LaSalle Catholic College, Bankstown

LaSalle Catholic College
Location
Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°54′30″S 151°02′07″E / 33.9082°S 151.0352°E / -33.9082; 151.0352Coordinates: 33°54′30″S 151°02′07″E / 33.9082°S 151.0352°E / -33.9082; 151.0352
Information
Type	Independent, Single-sex, Day school
Motto	Commitment ∙ Confidence ∙ Success
Established	1999
Founder	De La Salle Brothers
Principal	Br Peter Ryan
Years	7-12
Enrolment	595
Colour(s)	Green, White, Black, Grey
Affiliations	Albertoism, Archdiocese of Sydney, Lasallian Brothers
Website	www.lasalle.nsw.edu.au

LaSalle Catholic College is a Roman Catholic school for boys located in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown. The College is a Catholic school that runs systematically with the Catholic Education Office of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

The College is located on Chapel Road in Bankstown near the hume highway and occupies a fairly large site which forms part of the Catholic Parish of Saint Felix, Bankstown.

The main feeder schools of the College include Saint Felix Primary School, Bankstown; Saint Brenden's Primary School, Bankstown, Saint John Vianny Primary School, Saint Mary's Primary School, Georges Hall.

The De La Salle Brothers run the college in the tradition of Saint John Baptist de La Salle.

History

LaSalle Catholic College was formed in 1999. It is an amalgamation of three previous schools that existed on the site including- De La Salle High School (7-10) (1951–1998), Benilde Senior Boys High School (11-12) (1968–1999), and Nazareth Senior Girls College (11-12). Both Benilde and De La Salle were run by the De La Salle Brothers whilst Nazareth College was run by the Josephite sisters in the tradition of Blessed Mary McKillop. There are no longer Josephite sisters at the college, however several De La Salle Brothers still work at the College and live in the nearby Monastery.

As a result of being on the site of three previous schools, the College now has excellent facilities. The College features two full-sized ovals, half-a-dozen modern science labs, a drama theatre, a fully equipped gymnasium used for indoor basketball, a weights room with change rooms, food labs, several modern computer labs, a large library, art rooms, a photo lab and music rooms.

The first principal of the College was Brother Ambrose Payne (1999–2004). The current College Principal is Brother Peter Ryan.

Some of the College Milestones to date include-

• 2000 - The first year Year 12 Graduating Class
• 2003 - Cardinal George Pell, then Archbishop Pell, celebrates the graduation mass
• 2004 - The introduction of Year 11 Girls
• 2004 - The Graduation of the first class group to go through the new college from Years 7-12
• 2005 - The first female School Captain
• 2005 - The first graduating class of both boys and girls.
• 2007 - 5th House, Mackillop introduced
• 2009 - College announces that Mackillop house will cease to exist in 2010.
• 2010 - Significant capital works, new state of the art science labs installed.
• 2010 - A new Trade Training Centre to be commissioned and built. Project and $5m in funding announced by The Minister for Education, The Hon Peter Garret AM, MP.
• 2011 - Celebrates it's Diamond Jubilee.
• 2011 - His Eminence Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney celebrates the opening and blessing at the College and presides over founders day mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.

• LaSalle Catholic College is one of two High Schools in Bankstown and is one of the cities main Catholic High Schools.

Facilities

• State of the art science laboratories and equipment – 6 in total
• Three Computer laboratories with networked access to the school library. High Speed fibre optic synchronous internet link (installed late 2009).
• Several playgrounds – the spacious campus provides Junior and senior College students with their own areas without obvious barriers.
• Large classrooms
• Multi–purpose gymnasium / indoor sports centre – An excellent venue for College assemblies, presentations, exhibitions and other functions.
• St Mary MacKillop Lecture Theatre – accommodates 150 people. Ideal venue for performances, group meetings.
• Library with computerised catalogues, internet access, student computer workstations and Audio visual centre.
• 2 large sports Ovals
• Basketball courts
• Design & Technology Rooms
• Construction workshops
• Visual arts room Music studio
• Hospitality and Food Technology room

Notable alumni

• Paul Keating, former Prime Minister of Australia, was a student of De La Salle Bankstown from 1955–1958
• Michael Hatton, Australian Labor Party former member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Blaxland, New South Wales. Michael has been both a student and teacher at De La Salle Bankstown.^{[citation needed]}
• Ken Moroney, AO APM is was Commissioner of the New South Wales Police in New South Wales from 2002–2007. Ken was a student of De La Salle Bankstown.
• Brent Sherwin, Australian Rugby League player for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs was a student at Benilde Senior Boys High School from 1994-1995.^{[citation needed]}
• Jamal Idris Australian Rugby League player for the current Canterbury Bulldogs team in 2009-2011. Is moving to Goldcoast Titans in 2011.

See also

• List of Non-Government schools in New South Wales
• List of Lasallian educational institutions in the World

External links

• LaSalle Catholic College website
• De La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools
• Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney