College Captains

Ella Kightly

College Captain 2023

Lachlan Howard

College Captain 2023

Vice Captains

Shelby Hutchins

Vice Captain 2023

Ben Woods

Vice Captain 2023

College Houses

At Knight Street and the Emmaus Campus, our pastoral care of students is based around a House system. Each student is allocated to a House, the student remains within this House throughout their time at the College.
We have six houses each of which is named after a significant person in the College’s history.

Jaslyn Best

McGann House Captain 2023

Toby Williams

McGann House Captain 2023

McGann House

Brother Bernard McGann FMS

First Principal of St Colman’s College

Brother Bernard McGann was appointed as the first Principal of St Colman’s College for boys in Shepparton when it opened in July 1951. He had been Principal in other Marist schools throughout Australia, including Mosman in Sydney, New Norcia in Western Australia, and Kyneton in Victoria.

With his experience and expertise, he enabled the Brothers and the local community to assist in the establishment of St Colman’s College.

He also held positions of Leadership within the Marist Congregation. He died on 28 January 1987 in Bethlehem Home in Bendigo and is buried in the Brother’s cemetery in Kilmore. St Colman’s College amalgamated with Sacred Heart College to form Notre Dame College in 1984.

Emily Turcato

Jennings House Captain 2023

Klara Fennell

Jennings House Captain 2023

Jennings House

Sister Gabrielle Jennings RSM

Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy at the time of the Amalgamation and one of the First Governors of Notre Dame College

Sister Gabrielle Jennings was a Staff member of Sacred Heart College Shepparton from 1962 - 1968. Sister Gabrielle was a well-known academic and educator within the Melbourne Mercy Congregation and the Catholic Education Offices of Melbourne and Sydney.

She was appointed Congregational Leader of the Melbourne Mercy Congregation from 1978-1988. During this time the Religious Order Schools and Colleges were moving towards amalgamating, to provide facilities that would accommodate co-educational as well as other extended facilities that tertiary and further education was demanding. Shepparton was responding to these needs and it was during this time that St Colman’s College and Sacred Heart College amalgamated. Sister Gabrielle Jennings was a founding member of the Governor’s Council of Notre Dame College.

This was a period of growth within the Victorian Catholic school system and the Sisters of Mercy were encouraged to answer the call by moving from their comfort zones and live in small groups within new parishes, establish Parish Primary Schools then hand them over to Lay Administration and move on. This called for radical leadership.

As Congregational Leader, she was instrumental in establishing and supporting the Mercy presence in Pakistan. In 1991 she was appointed Director of Notre Dame Institute in Karachi and with other Australian Sisters of Mercy, she also established Notre Dame Teacher’s School in Karachi.

Her love and interest in these projects continued until her death in January 2003.

Ella Bathman

Crane House Captain 2023

Emily Smyth

Crane House Captain 2023

Crane House

Bishop Martin Crane OSA

First Bishop of Sandhurst

Bendigo’s first Bishop, the Most Reverend Martin Crane O.S.A., arrived in this thriving city in 1875 when Bendigo was separated from the Archdiocese of Melbourne. As the first Bishop of Sandhurst, he arrived from Dublin with enthusiasm for this new diocese. He knew very little about Australia and nothing about Sandhurst. On his arrival in Bendigo, he gave education a high priority and invited religious orders of nuns and brothers to staff the schools within the Diocese, including the Sisters of Mercy and the Marist Brothers.

Sandhurst had become world-famous for its prodigious production of gold and prided itself on being the most progressive city in the Colony. However, in the early 1890s there was a severe economic depression in Victoria and the banking system collapsed. Bishop Crane who was concerned about the impact this was having on the community and arranged for the commencement of the building of a Cathedral which helped alleviate the effects of this high unemployment.

This was a courageous decision that enabled the commencement of a building that was blessed and opened in 1901 and eventually consecrated and dedicated on 14 May 1977.

Emma Pummeroy

Mungovan House Captain 2023

Alexa Teague

Mungovan House Captain 2023

Mungovan House

Mother Augustine Mungovan RSM

Founding Superior of the Shepparton Mercy Community and also of Sacred Heart College Shepparton

Born in Geelong in 1857, Teresa Mungovan, a brilliant and successful Teacher with the Victorian Education Department, joined the Sisters of Mercy in Bendigo in 1879.

She was Superior of Bendigo Community from 1898-1903. In 1899, she founded the branch house of Tatura and in 1902 accompanied five Sisters of Mercy to Shepparton to commence a new foundation. She returned to Shepparton in 1905 as Superior.

After the general amalgamation of the Sisters of Mercy Victoria in 1907, Mother Augustine joined the newly appointed Leadership Team at Ascot Vale and from there was re-appointed Superior of Bendigo in 1917. She was then appointed Superior of Shepparton in 1923 but died from a serious illness before she commenced this term and was buried from St Brendan’s Shepparton on 16 January 1923. In each of these communities, Mother Augustine worked tirelessly for the growth and development of Catholic primary and secondary education. The College Chapel was named 'The Mother Augustine Mungovan Chapel' as part of the College’s Centenary Celebrations in 2002.

Alyson Claridad

Kennedy House Captain 2023

Liam Sanders

Kennedy House Captain 2023

Kennedy House

First Parish Priest of St Brendan’s Parish Shepparton

Rev Father Michael Kennedy

First Parish Priest of St Brendan’s Parish Shepparton

In 1873, Shepparton was part of the Wangaratta Parish. However with the continued growth in the Catholic population in rural Victoria, the Sandhurst Diocese was established and Shepparton became part of the new Benalla Parish.

Father Michael Kennedy, the first Parish Priest of Shepparton was born in Currans, Co. Kerry, Ireland in 1842. He studied at All Hallows Seminary and was ordained in 1867. He came to Australia and joined the Sandhurst Diocese in 1876 where he became assistant Priest at Beechworth. From there he went to Benalla in 1877 and would have visited Shepparton and been well known to the parishioners when he was appointed Parish Priest. He lived in Nixon Street prior to the building of the Presbytery.

There were already four Churches and one Church-School within the Parish – Kialla, Barmah East, Mundoona and Shepparton, and the Church-School at Karramomus South. Shepparton’s first Church was erected where the current Mother Ignatius Starkie Hall is situated - the previous Sacred Heart College building and the north wall and northeast of the building is part of the original Church. Recent renovations discovered burnt bricks and ash under the floorboards of classrooms.

Eliza Bicknell

MacKillop House Captain 2023

Arsjola (AJ) Cela

MacKillop House Captain 2023

MacKillop

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Foundress of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. First Australian Saint.

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop was born in Melbourne on 15 January 1842 and died in Sydney as Mother Mary of the Cross on 8 August 1909.

In 1867 Mary became the first Sister, and Mother Superior, of the newly formed Order of the Sisters of St Joseph and moved to the new Convent in Grote Street Adelaide.

Dedicated to the education of children of the poor, this was the first Religious Order to be founded by an Australian.

In January 1890, the Sisters of St Joseph began their work in Victoria at Numurkah. Here, Mother Mary of the Cross helped the sisters settle in and wrote from Numurkah in January 1890 of the “humble beginning of a great work.” Mother Mary was beatified by Pope John Paul on 19 January 1995 at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse. Mary was canonized as a Saint of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI on 17th October 2010.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop’s public achievements are historical facts in Australian history but for those who knew her personally, the most striking thing about her was her kindness. She encouraged, respected, and showed great care for people, making no distinction between the rich, high-born, nor the lowly, jailbirds and the outcasts of society. Everyone was treated with dignity and respect.

History

At the commencement of 1984 Sacred Heart College and St Colman’s College which had worked side by side for over forty years amalgamated to form Notre Dame College. The new College was given the name of Notre Dame College, a name derived from the French translation of Our Lady, a title used universally by Catholics for Mary, the Mother of God. Since the two religious orders historically involved in the College, the Marist Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy, are both dedicated to Mary, their common tradition is symbolised by this choice of name.

Catholic secondary education commenced in Shepparton on February 23, 1902, when the Sisters of Mercy opened Sacred Heart College with an enrolment of nineteen boys and girls ranging in age from six to sixteen.

For some fifty years, the Sisters were responsible for Catholic secondary education in the area and catered not only for day pupils, many of whom were from other Christian denominations, but also for boarders. Then the Marist Brothers were invited to conduct a Secondary College for boys and so, on July 9, 1951, St Colman’s College commenced with an enrolment of one hundred and five boys from Grade 5 to Form 3 (Year 9).

Both Colleges began to expand in the early 1960s and extensive building projects were undertaken to cater for the increasing enrolments. In the following decade the possibility of some form of rationalisation of resources and shared classes was explored at length. Finally, in April 1983, a decision was taken by the Bishop of Sandhurst and the Superiors of the two religious congregations concerned to amalgamate the two Colleges in 1984. The new College was given the name of Notre Dame College. This name is derived from the French translation of Our Lady, a title used universally by Catholics for Mary, the Mother of God. Since the two religious orders historically involved in the College, the Marist Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy, are both dedicated to Mary, their common tradition is symbolised by this choice of name.

Notre Dame College occupies the buildings and grounds of its predecessors and the administration centre is situated in the former Convent of Mercy. Late in 1998, Notre Dame College and St Brendan’s Primary school moved into a shared reception area situated between the College and the Primary school.

Notre Dame College moved from being a co-sponsored College involving the Sisters of Mercy, the Marist Brothers, and the Bishop of Sandhurst as Governors to a Parish-based College, with the Parish Priest of St. Brendan’s Shepparton as the Canonical Administrator in 2008.

Following an extensive period of investigation, an applied learning orientated curriculum was designed for our Year 9 students, and purpose-designed facilities were built on the Emmaus Campus. The Year 9 students moved to the Emmaus Campus in 2009.

Our specialized McAuley Champagnat Programme which was established in 2005, also moved to the Emmaus Campus in 2010.

Notre Dame College derives its strength and vision for the future from the long tradition of service to Catholic education provided for over a century to the people of the Shepparton area.


Our Mercy and Marist Heritage

Notre Dame College is proud of its Mercy and Marist heritage and takes great care to maintain the spirit of its founders.

‘We stand on the shoulders of giants’

Venerable Catherine McAuley

Catherine McAuley was born in Ireland in 1778. Throughout her life she was deeply aware of the human suffering caused by social, economic and religious persecution.

Her faith in the God of Mercy and her commitment to the Good News of Jesus Christ, led her to dedicate herself to serving the poor, sick and uneducated of her time. In 1831 Catherine founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland.

Today, Sisters of Mercy, inspired by the ideals of Catherine McAuley, work throughout the world for the wellbeing of people in need.

In February 1902, six Sisters of Mercy arrived in Shepparton from Bendigo at the invitation of the Dean Timothy Murphy. They accepted responsibility for the administration of St Brendan’s Parish school and commenced Sacred Heart College.

Saint Marcellin Champagnat

Marcellin Champagnat, a French country priest from near Lyons, was born in 1789. He began the Marist tradition of education in Southern France in 1817.

Marist schools, colleges and universities, welfare agencies and young adult projects and communities are found in over seventy countries around the world, their objective being to help young people become ‘good Christians and good citizens’.

The Marist brothers came to Australia in 1872 and now have over fifty schools and a range of other projects for young people.

Marcellin Champagnat was proclaimed a saint of the universal church on 18th April 1999 by Pope John Paul II.

The Marist Brothers commenced St Coleman’s College in Shepparton on July 9th 1951 with 107 students from Grade 5 to Form 3 (Year 9).