pupils in the Preparatory School . At this time Mr John Trickett purchased a large house The Hollies which eventually housed the Preparatory school and 7 acres of land for playing fields.

Notre Dame High School for Girls, Standishgate, Wigan closed in 1974

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