Mater Christi College is an

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 ...

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 ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

for

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 ...

located in the eastern

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Belgrave, Victoria Belgrave is a town and outer suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Belgrave recorded a population of 3,894 at the 2021 ...

, Australia.

History

Mother Mary Olivera, Superior General of the Good Samaritan Order of the Catholic Church declared in 1962, “Let’s build a boarding school on top of the hill in Belgrave". Subsequently, the school was founded by the

Sisters of the Good Samaritan The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, colloquially known as the "Good Sams", is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious women commenced by Bede Polding, OSB, Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congreg ...

religious order in 1963 outside Belgrave, overlooking the

Dandenong Ranges The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathere ...

of Victoria. Six Good Samaritan Sisters initially instructed 62 female students, offering an academic education, "based on the principles of Benedictine values". The site chosen in 1962 consisted of grounds which contained Heathermont, a

guest house A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use o ...

. Sunny Siesta was on the 90 degree turn at the top of Bayview Road and was where the first sisters established their convent in May 1962. A new convent, chapel and classrooms were opened in 1964. Although initially envisaged as a small day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

, the rapidly growing population in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne saw Mater Christi College grow, and today there are more than 850 girls enrolled at the college, including students from several Asia-Pacific countries. In 1989, a boarding house was attached to the college. It closed in 2015. An international student program operates at the college, using homestay families to house the girls paired with an on-campus English and preparation program. Mater Christi offers a range of subjects to suit students and is designed so that students undertake studies from all areas of learning at Years 7 to 12. Students are then able to select from a wide range of VCE units.

Facilities

Facilities at Mater Christi College include: * Full WiFi Campus * MacBook and iPad Program *

Contemporary learning spaces Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical setting for a learning environment, a place in which teaching and learning occur. The term is commonly used as a more definitive alternative to "classroom," but it may also refer to an ...

* Science Labs * Library/Learning Commons * Chapel * Arts Studios / photography and ceramics * Technology (textiles) centre * Two indoor halls with full sized basketball courts * An outdoor track and field training area * Industry standard hospitality / food technology centres * Outdoor tennis courts * Dance Studio * Restaurant/cafe

Notable alumnae

Renae Hallinan Renae Ingles (née Hallinan) (born 18 July 1986 in Melbourne, Australia) is a former Australia netball international who played in 67 tests for Australia. Career Ingles was primarily a wing-defence and centre player. She started her career wit ...

, an Australian and

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 ...

netballer. *

Jane Flemming Jane Christina Flemming OAM (born 14 April 1965) is a former Australian Olympic track and field athlete. She completed her HSC in 1982 at Mater Christi College, Belgrave. She was the 1990 Commonwealth Games champion at heptathlon and long ...

, former Olympian athlete and Commonwealth medallist, sports media commentator

References

External links

www.materchristi.edu.au
(official website) {{Authority control Girls' schools in Victoria (Australia) Catholic secondary schools in Melbourne Educational institutions established in 1963 1963 establishments in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia Former boarding schools in Australia Buildings and structures in the Shire of Yarra Ranges