St Mary's College, (known colloquially as Marys), is an Australian

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

for girls, located in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The school accepts girl students from year 7 to year 12, drawing from a wide area of

. The total enrolment is approximately 650. The school is a member of the Catholic Secondary Schoolgirls' Sports Association. St Mary's School was established by

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

in 1863 as part of St Mary's Parish for the parish's primary-aged children. In 1913, St Mary's College was established as a separate secondary school exclusively for the higher education of girls in the Mercy tradition. The College and its pupils were now distinct from the Primary School students. The

ceased administering and teaching at the school in the early 1990s. The college is owned by the Parish and is now administered and staffed by Brisbane Catholic Education.

Musical and drama productions

Each year, since 2007, a full musical production is conducted, in conjunction with St Edmund's College, Ipswich. The host school alternates every year. * 2024 (SMC) - ' Mary Poppins the Broadway Musical' * 2023 (SEC) – '

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

' * 2022 (SMC) – ‘High School Musical – on Stage’ * 2021 (SEC) – '

School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled on screen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin and written by Mike White (filmmaker), Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, White and Sa ...

' * 2019 (SMC) – '

Matilda the musical ''Roald Dahl's Matilda'', also known simply as ''Matilda'' and ''Matilda the Musical'', is a musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly. It is based on the 1988 novel '' Matilda'' by Roald Dahl. The musical's narr ...

' * 2018 (SEC) – 'Rock of Ages 101: High School Edition' * 2017 (SMC) – '

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * Hairspray (1988 film), ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** Hairspray (1988 soundtrack), ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundt ...

' * 2016 (SEC) – '

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

' * 2015 (SMC) – ' Legally Blonde: The Musical' * 2014 (SEC) – '

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

' * 2013 (SMC) – ' The Bells of St Mary's' * 2012 (SEC) – ' 13' * 2011 (SMC) – ' Fame' * 2010 (SEC) – '

Footloose ''Footloose'' is a 1984 American musical drama film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. It tells the story of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), a teenager from Chicago who moves to a small town, where he attempts to overturn a b ...

' * 2009 (SMC) – '

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...

' * 2008 (SEC) – ' Grease' * 2007 (SMC) – ' Thoroughly Modern Millie' * 2006 (SEC) – ' Beach Blanket Tempest' * 2005 (SMC) – '

little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

' * 2004 (SEC) – 'The Outsiders' * 2003 (SMC) – 'Now and Then' * 2002 (SEC) – ' Back to the 80s' * 2001 (SMC) – '

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

' * 2000 (SEC) – ' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat' * 1999 (SMC) – 'Open Season' * 1998 (SEC) – ' SherWoodstock' * 1997 (SMC) – 'Worlds Apart' * 1996 (SEC) – ' Evita' * 1995 (SMC) – 'Macbeth – The Rock Opera' * 1994 (SEC) – '

Bye Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The play's book was influenced by El ...

' * 1993 SMC) – ' Half a Sixpence' * 1992 (SEC) – '

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

' * 1991 (SMC) – ' ¡Viva México! (El grito de Dolores)' * 1990 (SEC) – ' Pippin' * 1989 (SMC) – '

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

' Students also participate and perform at various musical and drama evenings and lunch-time theatre and theatre sports groups.

School houses

St Mary's College has four

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 ...

: Gorry, Horan, Murphy and Whitty.

Houses

Notable alumnae

* Jessie Christiansen, NASA astrophysicist * Leah Neale, swimmer *

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...

, Queensland premier (2015–2023)

References

External links

Official website
Education in Ipswich, Queensland Girls' schools in Queensland Catholic secondary schools in Queensland Educational institutions established in 1863 Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia 1863 establishments in Australia {{Queensland-school-stub