Mater Christi College Explained

Mater Christi College
Streetaddress:28 Bayview Road
City:Belgrave
State:Victoria
Country:Australia
Postcode:3160
Coordinates:-37.9106°N 145.3592°W
Pushpin Map:Australia Melbourne
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Melbourne
Type:Independent secondary day school
Gender:Girls
Grades:7–12
Principal:Maria Haggett
Enrollment:>850
Colors:Purple, blue, green and orange

Mater Christi College is an independent Roman Catholic secondary school for girls located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Belgrave, Victoria, Australia.

History

Mother Mary Olivera, Superior General of the Good Samaritan Order of the Catholic Church declared in 1962, “Let’s build a boarding school on top of the hill in Belgrave".[1] Subsequently, the school was founded by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan religious order in 1963 outside Belgrave, overlooking the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria. Six Good Samaritan Sisters initially instructed 62 female students, offering an academic education, "based on the principles of Benedictine values". The site chosen in 1962 consisted of grounds which contained Heathermont, a guest house.[2] Sunny Siesta was on the 90 degree turn at the top of Bayview Road and was where the first sisters established their convent in May 1962. A new convent, chapel and classrooms were opened in 1964.[3] [4]

Although initially envisaged as a small day and boarding school, the rapidly growing population in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne saw Mater Christi College grow, and today there are more than 850 girls enrolled at the college, including students from several Asia-Pacific countries. In 1989, a boarding house was attached to the college. It closed in 2015.[5] An international student program operates at the college, using homestay families to house the girls paired with an on-campus English and preparation program. Mater Christi offers a range of subjects to suit students and is designed so that students undertake studies from all areas of learning at Years 7 to 12. Students are then able to select from a wide range of VCE units.[6] [7] [4]

Facilities

Facilities at Mater Christi College include:

Notable alumnae

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mater Christi Student Guide . Mater Christi College . 29 March 2023 . 2 . When Mother Mary Olivera, Superior General of the Good Samaritan Order of the Catholic Church declared in 1962, “Let’s build a boarding school on top of the hill in Belgrave,”.....
  2. Web site: Heathermont guest house - later the site of Mater Christi College, Belgrave. . 2012 . Images of Yesteryear . 19 February 2019.
  3. Web site: Keane . M. . Fire and all it brings to mind . 20 March 2013. catholicreligiousaustralia.org.au . 19 November 2018 . Margaret Keane is a Good Samaritan Sister who worked in secondary education for most of her active ministry. She was at Mater Christi College, Belgrave during one time of serious fires, and remembers being evacuated to a cricket oval and not able to return to the convent until morning..
  4. Web site: Informed, Compassionate, Creative: Mater Christi College: a School of Good Samaritan Education Celebrating 50 Years 1963-2013 . 2013 . Mater Christi College, Belgrave . 19 February 2019.
  5. News: Atkinson . J. . Mater Christi College forges ahead with multimillion-dollar development plan . 23 August 2019 . Herald Sun . 8 September 2015 . The upgrade also proposes a new boarding house for the school’s international students but Ms Fitz-Gerald said it would only go ahead if on-campus accommodation proved a better option for students (The college's boarding house closed at the end on 2015).
  6. Web site: Teaching & Learning at Mater Christi College . 2019 . Mater Christi College, Belgrave . 19 February 2019 . Since 1989, we have welcomed and supported students of all religions and cultural backgrounds through the challenging and rewarding experience of studying overseas in a second language....The framework for our Year 7 to 10 curriculum is provided by the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s (IBO) Middle Years Program (MYP)..
  7. Web site: Mater Christi College, Belgrave . 19 February 2019 . Boarding facilities - mixed.