Trisha Shetty (Editor)

De La Salle College Ashfield

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Established
  
1916

Vice Principal
  
Ellen McGovern

Founded
  
1916

Principal
  
Steven Kennaugh

Phone
  
+61 2 9797 3200

De La Salle College Ashfield

Type
  
Private, Single-sex, Secondary, Day school

Motto
  
Latin: Esto Vir("To be the best man you can be" translated directly from Latin as "Be a man")

Denomination
  
Roman Catholic, De La Salle Brothers

Address
  
24 Bland St, Ashfield NSW 2131, Australia

De la salle college ashfield


De La Salle College is a Catholic systemic, secondary, day school for boys', located in Ashfield, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Contents

Established in 1916 by the De La Salle Brothers and Vincentian Fathers, the college caters to 7 to 12 students from the inner-west Parishes of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The College is under the patronage of the Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell.

De La Salle College is one of 18 Lasallian Schools in Australia, and in the 1970s became the first Catholic High School in Australia to have a lay headmaster.

The school is affiliated with the Catholic Secondary Schools Association NSW/ACT, and the Metropolitan Catholic Colleges Sports Association (MCC).

History

The foundation stone for the school was laid on 10 December 1916. Upon completion a year later, the school consisted of just three classrooms, and was located behind a boarding house that was to become a monastery for the six De La Salle brothers who were given the task of educating Catholic boys of the Ashfield parish.

Despite the effects of the Great Depression, enrolments continued to increase, with 300 on the role in 1931. Through the efforts of Father Macken, a provincial of the Vincentian Fathers, the College established a separate primary school in 1934. Further, a "tech" was established in 1937 for boys who would not be going on to university or office jobs. The two-stream system of "pros" and "techs" continued until 1955.

Lay staff were employed in 1956 as the number of brothers had declined. The 1960s saw further change with the Wyndham scheme introduced in 1962 necessitating the addition of new subjects to the curriculum, and thus requiring more specialist rooms. With support from the parish and the Old Boys' Union, the principal of the time, Br Peter, began to expand the College. The main building of the College opened in 1966 during the celebration of its Golden Jubilee.

In 1972, Peter Donnan became the first lay principal of the school, thus making the school the first Catholic high school in Australia administered by a lay principal.

The College's primary section closed in 1988.

Sport

De La Salle College is a member of the Metropolitan Catholic Colleges Sports Association (MCC), and competes in a range of sports including athletics, cricket, cross country, basketball, golf, rugby league, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis, touch football and volleyball.

Through MCC, the college competes against schools such as Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham, LaSalle Catholic College, Bankstown, Marcellin College Randwick, Marist College Kogarah, Champagnat Catholic College Pagewood, Holy Cross College Ryde and Marist College North Shore. Sport has traditionally been an important part of college life, notwithstanding the school's own limited sporting facilities.

The college also excels in debating and public speaking, through the Catholic Schools Debating Association and other public speaking competitions.

Notable alumni

  • Mike Bailey – TV Weatherman for the ABC and Radio Presenter; ALP candidate for the seat of North Sydney in the 2007 Federal Election (also attended De La Salle Bankstown)
  • Colin William Brooks – Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (ALP) for Bundoora
  • Pat Drummond – Singer songwriter
  • Michael Maher – Politician, sometime MLA for Drummoyne and MHR for Lowe
  • John Sidoti – Member for Drummoyne (2011 – present)
  • Paul Whelan – Former NSW State Politician
  • Justice Woodward – Judge of the Supreme Court
  • References

    De La Salle College Ashfield Wikipedia