Principals Message

History
St Patrick’s College Sutherland is a Catholic co-educational secondary school, operated by Sydney Catholic Schools, that has a long and interesting history in the Shire reaching back to 1924.

It was then that the Three Sisters of Mercy opened a church-school, known as St Patrick’s School, in Robertson Street with 26 primary students.

In 1928 the school moved to Belmont Street where the present church hall is located, and the Mercy Sisters reluctantly withdrew in 1950 because of expanded commitments in the Sutherland Shire. The Presentation Sisters from Wagga replaced them, and in 1953 St Patrick’s expanded with a secondary department for girls. The school was renamed to Mary Immaculate College in 1959.

On the other side of Belmont Street in 1956, the Christian Brothers founded St Patrick’s Christian Brothers’ College, a school for boys in Years 7 to 12.

Both schools expanded rapidly in the 1960s, and by 1975 Years 11 and 12 began to operate as a fully co-educational group in order to extend the curriculum opportunities for senior classes. Pressure at Mary Immaculate College was relieved when primary classes were finally phased out in 1977.

The year 1985 saw the first step towards the amalgamation of the two colleges, under the name of St Patrick’s College, which was one of the first to be attempted in the Archdiocese of Sydney and was a long, challenging process that took until 1992 to complete.

Mrs Dianne Kennedy was appointed the first lay principal in 1994.

A long tradition of education has been fostered and there has always been the promotion of quality learning, fidelity to the Gospel, academic excellence, and an orientation to the service of young people and their families.

Charisms
St Patrick’s College Sutherland is influenced by the charism of both Nano Nagle and Edmund Rice, the founders of the Presentation Sisters and the Christian Brothers.

Nano Nagle, Foundress of the Presentation Sisters
Nano Nagle (1718–1784) was educated in Europe, but on returning to her native Ireland, she was confronted by people deprived of culture, religion, education, and livelihood because of the penal laws imposed by England in 18th century Ireland.
Nagle’s life of prayer, concern for her people, and courage and perseverance inspired her to establish schools and support other works of charity, and at the age of 57, she established the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Presentation Sisters), insisting that the sisters serve those who were poor in their own community.

In 1874 the Presentation Sisters answered the call from the town of Wagga Wagga to meet the needs of the Catholic Church in Australia which was struggling to provide its people with an education while at the same time nurturing their faith in a secular society. From Wagga Wagga, the sisters established other foundations including convents in Sydney.

Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, Founder of the Christian Brothers
Edmund Rice (1762–1844) was also born in Ireland during ‘penal times’, but was fortunate as a Catholic to be educated. In 1789 his wife died after giving birth to a disabled daughter, which led to the deepening of his spirituality and his concern and care for the poor of those around him.

Rice established a night school for local uneducated boys, and soon a religious order was established. By 1825 Rice and 30 Christian Brothers were educating, free of charge 5500 boys in 12 different towns and cities.

The first group of Christian Brothers to arrive in Australia came in 1843 but, as they were unwilling to separate from their Superior General in Ireland, they returned in 1847. The Christian Brothers, however, came back to Australia in 1868, the year of cessation of transportation of convicts, and commenced a school in Fitzroy in 1869. From here there was an extraordinary growth across Australia as the Brothers adapted to conditions in the colonies.