Loreto Normanhurst

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Script error: No such module "For". Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox school/short descriptionScript error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Loreto Normanhurst is an independent Catholic, primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Normanhurst, a suburb on the upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1897, Loreto has a current enrolment of approximately 1,200 students from Year 5 to Year 12, including over 200 boarders, and is the largest girls' boarding school in New South Wales.[1] In 2006, the school was named among the top ten innovative schools in Australia.[1] Commencing in 2015, the school reopened their primary school for girls in years 5 and 6.

Loreto Normanhurst is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[2] the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (AISNSW),[3] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),[4] the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA),[5] and is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).[6]

The school is one of many around the world established by the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Loreto Sisters, founded some 400 years ago by Mary Ward, and its Sydney sister school is Loreto Kirribilli. There are five other Loreto schools across Australia, in Melbourne, Ballarat, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

History

Mother Gonzaga Barry led the Loreto nuns to Sydney from Ballarat, Victoria in 1892, establishing a school in rented premises at Randwick. Within five years, the school had grown significantly, and a separate school for the boarders was deemed necessary.[7] Mother Gonzaga's prayers for an appropriate site were answered during a visit to Sydney in 1896, as Mother Oliver explained:

File:LoretoNH1897.jpg
Buildings and gardens, 1897

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This land was purchased, and the foundation stone for the new convent was laid on 28 February 1897[7] by Cardinal Moran.[8] The school opened late in 1897 as "Loreto Convent, Hornsby" with 15 boarders, many of them girls who had come from Randwick.[7]

Although primarily a boarding school at this time, Loreto did accept a small number of day students from the local Hornsby area, including some young boys. Enrolments grew over the following decades; however, the Wars and Depression proved difficult times. Following World War II, the surrounding shire developed and day girl numbers began to equal that of boarders, gradually overtaking them to the present situation where there are many more day girls than boarders.[7]

Principals

Ordinal Officeholder Term start Term end Time in office Notes
Template:Nts M. Eulalia Hyland 1935 1938 Template:Age in years years [6]
Template:Nts M. Joseph Michael Ritchie 1939 1939 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts M. Judith Sullivan 1940 1942 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts M. Thomas Farley 1942 1943 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts M. Antoinette Hayden 1943 1945 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts M. Rosario North 1946 1956 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts M. Miriam Nowotny 1957 1964 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts M. Josephine Little 1965 1967 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Jeanne Cover 1968 1970 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Deirdre Rofe 1971 1975 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Maureen Saunders 1976 1981 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Dian Stuart 1982 1988 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Denise Demarchelier 1989 1993 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Dr Leoni Degenhardt 1994 2008 Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts Barbara Watkins 2008 2018 Template:Age in years years [9]
Template:Nts Marina Ugonotti 2019 incumbent Template:Age in years years

House system

As with most Australian schools, Loreto Normanhurst utilises a house system. The school currently has eight houses, which play an important role in the pastoral program at the school. They are:

House Colour Details
Aston Purple Named after Aston Lodge which became the first Loreto school in Sydney in 1892. Built in 1865 by John Watkins, and designed by Edmund Blacket, it is now part of the Emanuel School in Stanley Street, Randwick.[10]
Barry Gold Named after Mother Gonzaga Barry who led the first group of Loreto sisters to Australia from Ireland in 1875. She began the first Loreto school in Ballarat, Victoria, and soon after followed that with schools in other states.[10]
Kendall Aqua Named after Mother Evangeline Kendall IBVM, a teacher and art critic, who contributed profoundly to Loreto Normanhurst from 1948 until her death in 1996. Mother Evangeline is buried in the school's bush cemetery.[10]
Kuring-gai Orange Named after the Kuring-gai people, the traditional owners of the land on which the school is located.[10]
Maye Maroon/Pink Named after Sister Kevin Maye, who came from Ireland to Ballarat in 1920, and shortly after to Normanhurst. She is buried in the school's cemetery.[10]
Mornane Green Named after Mother Stanislaus Mornane who began at Loreto Ballarat in 1876. Here she met Mother Gonzaga Barry and other pioneering Loreto nuns who had come from Ireland the year before, and subsequently, in 1879, she joined them as the first Australian to become a member of the order. In 1916 became Superior at Loreto Normanhurst, moving in 1924 to Loreto Kirribilli as Superior. Her last years were spent in the Normanhurst community, and upon her death in 1943 she was buried in the Loreto Normanhurst cemetery.[10]
Mulhall Red Named after Mother Stanislaus Mulhall, one of the women who laid the foundations of the Loreto tradition in Australia. Mulhall worked as the Mistress of Novices for 30 years, and was largely hidden from most people.[10]
Ward Blue Named after Mary Ward, foundress of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM). Born in England in 1585, she travelled across Europe, founding schools in many countries.[10]

The houses are an important part of the schools community. To keep the members of the houses together, they make sure the lockers are surrounded by the house mates.

Notable alumnae

See also

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References

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Further reading

  • Meagher, F. 1997. Loreto Normanhurst: A Century of Memories 1897–1997. Allen & Unwin: St. Leonards, NSW. Template:ISBN.
  • Emilsen, S. and Callaghan, M. 2006. A School With Spirit: Loreto Kirribilli. Alliance Distribution Service. Template:ISBN.

External links

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Template:AHIGS Schools Template:Loreto schools Template:Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia schools Template:Authority control

  1. a b Loreto Normanhurst – Information Booklet (16 June 2007)
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