Mater Christi College

File:Mater Christi College, Belgrave 1953-63.jpgMother Mary Olivera, Superior General of the Good Samaritan Order of the Catholic Church declared in 1962, “Let’s build a boarding school on top of the hill in Belgrave".{{cite web |title=Mater Christi Student Guide |url=https://pronto-core-cdn.prontomarketing.com/2/wp-content/uploads/sites/1783/2021/02/Student-Guide-CURRENT-Complete-FEB-2021.pdf |publisher=Mater Christi College |access-date=29 March 2023 |page=2 |quote=When Mother Mary Olivera, Superior General of the Good Samaritan Order of the Catholic Church declared in 1962, “Let’s build a boarding school on top of the hill in Belgrave,”....}} Subsequently, the school was founded by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan religious order in 1963 outside Belgrave, overlooking the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria. Six Good Samaritan Sisters initially instructed 62 female students, offering an academic education, "based on the principles of Benedictine values". The site chosen in 1962 consisted of grounds which contained Heathermont, a {{circa|1920s}} guest house.{{cite web |title=Heathermont guest house - later the site of Mater Christi College, Belgrave. |url=https://www.imagesofyesteryear.com.au/products/view/belgrave_135p |year=2012 |publisher= Images of Yesteryear |access-date=19 February 2019}} Sunny Siesta was on the 90 degree turn at the top of Bayview Road and was where the first sisters established their convent in May 1962. A new convent, chapel and classrooms were opened in 1964.{{cite web |last1=Keane |first1=M. |title=Fire and all it brings to mind |url=http://www.catholicreligiousaustralia.org.au/index.php/news-a-views/our-stories/item/983-fire-and-all-it-brings-to-mind |date=20 March 2013|website=catholicreligiousaustralia.org.au |access-date=19 November 2018 |quote=Margaret Keane is a Good Samaritan Sister who worked in secondary education for most of her active ministry. She was at Mater Christi College, Belgrave during one time of serious fires, and remembers being evacuated to a cricket oval and not able to return to the convent until morning.}}{{cite web |title=Informed, Compassionate, Creative: Mater Christi College: a School of Good Samaritan Education Celebrating 50 Years 1963-2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2TeuQEACAAJ&dq=mater+christi+samaritan+belgrave |year=2013 |publisher=Mater Christi College, Belgrave |access-date=19 February 2019}}

Although initially envisaged as a small day and boarding school, the rapidly growing population in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne saw Mater Christi College grow, and today there are more than 850 girls enrolled at the college, including students from several Asia-Pacific countries. In 1989, a boarding house was attached to the college. It closed in 2015.{{cite news |last1=Atkinson |first1=J. |title=Mater Christi College forges ahead with multimillion-dollar development plan |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/outer-east/mater-christi-college-forges-ahead-with-multimilliondollar-development-plan/news-story/ff4fe5fd8321f6ce0903a2e0e83fca82 |access-date=23 August 2019 |work=Herald Sun |date=8 September 2015 |quote=The upgrade also proposes a new boarding house for the school’s international students but Ms Fitz-Gerald said it would only go ahead if on-campus accommodation proved a better option for students (The college's boarding house closed at the end on 2015)}} An international student program operates at the college, using homestay families to house the girls paired with an on-campus English and preparation program. Mater Christi offers a range of subjects to suit students and is designed so that students undertake studies from all areas of learning at Years 7 to 12. Students are then able to select from a wide range of VCE units.{{cite web |title=Teaching & Learning at Mater Christi College |url=https://www.materchristi.edu.au/learning-at-mcc/teaching-learning-mcc/ |year=2019 |publisher=Mater Christi College, Belgrave |access-date=19 February 2019 |quote=Since 1989, we have welcomed and supported students of all religions and cultural backgrounds through the challenging and rewarding experience of studying overseas in a second language....The framework for our Year 7 to 10 curriculum is provided by the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s (IBO) Middle Years Program (MYP).}}{{cite web |title=Mater Christi College, Belgrave |url=https://www.ibo.org/school/003290/ |access-date=19 February 2019 |quote=Boarding facilities - mixed}}

Facilities at Mater Christi College include:

• Full WiFi Campus
• MacBook Program
• Contemporary learning spaces
• Science Labs
• Library/Learning Commons
• Chapel
• Arts Studios / photography and ceramics
• Technology (textiles) centre
• One indoor halls with full sized basketball court
• An outdoor field training area
• Industry standard hospitality / food technology centres
• Outdoor tennis courts
• Dance Studio
• Cafe

• Renae Hallinan, an Australian and Melbourne Vixens netballer.
• Jane Flemming, former Olympian athlete and Commonwealth medallist, sports media commentator
• Radha Stirling, human rights advocate
• Candy Yuen Ka-man, Miss Photogenic of Miss Hong Kong 2009 pageant, Hong Kong actress, show host

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.materchristi.edu.au/ www.materchristi.edu.au] (official website)

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Category:Girls' schools in Victoria (state)

Category:Catholic secondary schools in Melbourne

Category:Educational institutions established in 1963

Category:1963 establishments in Australia

Category:Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia

Category:Defunct boarding schools in Australia

Category:Buildings and structures in the Shire of Yarra Ranges