St Joseph's College | |
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Location | |
, Australia | |
Coordinates | 33°49′54″S151°8′20″E / 33.83167°S 151.13889°E |
Information | |
Type | Independent secondary day and boarding school |
Motto | Latin: In Meliora Contende [1] (Strive for better things) |
Religious affiliation(s) | |
Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
Established | 1881[2] |
Educational authority | New South Wales Department of Education |
Headmaster | Michael Blake [3] |
Chaplain | Fr Gavin Foster SM |
Staff | ~200 [4] |
Years | Year 7–12 |
Gender | Male |
Enrolment | c. 1,100 (2024) [4] |
Campus size | 4.45 hectares (11.0 acres) |
Campus type | Suburban |
Colour(s) | Cerise and blue |
Song | Sub Tuum |
Nickname | Joeys; SJC |
Affiliations |
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Website | www |
St Joseph's College (abbreviated as SJC and commonly called Joeys) is an independent Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Marist Brothers tradition, located in Hunters Hill, a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Founded by the Marist Brothers in 1881, Joeys currently caters for approximately 1,100 students from Year 7 to Year 12, [4] including over 550 boarders, making it the largest all boys boarding school in Australia, [5] and one of the largest in the southern hemisphere. [6]
The College is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), [7] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), [2] the Association of Marist Schools of Australia (AMSA), [8] and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS). [9]
In 2006, Joeys saw the appointment of its first lay headmaster, Ross Tarlinton, who served from 2006 to 2017. He was succeeded in 2018 by another layman, Christopher Hayes and now Michael Blake.
St Joseph's College (SJC) can trace its origins back to the Marist Brothers' school founded in Harrington Street, Church Hill, which was attached to St Patrick's Catholic Church. The Headmaster, Emilian Pontet then sought out land to found a new school elsewhere. After inspecting several locations, Hunters Hill was chosen due to its proximity to the Marist Fathers' Monastery and Parish of Villa Maria.[ citation needed ]
On 29 July 1881, the Headmaster, Emilian Pontet, moved the schools location from Harrington Street to Hunters Hill, founding St Joseph's College in a temporary wooden building with a student population of 55.[ citation needed ] Within six years of its founding, keen observers had taken notice. In 1887, James Francis Hogan wrote in The Irish in Australia that:
St John's College, affiliated to the University of Sydney; Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, conducted by the Jesuit Fathers; and St. Joseph's College, Hunter Hill [ sic ], under the management of , are three educational institutions that reflect the highest credit on the Catholic population of the parent colony. [10]
Brother Emilian Pontet was the founding headmaster (1881–1890); he was succeeded by Brother Stanislaus (1890–1894) who continued the building program at the main campus and oversaw the acquisition of 16 acres of playing fields close by. [11]
These events took place in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo [12] [ circular reference ], the transition of NSW from a penal colony to a free settlement under the Governorship of Macquarie [13] [ circular reference ], the broader context of Victorian Era politics and activity from London such as Saint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill founded in 1866 by future Cardinal Herbert Alfred Vaughan. [14] 19th Century Bishops such as Polding and Ullathorne were faithful witnesses to much missionary endeavour and Australia ceased being a mission territory simultaneously with Pope Paul VI writing to all the faithful of the entire world in "Evangelii Nuntiandi" on 8 December 1975. [15]
The following individuals have served as Headmaster of St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill:
Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brother Emilian Pontet | 1881 | 1890 | 8–9 years | |
2 | Br Stanislaus Healy | 1890 | 1894 | 3–4 years | |
3 | Br Basil (Kelly) | 1895 | 1897 | 1–2 years | |
4 | Br Denis (Reilly) | 1897 | 1902 | 4–5 years | |
5 | Br Clement (Murray) | 1902 | 1909 | 6–7 years | |
6 | Br Victor (Ludeke) | 1909 | 1912 | 2–3 years | |
7 | Br Borgia (Coughlan) | 1913 | 1917 | 3–4 years | |
8 | Br Osmund (Rice) | 1918 | 1920 | 1–2 years | |
9 | Br George (O'Meara) | 1921 | 1923 | 1–2 years | |
10 | Br Brendan (Hill) | 1924 | 1925 | 0–1 years | |
11 | Br Gerard (O'Donoghue) | 1925 | 1927 | 1–2 years | |
12 | Br Clement (Murray) | 1928 | 1928 | 0 years | |
13 | Br Denis | 1928 | 1932 | 3–4 years | |
14 | Br Placid (Gilchrist) | 1932 | 1934 | 1–2 years | |
15 | Br Louis (Hughes) | 1935 | 1940 | 4–5 years | |
16 | Br Gerard (O'Donoghue) | 1941 | 1941 | 0 years | |
17 | Br Angelus (McKinley) | 1942 | 1947 | 4–5 years | |
18 | Br Louis (Hughes) | 1948 | 1950 | 1–2 years | |
19 | Br Quentin (Duffy) | 1951 | 1954 | 2–3 years | |
20 | Br Othmar Weldon | 1955 | 1961 | 5–6 years | |
21 | Br Elias | 1962 | 1967 | 4–5 years | |
22 | Br Gildas (born Robert Goodwin) | 1968 | 1970 | 1–2 years | |
23 | Br Alman Dwyer | 1971 | 1976 | 4–5 years | |
24 | Br Geoffrey Joy | 1977 | 1982 | 4–5 years | |
25 | Br Joseph McMahon | 1983 | 1991 | 7–8 years | |
26 | Br Ernest Houston | 1992 | 2000 | 7–8 years | |
27 | Br Paul Hough | 2001 | 2006 | 4–5 years | |
28 | Ross Tarlinton | 2006 | 2017 | 10–11 years | |
29 | Christopher Hayes | 2018 | 2020 [16] | 1–2 years | [17] |
30 | Michael Blake | 2021 | - | - |
The College opened in 1881 in a temporary wooden building, however, it has continued to expand its grounds and buildings since then. Some examples are the construction of the main building's southern wing in 1882–1884; the building of the central and northern wing in 1889–1894 and the building of the Chapel in 1938–1940. The south-eastern corner of the College campus is a property which was acquired in 1882 with the assistance of a benefactor named O'Shaugnessy. The property was then known as Joubert's Reserve and the original small stone cottage that stood on the land when it was acquired still remains on the site today. The College's main playing fields ("the Park") are located 300m away from the main campus and were bought in 1893 from Charles Gilbert Heydon a distinguished lawyer and devout Catholic who offered the Brothers for sale at a discount 16 acres he had acquired nine years earlier. [18] Heydon agreed to a generous instalment plan to assist the Brothers to make the purchase and the interest bill was met by the same benefactor O'Shaugnessy who had assisted with the acquisition of Joubert's Reserve eleven years earlier. Charles Gilbert Heydon was the brother of Louis Francis Heydon MLC, [19] for a time the Australasian President of the St Vincent de Paul Society. Louis died on 17 May 1918 at his residence "Kentigern" at Mary Street Hunters Hill with a requiem mass at Villa Maria followed by a burial at the Field of Mars Cemetery. The Society report [20] for the completed 1907 year refers to 10 new conferences in NSW, one being at St Joseph's College Hunters Hill – being the "first collegiate conference in the circumscription".
Today the College is situated on a 16-hectare (40-acre) campus overlooking the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, in suburban Hunter's Hill, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the Sydney central business district. [5] The current facilities of the school include:
St Joseph's has several buildings used for accommodation. Five of these are for Years 10, 11 and 12 respectively. The College's main building, which has stood since the 1880s, contains dorms for the junior years, as well as all the College's refectories (dining rooms), the Health Centre, Common Room, the College Chapel and administration offices. The Year 12 Boarding Area was totally refurbished in early 2009, creating modern and comfortable accommodation for senior students.
The College operates kitchens and a laundry catering for all students, teachers and brothers.
The College has a significant number of academic facilities, including a large four-storey building solely containing science laboratories and classrooms (which have recently been refurbished), a library and resource centre, a visual arts centre, a music centre, a hall and five computer labs, each with 20 plus computers. Stage one of a major refurbishment of the resource centre was completed early in 2009, creating a modern, up-to-date teaching and learning facility that provides students with high quality resources and technology for today's fast paced digital world. In 2013, St. Joseph's opened a new Technology and Arts Precinct, including numerous art studios, workshops and classrooms.
Similar to other GPS schools, St Joseph's has significant sporting facilities for use in both training and competition. The College owns and maintains approximately 10 playing fields for cricket, rugby and football. The main playing fields are housed in a 10-hectare (25-acre) facility known as "the Park" and located two blocks from the school campus and is often used by higher level teams for training purposes. The Park complex also contains 8 tennis courts. It is considered the best school in the GPS currently as it has the most wins.
On the main school campus there are five basketball courts, three playing fields (referred to as the 'back ovals'), a number of cricket nets, a swimming pool, two gymnasiums (for basketball and weightlifting respectively) and a cardio room. The boatshed and pontoons for the school's rowing club are situated some 300 metres (980 ft) from the main campus on nearby Tarban Creek, a northern tributary of Sydney's Parramatta River.
In 1986, St Joseph's opened "Colo", an outdoor education centre for students. It provides education in various outdoor activities, culminating in extended expeditions in Year 9. The director is Paul Bryant.
An ageing population of Marist brothers have their own accommodation on the school grounds (some in the retired brothers quarters) and work to maintain its status, holding a number of executive positions at the College. In 2006, Ross Tarlinton became the first lay headmaster of the College, followed by Dr Chris Hayes in 2017.
In 2019, the College farewelled the last teaching Marist Brother, Br Anthony Boyd (1969), who after 40 years of service at the College (23 as Deputy Headmaster), retired from his duties at the College.
In June, July and August 2014 the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, a royal commission of inquiry initiated in 2013 by the Australian Government and supported by all of its state governments, [21] began an investigation into the response of Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse in schools in the ACT, NSW and Queensland. [22] Five former students, one former teacher, a former assistant principal and two former principals, former and current Marist officials and clergy, and one of the clergy at the centre of the allegations gave evidence or made statements before the Royal Commission [23] that the alleged cases of abuse happened during the 1970s and 1980s at Daramalan College, Canberra, at Lismore, Campbelltown and in Far North Queensland. [24] [25] [26] [27]
In March 2015 a former Marist brother, Francis William Cable, known as Brother Romuald was arrested over a number of sex offences allegedly committed at St Joseph's College and St Gregory's College in Campbelltown in the 1980s. [28]
In 2021, a Marist Brother John Patrick O'Brien who worked at the school in the 1970's was convicted of a number of child sexual abuses which occurred at the school. [29] On 5 November 2021, O’Brien was given a head sentence of 7 years 9 months, 5 years non parole and is available for parole on 14 April 2026. [30]
With a boarding population of approximately 900, SJC is the largest boarding school for boys in Australia. Joeys offers full boarding as well as weekly boarding options (where students go home on weekends). In recent times, the College has also offered day-schooling, and students who do not board are known as 'day-boys'.
A number of dormitories ('dorms') and refectories ('refs') are located on the College grounds for boarders and day-boys alike. Dorms and refs are segregated by year, and students tend to receive larger, more private and more privileged accommodation as they advance through the years(i.e. students move from large dormitories to single rooms, and from the College's original accommodation facilities to newly built accommodation).
As a secondary school in New South Wales, the College teaches Year 7 to 12 students in accordance with the State Government's education curriculum, as determined by the Board of Studies. At the end of Year 12, successful students are accredited with their Higher School Certificate (HSC).
St Joseph's College offers a variety of co-curricular activities, including Senior Orchestra, Chess and Debating. Joeys also has the reputation of being a very strong sporting school.
St Joseph's official sporting calendar revolves around competition with the eight other GPS Schools. However, it regularly competes against The Associated Schools (CAS) during the lead-up to each season, and as a member of the GPS (in GPS v CAS matches) at the end of each season.
GPS sports include athletics, Australian rules football, basketball, cricket, cross country, football (soccer), tennis, rowing, rugby union, swimming, and water polo.
St. Joseph's has a very proud, strong tradition in rugby union, being widely renowned as one of Australia's great rugby nurseries. Over the years, the college has produced many well known players who have represented at grade, state and national levels, including three Wallaby Captains. [31] St. Joseph's proud history is displayed through their many 1st and 2nd XV premierships in the AAGPS competitions. Their most recent 1st XV success was in 2019, where the college won their 56th 1st XV premiership while the 2nd XV and 3rd XV were also undefeated to win their premierships. [32]
St Joseph's has a storied history in AAGPS Football, winning premierships in both the 1st & 2nd XI in the inaugural competition in 1988. The College has won four 1st XI premierships (1988, 1997, 2012, 2022, 2023) and three 2nd XI premierships (1988, 1998, 2012). [33] The 'Lower Park' complex was refurbished in 2019 with a new grandstand and dugouts, and hosts one of the premier natural turf Football pitches in Sydney.
Cricket has always been one of the premier summer sports at St. Joseph's. The college has always been strong in cricket, dating back to the inaugural AAGPS season, in which St. Joseph's shared the premiership along with Sydney Grammar School and Newington College. Stan McCabe remains the college's most well known cricketer. In recent years, St Joseph's has been consistently one of the best high school cricketing teams, winning both the AAGPS Premiership and Marist Cricket Carnival on multiple occasions.
St. Joseph's was the fourth Sydney school to take to the water (after Grammar, Riverview and Shore) and has been rowing in the GPS competition since 1907. Joeys had their inaugural GPS victory in 1911, then again in 1916. [34] The College's 1st VIII victory in the 2015 race ended a drought dating back to 1973 at the AAGPS Head of the River. Joeys again won in 2024 with a great victory in the AAGPS Head of the river. [35]
Alumni of St Joseph's College, Hunter's Hill are commonly referred to as Old Boys, and may elect to join the schools alumni association, the St Joseph's College Old Boys' Union (SJCOBU). [36]
The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS) is a sporting association of boys' schools in New South Wales, Australia that contest sporting events among themselves. The AAGPS was formed on 30 March 1892, and today has nine members – eight Sydney schools and one northern NSW country school. The descriptor 'Public School' references the historical usage of the term and the model of the British public school; all except Sydney Boys High School are in modern parlance private schools.
The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothers with the goal of educating young people, especially those most neglected. While most of the brothers minister in school settings, others work with young people in parishes, religious retreats, spiritual accompaniment, at-risk youth settings, young adult ministry, and overseas missions. Since the 2010s an extensive history of sexual abuse within Marist institutions has emerged in the public record.
Knox Grammar School is an independent Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1924 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia as an all-boys school, and named after John Knox. The school has since grown, branching out into a large Senior School and a Preparatory School, enrolling approximately 2900 students. The school also caters for approximately 160 boarding students from Years 7 to 12.
Marist Regional College is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, secondary school, located in Parklands, a suburb of Burnie, Tasmania, Australia.
The King's School is an independent Anglican, early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in North Parramatta in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1831, the school is Australia's oldest independent school, and is situated on a 148-hectare (1.48 km2) suburban campus.
Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys located in Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove River on the Lower North Shore of Sydney.
The Sydney Church of England Grammar School is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offering early learning, primary, and secondary education, with both day and boarding options.
St Gregory's College Campbelltown is an independent Catholic single-sex and co-educational comprehensive and specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Gregory Hills, near Campbelltown, a south-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With specialist expertise as an agricultural school, St Gregory's College provides a co-educational environment for students in the Kindergarten to Year 6 primary school; and a boys-only environment for students in the Year 7 to Year 12 secondary schools.
St Patrick's College, sometimes referred to as St Pat's, Paddy's or SPC, is an independent Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in central Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1893, who continue to run the school through Edmund Rice Education Australia. The school provides education for boys from Year 7 to Year 12, with an emphasis on academic and sporting programs.
Marist College Ashgrove is an independent Roman Catholic day and boarding primary and secondary school for boys, located in the northern Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove, in Queensland, Australia. The college caters for students from Year 5 to Year 12.
St John's College, Woodlawn is a Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in the rural area of "Woodlawn" on the outskirts of Lismore, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The school, commonly abbreviated to Woodlawn, is administered by the Catholic Education Office of the Diocese of Lismore.
Marist College Canberra is an independent Roman Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, founded in 1968 by the Marist Brothers. The college is situated on 15 hectares and located in the Canberra suburb of Pearce, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The college is a member of the Association of Marist Schools of Australia (AMSA) and the Associated Southern Colleges (ASC).
The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is a suffragan Latin Church diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1847 initially as the Diocese of Maitland and changed to the current name in 1995. The diocese covers the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales in Australia. The bishop of the diocese is Michael Kennedy.
Saint Augustine's College, known locally as "Saints", is a Catholic boys' high school in Parramatta Park, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Saints houses boarders both from its own students and girls from Saint Monica's High School, also in Cairns.
The Association of Marist Schools of Australia (MSA) is an organisation that seeks to unite the various schools across Australia which have at any stage in their history been connected to the Australian provinces of the Marist Brothers, Marist Sisters or Marist Fathers, and by that union assist them in the provision of quality Marist education according to the traditions and charism passed down by the founders of the orders, Saint Marcellin Champagnat, Sister Jeanne-Marie Chavoin and Jean-Claude Colin.
St Joseph's Nudgee College is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in Boondall, a northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
St Columba's College was an independent, preparatory Marist college in Largs, Ayrshire. It served as a prep school feeder for Catholic boarding schools throughout the United Kingdom with links to St. Joseph's College, Dumfries and Ampleforth. The school closed in 1982. Since 1998 a number of reports of sexual and physical abuse of at least 9 pupils dating from between 1950 and 1982 have emerged. Phase 4 of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry examined the St Columba's abuse in October 2019.
Charles Howard FMS AM was an Australian Marist Brother who held the office of worldwide superior general of the order from 1985 to 1993. His religious name during much of his Marist career was "Brother Elias". He was the only Australian to date elected to lead the Marist Brothers' worldwide organisation.
Brother Othmar Weldon MBE was the religious name of William George Weldon, an Australian Marist Brother who was from 1964 to 1972 the provincial head of the Marist order in Sydney. He had a prominent role in the expansion of Catholic education in eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands in the 1960s and 70s.
The NSW AAGPS is a school basketball competition played in Australia. It is an annual, 14 round competition played between 8 Sydney member teams that include Saint Ignatius Riverview, St Joseph's Hunters Hill, Sydney Grammar, Sydney Boys High, Newington College, Scots College, The Kings school and Sydney Church Of England Grammar School (Shore). Preseason games are played in Term 3-4 school holidays in the Knox Invitational tournament and Raschke Cup as well as the Trinity Challenge in Summer, with the official GPS games played in Term 4 and 1 on Saturday. 1st grade games commence at 11:45 and often attract large crowds, whilst second grade games commence at 10:00. The 1st grade premiership is currently held by Newington College while the Rashcke cup is held by Newington College. In 2nd grade the premiership is held by St Ignatius College, Riverview and The Scots College while the PJ Yeend Trophy is currently held by Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview.