Santa Sabina College

Infobox Aust school private
name = Santa Sabina College


motto = " _it. Veritas"
(Latin:"Truth")
established = 1894
type = Independent Private, Day school, Co-educational (K-4), Single-sex (5-12)
denomination = Roman Catholic, Dominican
slogan =
key_people = Ms K.Clancy (Principal)
Mary Neely (Board Chair)
Rev Fr John Gibson OH (Chaplain)
fees = AU$7,842–12,597 p.acite web |url=http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/enrolment/scheduleoffees.cfm |title=Schedule of Fees 2008 |accessdate=2008-02-04 |year =2008 |work= Enrolment |publisher= Santa Sabina College]
city = Strathfield
state = New South Wales
country = Australia flagicon|Australia
coordinates = coord|33|52|39|S|151|5|42|E|display=inline,title
enrolment = ~1,400 (K–12)cite web |url=http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/aboutus/index.cfm |title=Overview |accessdate=2007-12-11 |year =2007 |work= About Us |publisher= Santa Sabina College]
num_employ = ~127
revenue = AU$20,091,569 (2006)cite web |url=http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/docs/AnnualReport2006Web.pdf |title=Annual Report 2006 |accessdate=2007-12-11 |year =2007 |format=PDF |work= About Us |publisher= Santa Sabina College]
colours = Green, Rust and Cream color box|#009900color box|#B7410Ecolor box|#FFFDD0
homepage = [http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au www.ssc.nsw.edu.au]

Santa Sabina College, (known as Santa or SSC) is a Roman Catholic, Dominican, day school for girls K-12 and boys K-4, located in Strathfield, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1894, Santa Sabina has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,400 students, with co-education from Kindergarten to Year 4, and girls only from Years 5 to 12.

The College is a school of the Archdiocese of Sydney,cite web |url=http://www.cecnsw.catholic.edu.au/ |title=Directory of Schools for the Archdiocese of Sydney |accessdate=2007-12-11 |work= Our Parishes|publisher=Archdiocese of Sydney] and is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),cite web |url=http://www.ahisa.com.au/Display.aspx?tabid=2230 |title=AHISA Schools|accessdate=2007-06-19 |year =2007 |month =November |work=New South Wales|publisher=Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA).cite web |url=http://www.jshaa.asn.au/nsw/directory/index.asp |title=JSHAA New South Wales Directory of Members |accessdate=2007-12-11 |year =2007 |work=New South Wales Branch|publisher=Junior School Heads' Association of Australia] Santa Sabina is also an affiliate member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).

Santa Sabina is recognised as an employer of choice for women by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.

History

Eight Dominican sisters arrived from Ireland in 1867, to establish schools for Catholic children in New South Wales. Subsequently, convert|6.5|acre|ha|0 of land and a house in Strathfield were purchased from wine-grower, Harold Lindeman. Santa Sabina College was established on this site in January 1894, with seven day students. The first three boarders were enrolled in April of that same year.cite web |url=http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/aboutus/ourhistory.cfm |title= Our History|accessdate=2007-12-11 |year =2007 |work=About Us |publisher=Santa Sabina College] Although the College saw its first student matriculate in 1906, it was not officially recognised as a secondary school until 1912, with the passing of the New South Wales Bursary Act. Organised sport was first introduced in 1918, with Tennis the most popular sport at the time.

In 1936, Santa's most prominent building, Holyrood, was purchased from William Adams of the Tattersall's Hotel. The carved sandstone facade came from the City Bank building in Moore Street (now Martin Place). This building was used as the College boarding house until boarding ceased in 1975. The building now houses the College music department. The Del Monte property, located across the road from the College, was leased in 1949, with the first primary school students taking up residence later that year. In 1950, the owner of the property, Mary Bailey, died, leaving the property to the Sisters. Del Monte was subsequently renamed Santa Maria del Monte. Santa Maria del Monte was expanded in 1968, with the purchase of Lauriston, which had been the home of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney during the Second World War.cite book| last = McFarlane| first = John| title = The Golden Hope: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney 1888-1988| year = 1988| publisher = P.L.C Council, Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney| location = Croydon, NSW| isbn = 0-9597340-1-5| pages = pp. 89-98| chapter =War And Disruption 1942-1945] This purchase provided the school with a sports ground and additional classrooms.

1996 saw the establishment of the Out of School Hours Centre (OOSH), and in 1997, a property at Tallong was purchased for outdoor education. In 1998, Mary Bailey House was opened as an Early Childhood Centre, and in 2002 classes for Years 6 and 7 commenced at the Middle School campus, Martin De Porres.

Santa Sabina is recognised as an employer of choice for women by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.cite web |url=http://www.eowa.gov.au/case_studies/_docs/EOCFW_Profile_03_SantaSabina.pdf |title= Santa Sabina College|accessdate=2007-12-11 |format=PDF|work= Organisational Profile|publisher=Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency]

Principals

Campus

The College comprises five campuses: four situated along The Boulevarde in Strathfield, and an outdoor education campus at Tallong in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The four city campuses are Mary Bailey House Early Education Centre (Pre-school), Santa Maria del Monte (Primary school), Martin de Porres (Middle school) and Santa Sabina (Senior school).

The Strathfield campus includes a 33 m outdoor swimming pool, six tennis courts, three ovals and a chapel. In 2002, a Middle School was established for students in Years 6 and 7. In 2005 the Aquinas Learning Centre was opened, featuring a library, lecture theatre and student services facility.

Crest

The backdrop of the College crest is a black and white shield of the Dominican Order of Preachers. At the base of the shield is the book of Gospels, containing the central motivation of the Order's existence. The rosary beads, held to be Dominican in origin since the 17th century are shown, as is a crown - signifying the joy of eternity. The dog represents the traditional story of a dream which St Dominic's mother had before his birth. She dreamt of a dog with a torch in its mouth, lighting up the world with the truth of the Gospel. The star signifies the compass points that the Gospel is to be brought to all corners of the earth. The lily and palm symbolise a life lived with purity of intention and self-sacrifice that others might live.

Co-curricular activities

Debating

The College debating activities include: The Archdale Competition for Years 7 to 12, against twenty similar type independent girls' schools; the AHIGS Festival of Speech; the Catholic Schools' Debating competition; Schools' Speaking competition; the Catholic Schools' Speaking competition; the Junior Legacy Speaking competition; Senior Plain English Speaking competition; and the Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition.cite web |url= http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/cocurricular/debating.cfm|title= Debating|accessdate=2007-12-11 |work=Co-Curricular |publisher= Santa Sabina College] Middle and Secondary School students participate in social debates with schools such as St Gregory's College, Campbelltown, Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, and St Vincent's College, whilst the Primary and Middle School debate MLC School and PLC Sydney.

Debating and Public Speaking is also offered through inter-house competitions.

port

The sporting program at Santa Sabina includes: School sporting clubs, Saturday and midweek competitions, gala days, and representative opportunities up to national level. Each year the College takes about 2500 sports registrations for approximately 85 sports competitions and activities across 22 sports.cite web |url= http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/sport/index.cfm|title= Sport Overview |accessdate=2007-12-11 |work= Sport |publisher= Santa Sabina College]

Sports offered by the school include: Aerobics, Aquathon, Athletics, Basketball, Cricket, Cross Country, Dance, Diving, Equestrian, Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey, Indoor Soccer, Netball, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Touch Football, OzTag, Volleyball and Waterpolo.

House system

As with most Australia schools, Santa Sabina utilises a house system. In 1997, the College's original four houses (Murangaroo, Lakkari, Timbarra and Kuramin) were replaced by six houses. These six houses have been given the following Indigenous names: Gunagulla (blue), Kurrawa (aqua), Mundawora (purple), Teangi (orange), Weelya (green) and Yetinga (red). The houses compete in swimming, athletics and public speaking.

Notable alumni

;Academic
* Sr Judith Lawson - Dominican sister, educator and former Principal of Santa Sabina

;Entertainment, media and the arts
* Monica Attard - ABC Senior Broadcaster and "Media Watch" Host
* Tamara Anna Cislowska - Australian pianist
* Carmen Duncan - Actress
* Paula Duncan - Actress
* Amelia Farrugia - Opera singer
* Julia Morris - Comedian
* Susie Park - Violinist
* Rahni Sadler - Channel Seven News Reporter and Foreign Correspondent in the USA
* Yvonne Strahovski - Actress
* Simone Thurtell - ABC Grandstand announcer

;Politics, public service and the law
* Margaret Cunneen - Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor

;Sport
* Cynthia Mitchell - Paralympian (Skiing)cite web|url= http://www.meningococcal-violet.org.au/html/cynthia_mitchell.html|title= Cynthia Mitchell|accessdate= 2008-01-17 |year= 2007|work= Stories|publisher= Violet Foundation Supporting Meningococcal]

References

See also

* List of non-government schools in New South Wales

External links

* [http://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/ Santa Sabina College website]