, motto_translation = Be faithful , established = , type =

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, denomination =

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, gender =

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

, oversight = Catholic Education Office, Archdiocese of Sydney , slogan = Este Fideles , principal = Ann Freeman , chaplain = Michael Walsh , location = Ashfield,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 250 , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in greater metropolitan Sydney , pushpin_label = , pushpin_label_position = , module = , grades = 7- 12 , grades_label = Years , enrolment = , enrolment_as_of = 2021 , num_employ = ~75 , colours = Purple and navy blue , homepage = Bethlehem College is an

comprehensive single-sex

for girls, located in Bland Street, Ashfield, the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. The college was founded in 1881 by the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

. On 8 June 2022, it was announced that the college would amalgamate with adjacent boys' high school, De La Salle College, and St Vincent’s Primary School, due to increasing demand for co-educational schools in inner Sydney. From 2023, the new school will be known as St Vincent's College and from 2027, after a five year transition period, it will become a fully K-12 co-educational school precinct. Students are easily identifiable by the amethyst and navy

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

—fondly known around the inner western suburbs of

as "Ribena Berries". The Sisters of Charity ran the college until 1991, when it became a systemic Catholic School run by the Catholic Education Office of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

History under the Sisters of Charity

Prior to 1953 Bethlehem catered for girls from Kindergarten through to the Leaving Certificate in Year 11. In 1953 the Junior (or Primary) School amalgamated with the Parish St. Vincent's Primary which was also run by the Sisters of Charity but which also catered for boys from Kindergarten to Year 2 (3rd grade). The boys then moved on to many other Catholic schools with the majority proceeding to

De La Salle College Ashfield (Used in context as "to be the best man you can be." If translated directly from Latin it means "Be a man") , established = , type = Independent, comprehensive, single-sex school, secondary school, day school , denomi ...

, located adjacent to Bethlehem. Bethlehem College was known for many many years as Bethlehem Ladies College; the nuns of the

placing great emphasis on ladylike behaviour & dress both in school as well as to and from school. School rules included wearing of hats and gloves outside school; no eating or drinking in the street; and definitely no talking to boys on the way to and from school. School rules which were strictly enforced by the Prefects. Class sizes, at least until 1962, ranged from 80 children in kindergarten to Year 2, 60 girls from Year 3 to Year 6 and 50–60 girls in Years 7, 8 and 9 with quite small classes in Years 10 & 11 because society expected most girls to leave at the end of Year 9 (Intermediate Certificate) only the exceptional Academic Stream girls continued to Year 11 (Leaving Certificate) and then to teaching, nursing or rarely other university courses. Education streams: The high school catered to students in two streams; the academic or science stream which offered choices from Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Mathematics I and II, Latin and French. Students could choose the business stream offering General Mathematics, Bookkeeping, Dress Making as well as the standard Religion, English and History. Extras were offered in elocution and music. Sports: The Combined Sisters of Charity Schools encouraged sports by an Annual Sports Carnival mostly at

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney S ...

and Annual Swimming Carnivals for each individual school (Enfield Swimming Pool for Bethlehem students until the Ashfield pool was built in the mid 1960s). Bethlehem coveted the Annual School Marching prize and drilled the girls accordingly. Bethlehem's greatest rival was St. Mary's Cathedral who Bethlehem felt had an unwarranted advantage in that the Carnival marching band was from the Cathedral boys school which often played for St. Mary's. Girls were aligned in ranks of 5 from the tallest at the front to the smallest at the back. Summer uniform was worn at the Carnival (no matter what the weather) with the hem measured at from the ground; this resulted in the tall girls having very long dresses and the short girls having very short dresses. Each girl's dress was measured by the Sisters with mother's often having to adjust the length of the dress until it measured exactly 16 inches from the ground. Marching practice was often held daily when the girls considered it an excellent change for to be allowed to march to a nearby park for practice accompanied by the De La Salle marching band. "Normal" practice consisted of marching continuously around the playground to the strains of the loudspeaker blaring "

A Life on the Ocean Wave "A Life on the Ocean Wave" is a poem-turned-song by Epes Sargent published in 1838 and set to music by Henry Russell. It is the iconic Regimental March of His Majesty's Royal Marines. Origin of the poem and song One day Sargent was walking on T ...

", song of the Royal Marines and US Naval Academy. The school had a basketball team and offered tennis as an elective. Entrants in the swimming and foot races were by student choice and no practice was offered. Recreation: Until at least 1962 the College held regular dance lessons for the students from Kindergarten upwards often with a ball at Ashfield Town Hall or latterly at the College for the Senior Bethlehem girls and the De La Salle boys. Dancing was then Ballroom Dancing only. The Kindergarten children each learned the same dance year on year; having been paired they learned to recite the steps and perform them at the annual ball where the girl's dressed in white "communion dresses" and the boys dressed in white shirts, black ties and, no doubt, school trousers. Swimming was a regular weekly event in the summer months when we would take over Enfield pool for the afternoon. We all enjoyed these relaxing afternoons which culminated in the Annual Swimming Carnival. Subjects offered: Students in year 7 to 8 are taught English, Maths, Learning to Learn, PDHPE, Religion and Science. Students will alternate between Visual Arts, Textiles, Geography and History on a semester basis. In year 8, students will be able to choose between Italian or Japanese. From year 9 to 10 students will be able to choose two electives from the following: Visual Arts, Textiles, Commerce, Sports, Technology, Italian, Japanese, elective History, elective geography (should enough classes be available). During this time students are encouraged to and given the opportunity to complete TAFE certificates from nursing to barista courses. Bethlehem teaches the following subjects for the HSC should there be enough students to form a class. The minimum amount required is typically 9, should students find themselves interested in a course with limited numbers then students are able to pool with students at De La Salle or attempt long-distance ed. *English **English Advanced **English Extension 1 **English Extension 2 *Mathematics **Mathematics Extension 1 **Mathematics Extension 2 *Science **Biology **Chemistry **Physics *Drama *Economics *Society and Culture *Business studies *Community and Family Studies *Dance *Food Technology *History **Ancient History **Modern History **History Extension *Languages Other Than English (LOTE) **Italian **Japanese *Legal Studies *Music 1 *Visual Arts *SOR 1 * The class of 2020 is trialling SOR2 again after several years without the course

Grounds

In 2017 Bethlehem received a government grant to update their outdated and overrun grounds. The Aikenhead building has existed since 1881 as the boarding for the nuns. Construction completed in late 2019.

Notable alumnae

Monica Attard Monica Ann Attard OAM (born 12 December 1958) is an Australian journalist and academic. Early life Attard was born to Maltese parents in Sydney, where she was educated at Bethlehem College, Ashfield and Santa Sabina College.''Who's Who in A ...

– award-winning journalist, ABC News and current affairs journalist, presenter of ''Media Watch''; awarded an Order of Australia for excellence in journalism * Geraldine Brooks – author and journalist; Pulitzer Prize winner for her novel ''March'', author of ''

Year of Wonders ''Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague'' is a 2001 international bestselling historical fiction novel by Geraldine Brooks. It was chosen as both a ''New York Times'' and ''Washington Post'' Notable Book. Plot introduction The novel is wri ...

'' and many other books, previously political correspondent for the ''Wall Street Journal'' in Bosnia, Somalia and the Middle East *

Angela D'Amore Angela D'Amore (born 10 October 1971), an Australian former politician, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Drummoyne from 2003 until 2011. Background and early years D'Amore is the daughte ...

– Australian politician; elected as a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

, Member for Drummoyne"D'Amore, Angela – Biographical Entry"
''Australian Women's Archive Project'' * Barbara Perry – Member of the Legislative Assembly, Member for Auburn, Minister for Western Sydney, Minister for Juvenile Justice, Minister for Assisting the Premier on Citizenship *

Marcia Ralston Marcia Mascotte Ralston (19 September 1906 – 23 November 1988) was an Australian-born actress who appeared in Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. In Australia Ralston's father was well known Australian singer and actor John Ralston. She a ...

– actress *

Debbie Spillane Deborah Elizabeth Spillane (born 25 December 1955) is an Australian sports journalist and commentator. Early life and education Spillane was born in Sydney, and was educated at Bethlehem College, Ashfield and received a Bachelor of Arts from ...

– sports journalist and broadcaster * Deirdre O'Connor - Australian Federal Court judge

References

External links

Bethlehem College website

Bethlehem College newsletter

Former Bethlehem College website
{{Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia schools, state=collapsed Educational institutions established in 1881 Catholic secondary schools in Sydney Girls' schools in New South Wales 1881 establishments in Australia Inner West Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia

History under the Sisters of Charity

Grounds

Notable alumnae

See also

References

External links