Notre Dame College, Shepparton

Notre Dame College is a co-educational secondary school of the Roman Catholic faith in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia. It is located on two well facilitated campuses: Knight Street Campus, this houses the Year 7, 8, and 10–12. Then there is the Emmaus Campus, Grace Rd North Shepparton, this accommodates for the Year 9 level and also the Marcelin Champagnat Programme. It lies in the Sandhurst diocese in Victoria.

History

The College initially opened in on 24 February 1901 as Sacred Heart Convent - later Sacred Heart College, a school for girls. A boys' school, St Colman's College (which opened on 9 July 1951), was also built on Knight Street. Sacred Heart was established by the Sisters of Mercy, whilst St Colmans was established by the Marist Brothers.

The two schools merged in 1984 after a two-decade period of expansion and increased enrolments in both Colleges. The new amalgamated school was named Notre Dame College, with the literal French meaning of "Our Lady". The campus of St Colman's became known as "South Side" and is the Junior Campus where years 7 to 8 attend. This is also home to the Mercy Centennial Stadium and the original Monastery. The original Sacred Heart campus is known as "North Side" and is home to students from year 10 to year 12, as well as the administration building, a chapel, the Ursula Frayne Library and the Bishop Noel Daly centre. In 2009 there was a new campus unveiled known as the Emmaus Campus. It is a community for the year 9 students only.^[1] The current principals is Mr. John Cortese.^[2]

The year 2001 celebrated the centenary of the establishment of the Sisters of Mercy in Shepparton. This was celebrated through the unveiling of the Mercy Centennial Stadium.

Affiliations

In 1987, Notre Dame College became the sister school of Notre Dame of Marbel University in Koronodal, in the Philippines.

Notable alumni

• Chris Connolly, Melbourne Football Club General Manager
• David Teague, AFL Footballer
• Vince Lia, Australian football player
• Adam Donovan, member of the Australian band Augie March
• Gary Lyon, Television personality
• Marcus Drum - Australian rules footballer with Geelong and Fremantle
• Sam Wright - Australian rules footballer with North Melbourne
• David McKenzie SBS Commentator Athlete-cyclist 7th stage winner of the 2000 Giro d’Italia.

House system

Notre Dame College operates a house system comprising six houses, changing from the original four in 2004. The six houses are:

Curriculum

School curriculum

The main areas of study at Notre Dame College are:

• Religious Education;
• English;
• Mathematics;
• Science;
• Technology;
• The Arts;
• Health, Physical Education and Sport;
• Languages other than English;
• Humanities

Italian and Japanese are the two languages taught at the school.^[3]

In Year 7 and 8 students undertake study in a number of compulsory areas. From Year 9 to Year 10, study revolves around a number of core subjects, as well as electives chosen by the students.^[4]

There is also a program, the Nova Program, on offer to Year 10 students aimed at those who may otherwise want to leave school. This provides a pathway for students to apprenticeships, the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, Vocational Education and Training and other employment opportunities.^[5]

During Year 11 and 12, there are three pathways available to students:

• Victorian Certificate of Education;
• Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning;
• Vocational Education and Training.

Additional information

The School hosts a Careers Day for Year 10 students, which is attended by over 1,500 students.^[6]

School productions

• Notre Dame College holds an annual production, for which they are well known.
• Beginning in 2005, a second Production was introduced for each year, performed by Year 7-9 Students.
• Mr. Kierin Murphy was the director from 1987–2008, directing and serving the school community for over 20 years. At the end of 2008, he moved to Melbourne.
• Beginning in 2009, productions are being directed by Miss Dayna Tinline.
• As of 2014, they are being directed by Miss Casey Fogarty
• Also from 2009 onwards, Year 7–9 Productions have been replaced with a Year 9 Production, as part of the new Year 9 curriculum.
• Notre Dame has been critically acclaimed for their Musical Productions, as a result of this a large number of Notre Dame Graduates have gone on to professional careers in the Arts.

Graduate Diploma in Education

Notre Dame College offers the year-long Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) in conjunction with Australian Catholic University and the Catholic Education Office, Sandhurst.^[7]

References