Merici College

Merici College
Established	1959
School type	High school
Principal	Catherine Rey
Enrolment	approx. 1000
Mascot	n/a
Homepage	School website

Merici College is a Catholic girls' high school located in the suburb of Braddon in Canberra, Australia. It caters for secondary years 7 to 10, and college years 11 and 12. The Principal of the school is Mrs Catherine Rey.

History

Merici is the oldest Catholic girls' school in Canberra; it was founded in 1959 as Canberra Catholic Girls' High School. At the time, although there were several Catholic boys schools in the area, there was no equivalent institution for female Catholic students. Merici is unusual among Catholic schools in that rather than being established by a single order of nuns, it was originally intended as an archdiocesan school and staffed by nuns from six different orders: The Sisters of Mercy, The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the Presentation Sisters, the Ursuline Sisters, the Brigidines and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. The school was renamed Merici College in 1983 as part of its Silver Jubilee celebration in honour of St Angela Merici the founder of the Ursuline Order.

Pastoral Care System

Merici has a vertical pastoral care system which replaces the more usual Australian system of having a year coordinator assigned to each year group. Each student, on enrolment to the school is assigned to one of six houses, each associated with one of the founding religious orders. (The Houses are: Balgo [yellow], Brescia [purple], Ningil [red], Penola [white and black], Seiwa [blue] and Tullow [green]). The students remain in this house throughout their time in the college. They are also assigned to a vertically integrated Pastoral Care class consisting of students from all year levels in the same house. The House Coordinator and the Pastoral Care teacher for each student remain constant (excepting normal staff apple turnover) throughout the student's time at the College. This allows for continuity in dealing with students and the development of strong relationships between parents and these key teachers at the school.

Community involvement

Merici College has an active St Vincent de Paul Conference operating from the school who are involved in Charitable collection and fund raising as well as supporting the Canberra Night Patrol which works with the homeless in the Canberra area.

Every year Merici attends sporting events held by the different Canberra sporting bodies. The events it participates in include soccer, softball, netball, hockey, basketball, volleyball, swimming, touch-football, golf, tennis, and snow-sports.

Merici College is the sister school of Marist College Canberra, the two schools are closely linked sharing many common activities. In the past these activities have included Duke of Edinburgh and ski and snowboarding trips. More recently, they have included year-specific socialising activities.

Notable alumnae

• Rosemary Follett AO - was the first Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, and was the first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory.

• Ellie Mobbs - 2Day FM radio host.