Mater Maria Catholic 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 * Independe ...

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 let ...

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 ...

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 compa ...

, located in

Warriewood Warriewood is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warriewood is located 26 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Warriewood is pa ...

, on the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

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 Mounta ...

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. It was established in 1962 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 ...

and is located in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay The Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, covering the North Shore and Northern Beaches of greater metropolitan Sydney, and the Broken Bay and Central Coast regions of New South Wa ...

History

In January 1962,

founded a secondary school for thirty-eight Catholic girls at Narrabeen. In 1964 the college moved to Forest Road at

. The school's immediate priority was to educate the girls in a peaceful environment. By 1979, the local population growth and demand led to the decision to expand and establish the college as co-educational. In 1984, students sat for the Higher School Certificate for the first time at the College. The majority of these students had been the pioneers of co-education at the college in 1979 and had become the founding members of the new senior school. Over the next decades, new facilities were built concurrent with developments in curriculum and increasing enrolment. Contributions from the Commonwealth and the five feeder parishes financed five new buildings that were opened in the period from 1974 to 1990 and the Sisters donated the land to the College in perpetuity in 1980. In 1990 the first Lay Principal was appointed. During the 1990s significant changes were made in management, pastoral care and the curriculum. In 2002, the Bush `bush' Chapel was closed and decommissioned in preparation for the largest integral expansion at the College.

John Ducker John Patrick Ducker AO (29 March 1932 – 25 November 2005), Australian labour leader and politician, played a leading role in the Australian labour movement and the Labor Party for 20 years. Background Ducker was born in Kingston upon Hul ...

, the former president of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

, the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and l ...

, and a member of the

NSW Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, was the first chairperson of the Parent's Board. One of the school buildings is named after Ducker.

Notable alumni

James Dargaville James Dargaville (born 25 April 1992) is an Australian rugby union footballer who currently plays as a wing for the New South Wales Country Eagles in the National Rugby Championship, following stints with the Brumbies and North Harbour. He also ...

rugby union footballer * Danielle Macdonald (actress)

References

Catholic secondary schools in Sydney Private schools Northern Beaches Sydney Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay Educational institutions established in 1962 1962 establishments in Australia {{NewSouthWales-school-stub

History

Notable alumni

See also

References