Our College

Welcome

Our aim at Marist College is to provide an excellent all-round education for each boy. We believe that teenagers have an enormous capacity to absorb new experiences and that as a staff we have a duty to harness this facility so that they can grow intellectually, morally and socially. This is best achieved when the students and staff work together in a friendly and cooperative way, without conflict or tension. We are a Catholic school in the Marist tradition. We operate under the patronage of our local Archbishop and see ourselves as an extension of the work of our parish clergy. Although we welcome children from other religious traditions, classes in religious education are a core part of our curriculum and we expect all our students to be involved in those classes and in other prayer or liturgical celebrations which occur throughout the year.

Like all Marist schools, we place strong emphasis on family, the first educators of the child. When a boy enrols at Marist, the entire family signs up; parents are urged to become part of our endeavour to promote his moral, intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical growth.
Our House System means that every family is known to a significant member of the management team at the College, and we encourage involvement by parents and all family members in the education of the boys. The high-spirited morale of our staff means that classrooms are places of pleasant learning and earnest endeavour. Every boy at the College is treated as an individual and given the opportunity to excel at whatever level he is comfortable.
Our College provides many opportunities for boys to develop physically and emotionally in line with their intellectual and moral growth. We have a long standing commitment to organised sport, to outdoor education and to an array of cultural pursuits. We strongly encourage every student to avail of as many of these opportunities as their time will allow and we welcome families as part of these endeavours also.

The Founder of the Marist Brothers said that he wanted his schools to produce good Christians and good citizens. Marist College Canberra is proud to be part of such a noble endeavour.

Mr Richard Sidorko
Head of School

40th Anniversary In 2008, our College celebrates its 40th anniversary, a significant milestone in our history. We have fine traditions, tracing back to the first Marist Brothers foundation in the Rocks area of Sydney in 1872. Marist College Canberra is in direct line from that initial school which moved to St Mary’s Cathedral in 1887 and from there to Darlinghurst in 1910; when that school closed in 1968, its colours, badge and motto were transferred to Marist College Canberra. To mark our 40 years in Canberra, the college will celebrate with a number of key events during the year. On March 28th, a history of the college, titled Keeping Faith, written by Frank O’Shea will be launched. On May 23rd, a Marian shrine, featuring a sculpture by Mark Weichard in the main courtyard, will be blessed and officially unveiled. There will be an Old Boys dinner in July, and later in the year we will celebrate 40 years of performing arts, visual arts, sport, and technology. Current and former Marist families are invited to participate in all of these celebrations.

 

Overview

It is not easy to convey in writing the distinctive atmosphere of any school. All we can do is to give some outline of the principles on which we work at Marist and invite you to come and see for yourself.
We start from the belief that the school is a community and that a happy relationship between boys and teachers is important. We encourage boys to feel members of that community and to appreciate that this carries responsibilities as well as privileges.
We act on the assumption that students are reasonable beings prepared to cooperate in the process of their education if treated fairly. At the same time we hold that certain standards of behaviour, attitude and presentation are essential if the College is to work and flourish.
We believe that the happiest schools are those where hard work and sound learning exist alongside opportunities for the development of a boy's interests and personality. Our ideal is to work with parents to help their sons become good Christians and good citizens.

The particular flavour and character of Marist schools spring from the Founder of Marist education and of the Marist Brothers, Saint Marcellin Champagnat. During his short life (1789-1840) he established 47 schools, and the work he began was continued by his Brothers, who spread to over 50 countries. The first Marist school in Australia began in Sydney in 1872 and others were founded in quick succession in all the mainland States.