Mater Maria Catholic College
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Mater Maria is a Catholic high school in Warriewood founded in 1962. The current principal is Mr. Ray Werren. The story of Mater Maria Catholic College began in January, 1962, when a secondary school for Catholic girls opened on the grounds of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School at Narrabeen. The new school was called St Joseph’s High School and had an initial enrolment of thirty-eight students. Like the primary school, the College was founded in the rich tradition of the Order of the Good Samaritan. For two years, two classrooms that had been built by voluntary labour at Narrabeen supplied the needs of the College. Mater Maria College, as it was to become known was awaiting building to be completed on its present site.
In 1964 the College moved to Forest Road at Warriewood. The College had modest facilities to match its youthful size and in the partial isolation of Warriewood, the priority of the Sisters was to educate the girls in a supportive environment. By the 1970s, local population growth had made it necessary to consider expansion of the College. Years 11 and 12 needed accommodation, and the time had come to establish the College as co-educational. In 1979, the College enlarged its streaming to accept its first intake of thirty-four boys. Handball and ping pong joined elastics in the playground; football and soccer teams set off to sport with netball; and woodwork joined cooking and art as a new period of history began. In 1984, students sat for the Higher School Certificate for the first time at the College. The majority of these students had been the pioneers of co-education at the College in 1979 and by then the founding members of the new senior school.
New facilities were built concurrent with developments in curriculum and soaring enrolment figures. The Commonwealth and generous contributions from the five feeder parishes of the College financed five new buildings that were opened in the period from 1974 to 1990. Many people were involved in the College’s development, integral to this was a strong and dynamic Parents’ Association, a supportive and nurturing staff and the Sisters who in 1980, donated the land to the College in perpetuity.
In 1990, Mater Maria welcomed its first Lay Principal, however, the Good Samaritan ministry, characterised by compassion and care for those in need, reverence for every person and unselfish generosity continued as a part of the basis of the Catholic life and mission of Mater Maria. The 1990s saw significant changes in curriculum, pastoral care and management in contrast to the building projects that had been a significant part of decades previous. The curriculum was enriched; comprehensive changes meant courses underwent major revision and co-curricular activities such as debating and musical ensembles flourished. Mater Maria entered unprecedented competitions in traditional and non-traditional sporting and co-curricular activities as the College prospered and developed to the place it is today.
In 2002, the College’s four year strategic plan, covering all areas of College life and activities, was launched as a working paper for Mater Maria along with a new mission statement. In a year of international tours, a netball and rugby team travelled to France and the United Kingdom in the most ambitious expedition undertaken by Mater Maria and our musical ensembles travelled to New Zealand for the second time. Both tours continued a tradition that had begun in the 1980s with the Sisters and students travelling to Japan.
In May 2002, the Bush ‘log’ Chapel was officially closed in preparation for the largest scale building works at the College. The College celebrated forty years of Catholic education and acknowledged its traditions as it looked ahead to new facilities and an exciting future.
You can view this information at: http://www.matermaria.nsw.edu.au/a/69.html
