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Marist College Canberra

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Marist College Canberra
Location
Pearce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Australia
35°21′35″S 149°05′20″E / 35.3597°S 149.0889°E
Information
Type Independent primary and secondary day school
Motto Latin: Servo Fidem
(I keep the faith)
Religious affiliation Association of Marist Schools of Australia
Denomination Catholic
Established 1968
Founder Marist Brothers
Headmaster Matthew Hutchison
Teaching staff 150
Years 4–12
Gender Boys
Enrolment Approx. 1,900 (2025)
Area 15 hectares (37 acres)
Colours Blue and light-blue
Song Great Man of God
Newspaper The Maristian
Yearbook Blue and Blue
Affiliation Associated Southern Colleges
Website www.maristc.act.edu.au

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 (37 acres) 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).

History

Sydney, Australia

The origins of MCC are to be found in the first school established by the Marist Brothers in Australia - St Patrick's on Harrington St, near The Rocks, Sydney. At the request of Archbishop Holding, the first Archbishop of Sydney, four brothers arrived at the colony of New South Wales in 1872 - a Frenchman, two Irishmen and a Scot. Within six weeks, they had opened a school. There, in 1875, only three years after the foundation of this first school in Australia, the Brothers began a separate high school with Brother Augustine McDonald as its first Headmaster.

On 15 August 1887 (the Feast of the Assumption), the high school transferred to buildings located on the eastern side of St Mary's Cathedral, since this was a more central location and provided more space. The school established a reputation for high scholastic standards, evident in its examination results and the large number of students attending university.

By 1910, however, the school premises were run down. This fact, along with other difficulties, led the Marist Brothers to construct new buildings on the corner of Darley St and Liverpool St, Darlinghurst. 'The High School', as it was commonly known, transferred there. The College flourished, and helped inspire a fine tradition of academic, cultural and sporting excellence. Particularly, the College developed a very special spirit which survives among its attendees (known as 'Old Boys') to the present day.

In the 1960s, demographics threatened the future of the school at Darlinghurst, while at the same time Canberra was burgeoning but had few Catholic schools. The decision was taken to sell the property.[1] The College's badge, colours and motto were transferred to a new school in the central suburb of Pearce, Australian Capital Territory, located in the Woden Valley district of South Canberra.

Canberra, Australia

Marist College Canberra opened on January 30 1968 with 97 pupils. For the first term, classes were conducted in the old Forestry School in Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory, while construction of the junior and secondary school buildings were being completed. The first senior classes commenced in 1971. The first graduating class was in 1975.

Institution child sexual abuse

Between 1977 and 1993 a teacher at Marist College, Brother Kosta Chute, sexually molested at least 39 students. The school investigated the first complaints concerning Chute's conduct internally, and permitted him to continue teaching. He was not removed from teaching duties until late 1993 when parents of one of his students complained to the ACT government. Chute was jailed in 2010 after being convicted on 19 counts of child sexual abuse.[2] As of 2014 Marist College had paid almost $7 million in compensation to 38 former students who had been abused by Chute during his time at the school.[3] In December 2015, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that the Marist Brothers had been aware of the allegations against Chute since the 1960s, but continued to transfer him between schools.

It also noted that another teacher at Marist College, Brother Gregory Sutton, had molested students at the school during the early 1980s leading to eight compensation payments, but found that there was no evidence that either the Marist Brothers or the school had received allegations concerning Sutton during this period.[4][5]

The Canberra Marist Brothers community was disbanded at the end of 2015. This did not affect the governance of the school, as it is now staffed by lay teachers and a lay Headmaster.[6]

Headmasters

Period Headmaster
1968–1970 Br Crispin O'Sullivan
1971–1973 Br Mark May
1974–1974 Br Othmar Weldon
1975–1982 Br Joseph McMahon
1983–1988 Br Terrence Heinrich
1989–1990 Br Roger Burke
1991–1992 Br David Hayes
1993–2000 Br Chris Wade
2001–2005 Mr Ross Tarlinton
2006–2017 Mr Richard Sidorko
2018–2026 Mr Matthew Hutchison
2027– Mr Ryan Greer

In November 2017, Brother Wade was sentenced to 18 months in prison, having been found guilty of previously abusing students at schools in Hamilton (1976) and Kogarah (1980).[7]

House System

Junior School

The Junior School originally consisted of four houses - O'Donoghue (blue), Chisholm (red), Hartigan (yellow), and Dempsey (green).

With the addition of two new Senior School houses for 2024, the decision was made to unify the house group system across the Junior and Senior Schools. As a result, the four Junior School houses were retired and replaced by the ten Senior School houses (listed below).

Senior School

The school's house system was implemented in 1986 from a year group system. Each house developed their own crest and motto. The original six houses were Conway, Crispin, Darlinghurst, Mark, Othmar, Patrick. In 1988, two further houses, McMahon and Haydon (the latter named after Monsignor Patrick Haydon, the first parish priest of Canberra), were added to reduce house size. In 2008, the house group system was implemented, which removed tutor groups and combined boys across Years 7 to 12 into a single house group. Each house contains seven house groups.

In 2016, Othmar House was renamed Lavalla House. This change of name was requested by the school community, following adverse findings by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse of Brother Othmar's handling of the abuse of students at another school. In July 2023, Crispin House was renamed to François House. In 2024, two new houses were added to reduce house size further: Le Rosey and Ludovic.

The Champagnat Cup ('the Cup') was introduced by the Graduating Class of 2005. The Cup is presented to the house that proves to have won overall across several house competitions. This include athletics, swimming and cross country carnivals, academic performance, community service hours, and Walkathon (funds raised).

Marist College Canberra: Houses
House Founded Colours
Conway 1986 White, red and black
François Red, yellow and white
Darlinghurst Dark blue, red and white
Mark Yellow, blue and white
Lavalla Black, yellow and white
Patrick Dark green, yellow and white
McMahon 1988 Light blue, white and yellow
Haydon Green, dark blue and yellow
Le Rosey 2024 Gold, green and black
Ludovic Dark red, blue and white

Sports

Marist is a member school of the Associated Southern Colleges (ASC). The college competes against other schools in this competition in a number of different sports, including Australian Rules Football, hockey, athletics, cricket, rugby, swimming and cross country.

Notable alumni

Former students of Marist College, Canberra are known as 'Old Boys'.

Year [X] is the last year of school attendance. Years in parentheses (X-Y) refer to years of attendance or the year of notable achievement. Chronology is determined (as far as is known) by the alumnus' last year at the College. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness.

Politics

Scientific Research

  • Prof Nicholas Smith AM [1980] - parasitologist, Member of the Order of Australia

Military

Media, Arts and Entertainment

Sport - Internationals

Administration and Coaching

  • Nick Scrivener [1988] - Former ACT Brumby player and later professional rugby coach
  • Chris Thomson [2003] - Former professional player and current Wallabies team Manager
  • Peter O'Callaghan [2003, staff] - Former cricketer - Australian Indigenous Cricket Team, ACT; current Marist College Canberra First XI cricket coach

AFL

9 Old Boys have played at VFL/AFL level. Below are some of the more commonly known or contemporary examples;

Rugby Union

50 Old Boys are known to have represented in Rugby Union at state level. The following are some contemporary examples;

Rugby League

Hockey

  • Henry York [2023] - Hockey - Canberra Brave, USPHL

See also

References

  1. Back to citation "ParlInfo - "The Pavilion" at Marist College, Canberra, Tuesday, 18 February 1997: address on the occasion of the opening". testparlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  2. Back to citation Ellery, David (19 June 2014). "Marist Brother Kostka Chute allowed to teach for years after first sexual assault complaints, royal commission told". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  3. Back to citation Ellery, David (10 June 2014). "Almost $7 million compensation to Marist Brothers students sexually abused by Brother Kostka". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  4. Back to citation Knaus, Christopher (11 December 2015). "Royal commission finds Marist failed to remove paedophile Brother John Chute". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  5. Back to citation Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2015). "Case Study no. 13 – The response of the Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse against Brothers Kostka Chute and Gregory Sutton". Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. p. 73.
  6. Back to citation Ellery, David (17 April 2015). "Marist Brothers to leave Canberra". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  7. Back to citation Hawke, Sarah (3 November 2017). "Former headmaster abused boys sent to his office while unwell". ABC News. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
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