, motto_translation = In all things may God be glorified , established = , principal = Elizabeth Carnegie , location = Manly,

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 en ...

, Sydney,

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 ...

, country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 250 , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in greater metropolitan Sydney , pushpin_label = , pushpin_label_position = , module = , type =

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 ...

single-sex secondary

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 ...

, educational_authority =

New South Wales Department of Education The New South Wales Department of Education, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of early childhood, primary school, secondary school, vocational education, adult, migrant and hig ...

, religious_affiliation =

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 ...

, denomination =

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 ...

, sister_school = , patron = Saint Benedict of Nursia , oversight = , 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 ...

, campus_type = Suburban , campuses = , enrolment = , enrolment_as_of = , grades = 7– 12 , staff = ~125 , colours = Maroon and bottle green , homepage = , affiliations =

Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools The Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS), is an association for independent girls' schools, based in North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1916 as The Association of Head Mistresses of New South Wales, t ...

;

Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (abbreviated as AGSA) is a non-profit organisation that promotes the education of girls in single-sex girls' schools, and promotes the image of, and support the development of, girls' schools in Australa ...

; Association of Independent Schools NSW Stella Maris 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 ...

high 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 '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

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 on the northern end of Manly Beach in Manly, on the

of Sydney,

, Australia. Founded in 1931 by the

, the College provides a religious and general education in the Benedictine tradition for approximately 950 girls from

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

to Year 12 from the surrounding area and from overseas. Stella Maris is a

so international students board with homestay families in the local area. In recent years governance of the College has passed to ''Good Samaritan Education'', established by the Sisters for the continued canonical oversight of all the Congregation's schools.

History

In 1857, Archbishop Polding founded the first Australian order of nuns, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict. The sisters had been looking for a home to look after the growing number of orphaned and neglected children, and in 1880 they heard of a good-sized estate at Manly, then unoccupied and in disrepair. It proved an ideal spot and in 1881 was blessed as the Star of the Sea Convent and the Good Samaritan Sisters moved in and set up a school for them. The sisters taught the usual school subjects up to the age of 14, then trained the girls in skills that would enable them to earn a living – mostly sewing and laundry. In 1886, the

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

orphanage, owned by the government but run by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, was closed and the Sisters at Manly took in additional charges. In the very early years the Sisters also conducted a small day school for neighbourhood children and a boarding school ‘for high class ladies’ on the site. In 1910, the orphans were moved to other more rural sites due to the development of Manly, principally to what is now Mater Dei Special School in Camden, and the Sisters took over the running of St Mary's school in Whistler Street. In 1930, the original house was demolished and the present-day Convent and single-storey school were built and the College re-opened the following year with an intake of thirty-three pupils from Kindergarten to Intermediate Certificate, and was a co-educational primary school and a girls’ high school. The primary school was gradually phased out and by 1944, Stella Maris was purely a high school for girls. The last Good Samaritan Principal left the school at the end of 1995, and in 1997 the Convent was handed over for College use. Since then there have been a number of extensions and developments to accommodate the approximately nine hundred and fifty students who study there today. In 2004, new buildings were opened comprising a theatre, dance studio, drama studio, fitness centre, music practice rooms, and new classrooms. In 2012, the new Benedict Campus opened on Pittwater Road, and in 2018 the Scholastica building comprising Science laboratories, a new library and staff work space was opened.

List of Principals

# Sr Sabina Shinnick (1931–1934) # Sr Joseph Fanning (1935–1940) # Sr Dolores Carroll (1941–1944) # Sr Colombiere Connors (1945–1947) # Sr Luigi Walker (1948–1949) # Sr Colette Egan (1950–1954) # Sr Sheila Murphy (1955–1964) # Sr Hermenegild Johnson (1965–1969) # Sr Philomena Gallagher (1970–1975) # Sr Consilio (Noela) Bunn (1976–1981) # Sr Marcella (Marilyn) Kelleher (1982–1993) # Sr Lia Van Haren (1994–1995) # Allan Coman (1996–2005) # Kerry Stirling (2006–2008) # Mary Ryland (2009) (Acting) # Vicki Comerford (2010–2014) # Elizabeth Carnegie (2015–present)

Extra-curricular activities

Activities include: * Dance Company and Ensembles * Da Vinci Decathlon, Maths Olympiad and other external competitions * Drama Ensembles * Debating * Duke of Edinburgh International Award * Music bands, choirs, ensembles at every skill level * Spectra Science Club, Art Club, Book Club and a range of other clubs * Alpha Youth Group, Writers' Group * Diverse team and individual sports at all levels of representation from inter-school to National and International

Social Justice

The College supports the charitable works of the Good Samaritan Sisters in Kiribati, the Bacalod Kinder School in the Philippines, Mater Dei School in Narellan, the Melbourne Women's Shelter and Santa Teresa Mission in Central Australia. Students raise funds, donations in kind or volunteer for LifeLine, Bear Cottage, the Northern Beaches Women's Shelter, Pink Hope (a charity started by a former Stella student about breast cancer education and fundraising), St Kieran's GIFT Cook Off, Legacy, St Vincent de Paul Society, Mike Pawley's Happy Days Village school in Cambodia, an SCR Group clothing collection and Caritas Australia's Project Compassion.

House system

Prior to 2013 students belonged to one of four Houses: Rosaria (Green), Carmel (Blue), Fatima (red) and Lourdes (yellow). The Houses were so-named as a reference to the fervent Marian devotion of the Sisters. As the student body grew in number, the decision was made that from 2014 the number of Houses would be increased, making the Houses more manageable for the student House Captains. Stella Maris College now has eight

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 named after women who have made a significant contribution to the College or to Australian society in general:

Notable alumni

* Marian Baird AO, Sydney University Professor of Gender & Employment Relations * Krystal Barter, founder of Pink Hope charity * Dr Michelle Crockett OAM, awarded for services to medicine *

Katherine Edney Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Chris ...

, artist, Archibald Prize finalist * Kiri English-Hawke, author and Olympic rower * Bronte Halligan, Olympic water polo *

Nancye Hayes Nancye Lee Bertles AM ( Hayes; born January 1943), billed under her maiden name as Nancye Hayes, is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre si ...

AM, musical theatre, stage and screen actress, singer, dancer, choreographer and director *

Kym Wilson Kym Wilson (born 1 April 1973) is an Australian actress and former television host. Career Wilson made her television debut playing a minor role in the 1985 mini-series ''Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin''. Her first major role was in the ...

, actress and television presenter

References

External links

Stella Maris College official website
{{Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia schools, state=autocollapse Girls' schools in New South Wales Catholic secondary schools in Sydney Educational institutions established in 1931 1931 establishments in Australia Manly, New South Wales Private schools Northern Beaches Sydney Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia