 As such, although the main student body is female, the school has a mixed sixth-form.The school is named after the order of sisters that founded and continues to run the school, the Sisters of La Sainte Union des Sacrés-Coeurs (also known as the Holy Union Sisters).This teaching order was founded in 1826 by Father Jean-Baptiste Debrabant, a Belgian priest who felt that the future of the Catholic Church lay in the hands of the young women who would eventually bring up future generations of the faithful, declaring that "a Christian-based education offers sure hope for the future of religion and society".