, motto_translation = , location = , country =

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Australian Capital Territory , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 240 , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

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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 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 ...

, 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 ...

, established = , denomination =

, affiliations=

Associated Southern Colleges The Associated Southern Colleges (ASC) is an association of Independent school#Australia, independent schools in the Australian Capital Territory and southern New South Wales, Australia that share common interests, ethics, and educational philosoph ...

, founder = , principal = Anna Masters , grades = 7- 12 , grades_label = Years , enrollment = , colours = Blue, maroon, gold , mascot = , website = Merici College is a

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.c ...

located in the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

suburb of Braddon in the

. Established in 1959, the College caters for students in years 7 to 12. The school's Principal is Anna Masters.

History

Merici College is named in honour of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

St. Angela Merici. The College is the oldest Catholic girls' school in Canberra. It was founded in 1959 as Canberra Catholic Girls' High School. The letters CCGH can be seen on the original gates at the Ipima Street side of the building. At that time, although there were several Catholic boys' schools in the area, there was no equivalent institution for female Catholic students. The founding of Merici is unusual among Catholic schools in that, rather than being established by a single order of

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s, it was originally intended as an archdiocesan school. The school was staffed by nuns from six different orders; the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

, the

Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, are a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sist ...

, the

Presentation Sisters The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congre ...

, the Ursuline Sisters, the Brigidines and 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 ...

. When a second Catholic girls' college opened in Canberra in the 1960s, the school became known as Braddon Catholic Girls High School. In 1977 following a decline in enrolments it was decided to trial

co-education 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 ...

with seven boys enrolling. The name was changed to Braddon Catholic High School. 1978 saw the largest intake of boys with 49 in total enrolling. During 1978 it was decided that the school should once again return to being a girls only school with a decision being taken to no longer enrol boys. A letter was sent out to parents of the boys already at the school suggesting that it might be preferable for the boys to enroll at

Daramalan College Daramalan College is a Roman Catholic high school in Canberra, Australia, located in the suburb of Dickson. It encompasses Year 7 to Year 12, in a co-educational environment. Run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, it has an emblem of a re ...

, St Edmund's College, or Marist College Canberra. The total number of boys dwindled over the ensuing years to just four boys during 1983. It was renamed Merici College in 1983. In 2009 the College celebrated its

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

Pastoral care system

Merici College has a vertical

pastoral care Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from rel ...

system. This system replaces the more common Australian system of having a year coordinator assigned to each year group. Upon enrolment to the school, each student is assigned to one of six

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, each associated with one of the founding religious orders. The houses are: Penola (white, black and pink), Balgo (yellow),

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

(purple), Ningil (red) (named for a mission in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

founded by

Nano Nagle Venerable Honora Nagle ( – 26 April 1784), known informally as Nano Nagle, was a pioneer of Roman Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), com ...

), Seiwa (named after

Seiwa College was a private university in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan which was consolidated with in 2009. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1880 as a Congregational Women's Seminary in Kōbe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōg ...

) (blue) and

Tullow Tullow (; , formerly ''Tulach Ó bhFéidhlim/ Tullowphelim'') is a market town in County Carlow, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney where the N81 road intersects with the R725. , the population was 4,673. History There is a statue of ...

(green). Students remain in their appointed house throughout their time at the college. They are also assigned to a vertically integrated pastoral care class consisting of students from all year levels in the same house.

Community involvement

Merici College has a

St. Vincent de Paul Society The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

. Each year, Merici participates in sporting events organised by various Canberra sporting bodies. Sports that the school competes in include:

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, touch football,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

, and

snow sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...

. The school is affiliated with

. Merici College is the

sister school A sister school is usually a pair of schools, usually single-sex school, one with female students and the other with male students. This relationship is seen to benefit both schools. For instance, when Harvard University was a male-only school, Rad ...

of Marist College Canberra.

Notable alumni

Caroline Buchanan Caroline Buchanan (born 24 October 1990) is an Australian cyclist who has won multiple world championships in BMX and mountain biking. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event. Personal Nicknamed ...

, cyclist *

Rosemary Follett Rosemary Follett (born 27 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the inaugural Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995. She was the first woman to become head of gove ...

the first

Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory The chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usu ...

, first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory. *

Gabby Millgate Gabby Millgate is an Australian actress, writer and comedian best known for her role in the film '' Muriel's Wedding'' (1994) and comedy sketch shows '' Full Frontal'' (1993) and ''Totally Full Frontal'' (1998). Early life Millgate was born and g ...

, actress and comedian *

Margaret Staib Air Vice Marshal Margaret Mary Staib, (born 20 December 1962) is a former Chief Executive Officer of Airservices Australia and a former senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Early life Margaret Staib was born in Canberra, A ...

, former Chief Executive Officer of Airservices Australia and a former senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force

References

External links