About Catholic College Bendigo

Introduction

Catholic College Bendigo is a Catholic Secondary school which provides education for students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Bendigo, central Victoria. Catholic College Bendigo operates from two locations - La Valla in Junortoun caters for Years 7 - 9 students; and Coolock, in the central hub of Bendigo, is where Years 10 - 12 studies are conducted. The Principal is Mr Darren McGregor.

Mission Statement

Catholic College Bendigo is a Catholic co-educational secondary school based on Marist-Mercy traditions serving the Bendigo region.

Trusting in ourselves, each other and our God, we seek to create a unified community where people are respected and their gifts are nurtured enabling them to move forward optimistically, confidently and courageously.

Identity and Ethos

We believe …

that life is a gift from God to be nurtured and celebrated
that each person has an inherent human dignity and is deserving of profound respect
that the Gospel message of Jesus Christ enlivens and empowers individuals to contribute to the wider community

Therefore we are committed to …

caring for God’s gift of creation
living Christian values of justice, respect and service
nurturing each person’s faith which gives added meaning to their life
valuing and celebrating Catholic faith traditions, sacramental practices and daily prayer
valuing and celebrating the Marist and Mercy charisms within the life of the College
developing self confident, independent, socially responsive and accountable young adults
fostering pride and spirit in the College
recognizing the contributions and achievements of each individual.

Governors & Council

The Governors of the College are responsible for the sponsorship of the College and are collectively the legal employer of Catholic College, Bendigo.

The Governors of the College are:

The Most Reverend Joseph A Grech DD, Bishop of Sandhurst
Sister Kathleen Tierney RSM, Congregation Leader of the Sisters of Mercy
Brother Julian Casey FMS, Provincial Superior of the Marist Brothers, Province of Melbourne

In 2008, Brother Julian convenes the Governors’ Group.

The Governors appoint the Principal to whom they delegate the administration of the College. The Principal is responsible for the Catholic ethos of the College, the educational administration, the selection of staff and designation of duties within the College, the curriculum, the academic standards, school discipline within the pastoral criteria established by the Council and the care and maintenance of the College.

THE COLLEGE COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES

The College Council appointed by the Governors, represents the Governors and exercises the authority of the Governors within the terms of reference determined by the Governors. The general purpose of the Council is, on behalf of the College community to help the Governors and the Principal fulfil their responsibilities relating to the College as a Catholic school.

The members of the College Council in 2009 are:

Father Rom Hayes (parish priest, nominated by the Bishop of Sandhurst)
Ms Patricia Ryan (nominee of the Congregation Leader, Sisters of Mercy)
Mr Michael Kenny (nominee of the Provincial of the Marist Brothers)
Ms Philomena Billington (nominee of the Bishop of Sandhurst)
Mr Darren McGregor (Principal of Catholic College Bendigo)
Mr Paul Bowe (parent representative)
Mr Martin Skahill (parent representative)
Dr Dennis O’Connor (parent representative & chairperson)
Mrs Allison Bodinaar (parent representative)
Ms Deborah James-Murphy (parent representative)
Mrs Joan Coldwell (parent representative)

Mr Brenton Middlemiss (Finance Manager) attends meetings as requested by the Chairperson of the Council.

Mrs Alison Baker (Personal Assistant to the Principal) acts as Secretary to the College Council.

The College Council Sub Committees:

The College Council has set up the following 4 sub committees: Policy; Building & Planning; Uniform and Finance.

Principal & Staff

Catholic College Bendigo employs almost two hundred staff. The following people hold positions of leadership and responsibility in 2008-2009:

Senior Leaders
Principal	Mr Darren McGregor
Deputy Principal – La Valla	Mr Michael Chalkley
Deputy Principal – Coolock	Mr John Ferris
Deputy Principal – Staff	Mrs Giselle Talbot
Director of Teaching & Learning	Mr John Eason
Director of Catholic Identity	Miss Rachel Lechmere
Senior Leader – La Valla	Mr John Geary
Senior Leader - Coolock	Mr Sam a'Beckett
Heads of House
Heads of Backhaus House	Mr Bill Gaskell Ms Hannah Gretgrix
Heads of Champagnat House	Mr Brendan O'Brien Ms Terrie Driscoll
Heads of Jaara House	Mr Damien Driscoll Ms Rosemary Hutchinson
Heads of MacKillop House	Ms Nicole Crone Mr Peter Harrington
Heads of McAuley House	Mr Timothy Edwards Mrs Trish Schofield
Heads of Vincent House	Mr Matthew Smith Miss Anthea McEniry

Student Leadership 2009

College Captains:	Anthea Gomez & Eli Geary
House Captains:
Backhaus	Amy Hodder
Champagnat	Xavier White
Jaara	Madeleine Lloyd
MacKillop	Claire McCullough
McAuley	Kyra-Leigh McCulloch
Vincent	Patrick Skahill
Coolock Leaders:
Backhaus	Maddison Exell
Champagnat	Rhiannon Parkes
Jaara	Bridgette McDougall
MacKillop	Sarah Carr
McAuley	Samuel Bates
Vincent	Carly Monaghan
La Valla Leaders:
Backhaus	Edward Worland
Champagnat	Arlena Barton
Jaara	Benjamin Chan
MacKillop	Inika Reinhardt
McAuley	Mason Wade
Vincent	Joshua Hann

School Development Plan

Download School Development Plan 2007-2009

HISTORY OF CATHOLIC SECONDARY EDUCATION IN BENDIGO

Catholic Secondary Education in Bendigo began with the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy in 1876. High School education for boys and girls was offered by the Sisters at St. Aloysius’ School until 1893, when the Marist Brothers arrived to continue education for boys.

In the years that followed Religious and Lay teachers at St Mary’s College and Marist Brothers’ College continued to offer a Catholic education to many young people from Bendigo and its environs.

In 1954 the Vincentian Fathers opened St. Vincent's College as a boarding school for boys at Junortoun. This made a significant contribution to Catholic education. In 1972 St Vincent's opened to day boys, due to declining boarding numbers. By 1977 further decline in numbers led the Vincentian Fathers to decide to leave Bendigo and concentrate on other ministries. The College was closed, and the site became an extension of Marist Brothers’ College.

On September 23, 1982, it was announced by Bishop Daly, the Provincial Superior of the Marist Brothers and the Congregational Superior of the Sisters of Mercy that the existing Colleges in Bendigo, Marist Brothers’ College and St. Mary’s College, would amalgamate from January 1, 1983, and would be known as Catholic College Bendigo. They anticipated that the transition to total amalgamation would be gradual and the merging of the administrative, educational and financial operations of the Colleges would be expected to take several years.

In March 1985, the Governors decided that the College would move toward the development of a College on two locations by 1988 and that all classes would be co-educational in 1986.

1988 saw the implementation of this decision, as the year commenced with students at Years 7,8,9 at Junortoun, (now known as La Valla) and students at Years 10,11,12 at Barkly Street (now known as Coolock).

PRINCIPALS OF CATHOLIC COLLEGE BENDIGO

Sister Mary Duffy (1983 – 1989)

Brother Paul Kane (1998 – 2003)

Sister Sylvia Williams (1990 – 1997)

Mr Darren McGregor (2004 - Current)

The Coolock buildings are named so as to reflect our religious heritage.

MERCY	Sisters of Mercy arrived in Bendigo in 1876. The Mercy Centre was the Convent for about 115 years. In the early 1990s it was renovated and became the administration centre of Catholic College Bendigo.
KELLY	Brother Basil Kelly was the first principal of Marist Brothers’ College, Bendigo. He migrated from Ireland to New Zealand as a young man, before entering the Marist Brothers in Sydney.
CHAMPAGNAT	St. Marcellin Champagnat was the founder of the Marist Brothers, who have been involved in secondary education in Bendigo since 1893.
URSULA FRAYNE	was the leader of the first Sisters of Mercy to arrive in Australia (Perth) in 1846. Sister Ursula was twenty-nine years old. She also led the first group to Victoria in 1857. She had lived and worked with Catherine McAuley in Dublin.
COOLOCK	Before Catherine McAuley officially commenced her work as a Sister of Mercy she lived with a Mr and Mrs Callaghan in their home - “Coolock”. So impressed were they with her work for the poor and uneducated that they made Catherine the heiress to their property.
BACKHAUS	Father Henry Backhaus came to Bendigo in 1852 and is credited with the honour of being the founder of the Catholic Church in what is now the Diocese of Sandhurst. He is also considered to be one of the founding fathers of the City of Bendigo.
MARIAN CENTRE	This name reflects the devotion of the Marist Brothers to Mary the mother of Jesus, and the centrality of Mary in Catholic devotions.

At La Valla the building names used are as follows:

ST VINCENT BUILDING	The original building (three wings around the central quad) is named St. Vincent. St. Vincent (1581-1660) was a French priest and the founder of the Vincentians. He is regarded as the patron of charitable societies. The Vincentians opened the College (now CCB La Valla) in 1955.
HOWARD OVAL	Father Michael Howard was a Vincentian priest and the first President of St. Vincent’s College. He was the President from 1955 to 1960 and again from 1964 until his death in 1967.
FINN OVAL	Father Thomas Finn is a Vincentian priest and the last President of St. Vincent’s College. He was the President from 1974 to 1977.

TIMELINE OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN BENDIGO

1876	Sisters of Mercy arrived in Bendigo. “St. Aloysius’ Select School” for primary and secondary boys and girls opened in Wright Street with 111 pupils.
1893	Marist Brothers came to Bendigo and took over St. Kilian’s Boys’ School with 170 pupils in the old St Kilian’s Hall.
1897	New building (present Hall and the adjoining rooms) blessed and opened in Barkly Place. Name changed to St Mary’s College.
1901	New primary school opened at Marist Brothers’ College.
1917	Senior secondary boys from St Mary’s College went to Marist Brothers’ College.
1918	New Secondary School built at Marist Brothers’ College.
1930 (approx.)	First Lay Teacher (Doreen McMillan) at St Mary’s College.
1945	Technical School built at Marist Brothers’ College.
1954	St Mary’s College new building on corner of View & Barkly Streets opened.
1955	St Vincent’s College opened for boy boarders.
1956	Purchase of Abbott property (St. Catherine’s) 1986 Woodwork area.
1959	New primary school at Marist Brothers’ College. Purchase of Denderah from George Lansell renamed Coolock.
1966	Science Rooms and Library (converted to Science) built above existing building at St Mary’s College. Senior Secondary Science built at Marist Brothers’ College.
1970	Home Economics Block set up at St Mary’s College.
1971	Library built at Marist Brothers’ College.
1972	Due to declining boarding enrolments, St Vincent’s College opened to day boys. Junior School (Primary) phased out at St Mary’s College.
1974	new library opened, St Mary’s College.
1975	Opening of canteen and classroom block on corner of Wright Street and Barkly Street.
1975	Forms I and II (girls) transferred from St Kilian’s, taught in Boarders’ dormitory area. Coolock used for Matriculation girls and some boys from Marist Brothers’ College and also available to adults.
1977	St. Vincent's College closed, as did the boarding component of St. Mary’s College. Forms II, III and IV blocks refurbished at Marist Brothers’ College.
1978	Two location operation for Marist Brothers’ College - Senior School (Years 10-12) at McCrae St., and Junior School (Years 7-9) at Junortoun (St. Vincent’s College building).
1981	Shared courses at St Mary’s College for some boys from Marist Brothers’ College.
1982	Marist Brothers’ College Manual Arts Wing built at Junortoun and new toilet block at Barkly Street
1983	Amalgamation of St Mary’s College and Marist Brothers’ College, renamed Catholic College Bendigo.
1983-4	Boys in Years 10-12 remained at McCrae Street.
1985	Year 12 located at Barkly Street.
1986	CCB is a co-educational three Campus College.
1986-87	Year 9 boys and girls at McCrae Street. Last house in Barkly Street purchased (car park and lawn)
1988	Two site school: Junortoun (Years 7 - 9), Barkly Street (Years 10 - 12)
1990	New VCE block - corner Wright and Valentine Streets opened.
1991	Convent vacated for School Administration area at Coolock.
1993	New Woodwork and Ceramics buildings completed.Coolock Library extended. Coolock House refurbished. Home Economics moved to refurbished area in vacated Administration area at Coolock.
1993	Demolition of Home Economics room built in 1970 at Coolock.
1994	Development of Marist Gardens.
1995	Refurbishments at Barkly Street: Mercy Centre & InformationTechnology at Junortoun: Administration & Ceramics
1998	Refurbishment of Junortoun quadrangle
1999	Refurbishment of science labs at Barkly Street
2001	Junortoun renamed La Valla and Barkly Street renamed Coolock. New Science Facilities at La Valla.
2004	2 new portables including team teaching room at La Valla. Disabled lift installed on Mercy Building at Coolock. Purchase of Wright Street, subsequent redevelopment.
2005	Refurbishment of Coolock Arts Floor.
2006	Refurbishment of Mercy Chapel. Founders Day celebrated as whole school.
2007	Technology Building opened at La Valla. La Valla driveway sealed.
2008	Opening of the Marian Centre at Coolock.