St Monica's College is a Catholic co-educational secondary school which was established in 1964. Located across two main campuses, it is situated just north of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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 ...

in the suburb of

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

. The College also includes a small country campus in Strath Creek which is used as a retreat and by visiting class groups. The College is a member of the Sports Association of Catholic Co-educational Secondary Schools (SACCSS).

History

St Monica's College, Epping, originally commenced its operations as an annexe to St Peter's Primary School in 1964 under the auspices of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. A growing population in the area made it clear that a fully functioning secondary school would soon be needed and the College at Epping was planned and building commenced in 1966. The name, ''St Monica's'', was bestowed on the College by Archbishop Simonds in 1966 but it was not until February 1967 that the completed buildings in Davisson Street were officially blessed and opened by Bishop Moran.

Principals

Between 1965 and 1989 the schools principals were all members of a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

order of nuns known as the Sisters of the Good Samaritan or S.G.S. In 1990 a lay principal was appointed for the first time.

Principal's Dinner

The school holds an annual Principal's Dinner about halfway through the school year, a celebration and gathering for students, their parents (or guardians), and staff. The school has received criticism for insisting that students with a deceased or unavailable parent may not use their tickets for a sibling or other member of their support network.

Facilities

The College utilises a wide range of modern facilities across two main campuses.

Davisson Street Campus

This is the senior campus and administration centre for the College. It also counts with an IT centre, science labs, visual and performing arts facilities, a library, chapel, gymnasium, and sports fields, among other facilities.

Dalton Road Campus

This is the junior campus and it is located a short distance away. The campus provides open areas which service the curriculum, sport and performing arts requirements. Facilities in this campus include a library, science and computer labs, the Lorraine Pratt Sports Fields, an arts wing, a chapel, a food technology centre, a music centre, and the wetlands, among others.

Ostia

Ostia is the College's country retreat facility located at Strath Creek in country Victoria.

Sport

The school has sports facilities for

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

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 ...

, athletics, swimming, cross country running,

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 ...

, tennis, golf and

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

Extra-curricular programs

The school provides extra-curricular programs such as the ''Good Samaritan Inn'' program.

Notable alumni

Simon Colosimo Simon Colosimo (born 8 January 1979) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a centre back and defensive midfielder. He spent two years playing in Europe with spells in the Premier League with Manchester City and in the Belgian Fir ...

- Australian footballer * Timothy Kyriakou - Jurist *

Reno Piscopo Reno Piscopo (born 27 May 1998) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Newcastle Jets in the Australian A-League. Early life Piscopo was born in Melbourne, Australia to an Italian father and Maltese mother. Club ...

- Australian footballer * Alex Sexton - Australian Football League player *

Jayden Short Jayden Short (born 24 January 1996) is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a premiership player with Richmond in 2019 and 2020, and in 2020 won the club ...

- Australian Football League player

References

External links

*
Website of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Monica's College Catholic secondary schools in Melbourne Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Whittlesea