Marist College Eastwood

Marist College Eastwood is a Catholic male-only high school in Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia.

MCE History

Saint Marcellin Champagnat was a priest who commenced his ministry in Lavalla, a tiny Hamlet in France. He had a special love for the poor and underprivileged, and so in 1817 he founded the Little Brothers of Mary, later to become known as the Institute of the Marist Brothers of Schools.

The first Marist School in Australia, St Patrick's, was established in 1872 by four Marist Brothers (Brothers Ludovic Laboureyras, Jarlath Finand, Augustinus MacDonald and Peter Tennyson), at The Rocks in Sydney.

On 2 February 1937, Brother Leopold Smith and three other Marist brothers (Brothers Ervan McDonough, Loyola Sullivan and Kenneth Harris) came to Eastwood and opened St Kevin's Boys' School, with 100 students. The school was established on the site of Eastwood House, the home built by William Rutledge and purchased by Edward Terry in 1863. Terry became the first mayor of Eastwood and later a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and Eastwood House, with its extensive gardens, orchards and sporting grounds, was the location of many hunts.^[1] The house, built in 1840 and extended in 1863, forms the central administration block for the College today.

In the 1960s the school was known as Marist Brothers' High School, Eastwood, and on 2 April 1993 the name of the school was changed to Marist College Eastwood.

In April 1999, teacher and student representatives of the school, were sent to Rome, to join with other teachers and students from Marist Schools around the world, to celebrate the canonisation of Marcellin Champagnat.

House system

There are four houses, all of which are named after people who have contributed to the development of the school:

• Maloney – Sky Blue, Dark Blue – named after Jim Maloney, first student to be enrolled.
• Elliott – Gold, Green – named after J.W. Elliott, the local chemist who donated 3386 pounds to enable a school to be built behind Eastwood House.
• Cusack – Dark Green, Black – named after Fr. Cusack, first parish priest of St. Kevin's.
• Leopold – Burgundy, Yellow – named after Br Leopold, first principal.

Sport

The school is a member of the Metropolitan Catholic Schools (MCS) competition, where they play against schools in Sydney's metropolitan region. MCS sports include:

• Football
• Rugby 7's
• Skiing
• Golf
• Cricket
• Swimming
• Australian rules football
• Tennis
• Basketball
• Athletics
• Triathlon
• Rugby league

Alumni

• John Filan – former Sydney FC football player, Sydney FC goalkeeping coach
• Dave Gilbert – former Australian cricketer, CEO NSW cricket association
• Gavin Robertson – former Australian cricketer
• Nick Lah (current staff) – Northern Suburbs Rugby Club player
• Victor Dominello – politician
• Paul Newton – painting artist
• Philip Esler (HSC 1970) Professor Esler became principal at St Mary's University College, Twickenham on 1 October 2010.
• Aziz Shavershian – Bodybuilder and Internet celebrity otherwise known as Zyzz.
• Mark O'Neill – rugby league player-Wests Tigers

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eastwood, New South Wales.