Established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1938, the school currently caters for approximately 1,300 students from Year 5 to Year 12, including 150 boarders.[1]
The College's Mercy heritage and history goes back to the arrival of seven Sisters of Mercy in Perth in 1846. They were led by Ursula Frayne.
The Sisters opened their first school on St George's Terrace in February 1846. As enrolments increased, school buildings, including a boarding school, were built in the grounds of the present Mercedes College. As the demand for boarding places increased from country families, the Mercy Superior at the time, Brigid McDonald, and her Council resolved to build a new ladies' college for boarding and day students in the bush land in Attadale. Santa Maria College opened its doors in 1938. The founding principal was Mary Bertrand Corbett.
The post-war period brought with it a rapid expansion in residential development around the college. As a result, there was a growth in student numbers and the student population at Santa Maria College changed from primarily boarders to a majority of day students.
Today[when?] Santa Maria College is a community of 1,300 students from Years 5 to 12.
Governance
Mercy Education Limited (Mercy Education) is the delegated authority, which oversees the operation of the Education ministry of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG).
Through its board of directors, Mercy Education is responsible for the governance and operation of eleven Mercy Sponsored Colleges owned by ISMAPNG, including Santa Maria College. Mercy Education is the employer of the principal and staff of twelve Mercy Colleges.
Associations
Santa Maria College is a Catholic Education Office affiliated education provider. It is also affiliated with the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia.
Santa Maria College is a member of the Independent Girls Schools Sporting Association.
Before the current house system came into operation the students were divided into teams – which were essentially for sporting carnivals. The houses were initially School (red), Mercian (white), Trinity (Blue), however, as the number of students increased a fourth team was added in 1963 – Xavier (gold)
Santa Maria College, as with most Australian schools, utilises a House system. Students are divided into eight Houses, for the purpose of morning meetings in House groups and Homerooms, and intra-school competition. The Houses are named after notable figures in the Sisters of Mercy's heritage in Western Australia. Dillon, de la Hoyde, Frayne, Kelly, O'Donnell and O'Reilly are named after six of the Sisters who journeyed to Western Australia from Ireland and set up the first Catholic High School in the state – Victoria Square School, now known as Mercedes College. In 2007, two new houses were added – Corbett, named after the school's first Principal, Bertrand Corbett, and Byrne.
Each House competes to earn points towards the "McAuley Shield", through various interhouse events, including: swimming, athletics, cross-country, volleyball, soccer, debating and public speaking. In 2007, the interhouse events were expanded to include an arts festival after the lobbying of several students for more events that were not sports-orientated. The arts festival required each house to prepare a short play to showcase their acting abilities. As of 2013[update] this festival has been replaced by a theatresports competition.
Boarding
The boarding community is home to 150 girls, predominantly from rural WA. The community is divided into four individual houses. Two housemothers are assigned to each house.
Uniform
The summer uniform consists of a green and white dress, white socks and black leather shoes. The winter uniform consists of a school blazer, green jumper; green, red and white tartan skirt; bottle green, red and white striped tie; and black stockings. The sport uniform consists of a white shirt and red shorts.
Notable alumnae
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(May 2019)
Lieutenant Colonel Helen Adamson (1943) – nurse; Matron-in-Chief, Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps; awarded the Royal Red Cross in 1981[4][5]
Annette Goerke (née Parkes, 1956) – organist; recipient of a Churchill Fellowship; awarded the Crucem Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice for her services to St Mary's Cathedral[10]
Carmen Lawrence (1964) – former politician and academic; the first female Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state; subsequently a Minister in the Keating government[11]
^ abc"Santa Maria College". Schools. Australian Boarding Schools' Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
^McCullagh, Catherine (2010). Willingly Into the Fray: One Hundred Years of Australian Army Nursing. Newport: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN978-0-9806582-6-2.
^ abcd"Lash (3)". Discogs. 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
