Santa Maria College, Perth


Santa Maria College is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Attadale, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
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.
The college is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia, the Australian Boarding Schools' Association, the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia and the Independent Girls Schools Sports Association.
Santa Maria's brother school is Aquinas College located in Salter Point.

History

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 Santa Maria College is a community of 1,300 students from Years 5 to 12.

Governance

Mercy Education Limited 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.
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.

Principals

The following individuals have served as Principal of Santa Maria College:
OrdinalOfficeholderTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
1Sr Bertrand Corbett19371960 years
2Stephanie Horne19611966 years
3Martha Hayward19671970 years
4Consilli Flynn19711975 years
5Perpetua della Marta19761979 years
6Sheila Sawle19801989 years
7Frank Owen19892000 years
8Anne Pitos20002008 years
9Greg Clune20092010 years
10Ian Elder20102018 years
11Jennifer Oaten2018incumbent years

House system

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, Mercian, Trinity, however, as the number of students increased a fourth team was added in 1963 - Xavier
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. 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 uniform consists of a green and white dress worn during summer, worn with a white socks and black leather shoes. A formal winter uniform is also required which consists of black stockings instead of socks, a bottle green, red and white striped tie, school blazer, green jumper and a green red and white tartan skirt. The sport uniform consists of a white shirt, and red shorts.

Notable alumnae