Marist Catholic College Penshurst (established 1953) is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

high school located in

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is situ ...

, a southern suburb of Sydney, Australia. The school currently caters for approximately 1000 students from Years 7 to 12. Since 2020, the school has been split among two campuses, Years 78 at South Hurstville, and Years 912 at the original site in

Mortdale Mortdale is a suburb located in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mortdale is located 20 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Mortdale is situated in the ...

(commonly referred to as being in

History

The school first opened on 27 January 1953 as Marist College Penshurst. It was established by Father Joseph Breen, the Parish Priest of St Declan's, when Marist College Kogarah could no longer accommodate students from the

area. The school was run by

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothe ...

, Brother Leopold Smith, the first principal of the school, Brother Basil and Brother Sixtus. Brother Thomas More Davison took over as Principal in 1960 and oversaw construction of the oval area. In 1962, Marist College Penshurst became a Fourth Form school under the Wyndham Scheme. Marist College Penshurst celebrated their

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

in 2013. In 2015, the school was renamed Marist Catholic College Penshurst and became a 712 co-educational high school. The 2016

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...

identified two infamous paedophiles, Br Kostka (John) Chute, who was Primary School Principal from 1970 to 1972 and former Science Teacher Robert (Dolly) Dunn. (From 1970 to 1988). Dunn died in gaol serving his sentence in 2009. Another school teacher, Greg Hammond was charged with Historical Child Sexual Abuse, committed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bill 'Jedda' Allen, a former Science Teacher was also identified as a Paedophile, however was murdered in 1988, before he could be charged. In 2020, Brother Tony Butler remains a significant member of the college community. As the only Brother left at the school, his role involves acting as a pastoral assistant, as well as an important symbol of the College's history and values. Former student and Primary school teacher, Paul Bateman OAM died on 9 August 2021. He was also the Artistic director of The Marist Singer's of NSW and Young Sydney Singer's. He began teaching at Penshurst Marist in 1977. MCCP logo

Annual events

Important annual events held by Marist Catholic College Penshurst include: * Swimming Carnival * Athletics Carnival * Multicultural Food Festival * Music/Talent concert * Champagnat Day (held closest to his feast day on 6 June)

House system

Students participate in House competitions including the college swimming, cross country and athletics carnivals. The four houses are: * Leopold (Red): Named after the first Headmaster of the college, Br Leo Sayer * More (Green): Named the second Headmaster of the college, Br Thomas More * Dunstan (Yellow): Named after the third Headmaster of the college, Br Dunstan Cavanagh * Salvius (Blue): Originally named after the fourth Headmaster of the college, Br Simon Murphy, and later renamed after the seventh Headmaster of the college, Br Salvius

Sport

Students participate in representative sporting competitions, including: * CBSA (Christian Brothers Sports Association) – athletics, basketball, cross country, rugby league, swimming, touch football and volleyball * CCC (Combined Catholic Colleges) athletics, cross country and swimming * Arthur Morris Cup (Cricket) * Berg Shield (Cricket) * Bill Turner Cup (Football) * Pan Pacific Games (international) * St George Knockout Competition (Rugby League) Regular weekly sport is also available to students.

Change to a co-educational system and name change

In 2015, Marist College Penshurst introduced its first co-educational cohort. Its name was changed to Marist Catholic College Penshurst.

Notable alumni

* Andy WrightAustralian Oscar Winner - Sound Guru *

Mark Coure Mark Joseph Coure is an Australian politician. He is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Oatley for the Liberal Party since 2011 and served in the second Perrottet ministry. Early years and background Coure was e ...

Australian politician * Kevin Greeneformer Australian politician *

Craig Nicholls Craig Robert Nicholls (born 31 August 1977) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the Australian alternative rock band The Vines, of which he is the sole continuous member. Early life Nicholls ...

musician and frontman of The Vines *

Daryl Millard Daryl Millard (born 20 February 1985) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who last played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL. He previously played for the Catalans Dragons, Canterbury-Bankstown and St George Illawarra. Ba ...

and Ryan Millard brothers who are rugby league footballers. * Matt Dufty current rugby league player for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

References

External links

School website
{{Association of Marist Schools of Australia Boys' schools in New South Wales Catholic secondary schools in Sydney Association of Marist Schools of Australia Penshurst, New South Wales 1953 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1953