There has been Catholic education in the Diocese of Parramatta since before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. There are 76 Catholic systemic schools in the diocese (54 primary and 22 secondary) with a total student population of around 41,000. There are also six non-systemic or congregational (independent) Catholic schools.

History

Early expansion

A growing population saw many schools open in the years before the Second World War. Built and staffed without government financial assistance, the schools served Catholic communities in

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Grea ...

, East Granville,

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, and Castle Hill.

Baby-boom years

Australia’s population grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s. An ambitious school building program was successfully pursued to cater for new families in many developing areas, including

Lalor Park Lalor Park is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lalor Park is located 35 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Blacktown. Lalor Park is part of the ...

, Seven Hills, Westmead and Kingswood.

Government support

Some financial relief came to Catholic schools in the 1960s with the funding of

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

facilities. However it was the 1970s that brought a new era of

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

funding for all Australian schools, based on the principles of equality and diversity. Many new schools opened in the decades that followed. These served numerous parishes, including

Winston Hills Winston Hills is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Winston Hills is located 28 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government areas of the City of Parr ...

North Rocks North Rocks is a suburb in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District within Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located 26 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Following the ...

Kenthurst Kenthurst is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 39 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of The Hills Shire. It is part of the Hills District region. Kenthurs ...

, Cranebrook and St Clair.

Education

Schools

Bede Polding College Bede Polding College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in South Windsor, on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school delivers a religious and secular education t ...

, Windsor South *Bethany Catholic Primary, Glenmore Park * Caroline Chisholm College, Glenmore Park *Catherine McAuley, Westmead *Cerdon College, Merrylands *Chisholm Catholic Primary, Bligh Park *Christ the King Primary, North Rocks *Clare Catholic High, Hassall Grove *Corpus Christi Primary, Cranebrook * Delany College, Granville *

Emmaus Catholic College Emmaus Catholic College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in Kemps Creek, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The College was established in 1988 and caters for students from Years 7–12. The Colleg ...

, Kemps Creek *

Gilroy College Gilroy Catholic College is a Roman Catholic comprehensive co-educational secondary day school, located in Castle Hill, in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The College provides a Catholic and general education for stud ...

, Castle Hill *Good Shepherd Primary, Plumpton *Holy Cross Primary, Glenwood *Holy Family Primary, Granville East *Holy Family Primary, Emerton *Holy Family Primary, Luddenham *Holy Spirit Primary, St Clair *Holy Trinity Primary, Granville *John XXIII Catholic Primary, Stanhope Gardens * Loyola Senior High, Mount Druitt *Marian Catholic College, Kenthurst *Mary Immaculate Primary, Quakers Hill *Mary MacKillop Primary, Penrith South *

McCarthy Catholic College, Emu Plains Penola Catholic College, Emu Plains (previously McCarthy Catholic College Emu Plains) is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school located in the western Sydney suburb of Emu Plains, New South Wales, Australia. Overview P ...

*Nagle College, Blacktown South * Oakhill College, Castle Hill *Our Lady of Lebanon College - Primary, Harris Park *Our Lady of Lebanon College - Secondary, Harris Park *Our Lady of Lourdes Primary, Baulkham Hills South *Our Lady of Lourdes Primary, Seven Hills *

Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta , motto_translation = Under Your Protection , established = , type = Independent single-sex secondary day school , gender = Girls , denomination = Roman Catholicism , ...

*Our Lady of Mt Carmel Primary, Wentworthville *Our Lady of the Nativity Primary, Lawson *Our Lady of the Rosary Primary, Kellyville *Our Lady of the Rosary Primary, St Marys *Our Lady of the Way Primary, Emu Plains *Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary, Greystanes * Parramatta Marist High, Westmead *

Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown is a Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for boys, located in Blacktown, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History The College was founded in 1952 by the Patrician Bro ...

Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield , motto_translation = Mary Leads Us , location = Fairfield, south-western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize ...

*Sacred Heart Primary, Mount Druitt South *Sacred Heart Primary, Westmead * St Agnes Catholic High, Rooty Hill *St Aidan's Primary, Rooty Hill * St Andrews College, Marayong * St Andrews College, Marayong - Holy Family Campus, Marayong * St Andrews College, Marayong - John Paul II Campus, Marayong *St Andrews Primary, Marayong *St Angela's Primary, Castle Hill *St Anthony's Primary, Girraween *St Bernadette's Primary, Castle Hill *St Bernadette's Primary, Lalor Park *St Bernadette's Primary, Dundas *St Canice's Primary, Katoomba * St Columba's Catholic College, Springwood *St Dominic's College, Penrith *St Finbar's Primary, Glenbrook *St Francis of Assisi Primary, Glendenning *St Gabriel's School for Hearing Impaired Children, Castle Hill *

St John Paul II Catholic College The St John Paul II Catholic College is a dual schoolcampus independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, with campuses located in Nirimba Fields and Schofields, in the City of Blacktown in the western suburbs of Sydney, Ne ...

- Nirimba Campus, Quakers Hill *

- Schofields Campus, Schofields *St John Vianney's Primary, Doonside *St John's Primary, Riverstone *St Joseph's Primary, Kingswood *St Joseph's Primary, Schofields *St Madeleine's Primary, Kenthurst *St Margaret Mary's Primary, Merrylands *St Mark's Catholic College, Stanhope Gardens *St Mary's Primary, Rydalmere *St Matthew's Primary, Windsor *St Michael's Primary, Baulkham Hills *St Michael's Primary, Blacktown South *St Monica's Primary, North Parramatta *St Monica's Primary, Richmond *St Nicholas of Myra Primary, Penrith *St Oliver's Primary, Harris Park * St Patrick's Marist College, Dundas *St Patrick's Primary, Guildford *St Patrick's Primary, Parramatta *St Patrick's Primary, Blacktown *St Paul the Apostle Primary, Winston Hills * St Pauls Catholic College, Greystanes *St Thomas Aquinas Primary, Springwood *Trinity Catholic Primary, Kemps Creek *

Wollemi College Wollemi College is an independent Roman Catholic school for boys, located in the western Sydney suburb of , New South Wales, Australia. Situated on , the college was founded in 1999 and provides a personalised education for students from Year 2 to ...

Xavier Catholic College, Llandilo Xavier Catholic College, Llandilo is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in Llandilo, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Location The college campus was previously located behind ...

Executive Director

The Executive Director of Schools in the Parramatta Diocese is Greg Whitby. In June 2007 Greg Whitby won the Education category of '' The Bulletin'' Magazine's ''Bulletin Bayer Smart 100'', an annual list of the 100 smartest, brightest and most creative people working in Australia.

Bishop

Bishop Anthony Fisher was the third Bishop of Parramatta, appointed on 10 March 2010. Bishop Fisher was born in Crows Nest, NSW in 1960. He is the eldest in a family of five children, born to Gloria Maguregui. He attended St Michael's Primary School in Lane Cove, before going on to Holy Cross College, Ryde where he became a dux in 1977. He was selected to complete his studies in Melbourne, where he received an honours degree in theology.

Enrolment

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Parramatta accept enrolments from students who are not Catholic. All students enrolled in a Catholic school should be willing to participate in the religious activities of the school. In the Parramatta Diocese, enrolment preference is given, in order, to: # children of Catholic families who live in the local parish # children of Catholic families from other parishes # non-Catholics, in accordance to the school's enrolment vacancies

Sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

s of

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

already enrolled in the school are considered by the same criteria above. However, within each of these categories, a sibling of a child already enrolled has preference over an applicant who does not have a sibling enrolled in the school. Special consideration may be given to children of non-Catholic families for a number of reasons, after discussion with the school principal.

Funding

In the 2002-2003

financial year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many j ...

, the

Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

allocated 67 per cent of its education budget to non-government schools (including Catholic schools). The remaining 33 per cent was allocated to government schools. In the same period, the New South Wales State Government allocated 7.3 per cent of its education budget to non-government schools. The remaining 92.7 per cent was allocated to government (state/public) schools. In the 2003-2004 financial year, NSW Government schools received $8,227 per student from Federal and State sources. In the 2004 calendar year, NSW Catholic systemic schools received $5,933 per student from Federal and State sources (schools owned and operated by the Religious Orders are funded using a different formula). This means each NSW Catholic systemic school student received, on average, $2,294 less in government funding than a student in a government school. This gap is partly offset by fees, building levies and other charges paid by parents, as well as by support from

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta
Education in New South Wales Roman Catholic Diocese of Parramatta