Mater Dei School 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 ...

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 ...

inclusive

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 ...

located in the outer south-western Macarthur region of

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 ...

, in the rural town of , in

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 ...

, Australia. The school is part of a broader organisation of the same name, Mater Dei, and provides early intervention and early childhood education for babies and children with a developmental delay, and education and therapy services for children and young people with an intellectual disability. The school is one of four programs part of Mater Dei: Mater Dei School, as the oldest and original educational offering, NextPath Continuous Learning, NextPath Assessment & Therapy and Mater Dei Early Childhood Education.

History

Mater Dei School was established in 1910 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 ...

, originally as an orphanage for orphans who lived in the inner city areas of Sydney. In 1957 the

Bishop of Wollongong The assistant bishops of Sydney are the assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia. They each assist the Archbishop of Sydney by maintaining delegated episcopal oversight over a particular geographical area. Prior to the for ...

requested to establish a school for girls with intellectual disabilities and the Sisters accepted the request. The school occupies the site of the historic mansion, ''Wivenhoe'', designed by

John Verge John Verge (1782–1861) was an English architect, builder, pioneer settler in the Colony of New South Wales, who migrated to Australia and pursued his career there. Verge was one of the earliest and the most important architect of the Greek Rev ...

and built in 1837 for

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

and his wife, Eliza.

References

External links

Mater Dei Homepage
Catholic primary schools in New South Wales Catholic secondary schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1957 1910 establishments in Australia 1957 establishments in Australia Special schools in Australia Macarthur (New South Wales) {{NewSouthWales-school-stub

History

See also

References

External links