Aquinas College, Sydney
Encyclopedia
- See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas College, Menai is a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Erected in 1842 and directly responsible to the Holy See, the Archdiocese is responsible for the suffragan dioceses of Armidale, Bathurst, Broken Bay, Lismore,...
Systemic
Systemic
Systemic refers to something that is spread throughout, system-wide, affecting a group or system such as a body, economy, market or society as a whole. Systemic may also refer to:-In medicine:...
Co-Educational
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
for students of Years 7 to 12. The school is situated in Menai
Menai, New South Wales
Menai is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Menai is located 29 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire.-History:...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire
The Sutherland Shire is a Local Government Area in the Southern Sydney region of Sydney, Australia. Geographically, it is the area to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River...
, adjacent to Roman Catholic feeder Primary School Holy Family, Menai, and to Holy Family church, of the Roman Catholic parish of Holy Family, Menai serving the residents of Bangor
Bangor, New South Wales
Bangor is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bangor is located 28 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire in the area commonly called Menai...
, Menai, Alfords Point, Illawong, Barden Ridge, Lucas Heights and Woronora.
Founded in 1993 by Peter Turner the school is not associated with any particular Roman Catholic religious order, and is run solely by Catholic lay staff. The school's namesake St Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
is a source of inspiration and guidance to all pupils and staff.
The school is under the authority of the Catholic Education Office of Sydney, and is situated in the Archdiocese of Sydney.
Motto and Mission
The school motto "Enlivened by the Spirit" aims to convey to students the significance of the Catholic faith to their everyday lives, and the importance of taking on board the Catholic ethos of the school in a practical sense.Tuition
Subjects offered for the Higher School Certificate include English Standard, English Advanced, English Extension 1, English Extension 2, General Mathematics, Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1, Mathematics Extension 2, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Senior Science, Studies of Religion 1, Studies of Religion 2, Geography, Legal Studies, Modern History, Ancient History, History Extension, Economics, Business Studies, Dance, Drama, Earth and Environmental science, Music 1, Music 2, Visual Arts, Italian Continuers and Beginners, Japanese Beginners, PDHPE, Industrial Technology, Design and Technology, Community and Family Studies, Food Technology, Information Processes and Technology, Software Design and Development. For students not interested in Studies of Religion, a non-UAIUAI
UAI may refer to:* Universities Admission Index* Union astronomique internationale, the French name for the International Astronomical Union* Unione Astrofili Italiani* Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Spanish for Adolfo Ibáñez University...
subject, Catholic Studies, is available.
In addition, the college offers several Vocational Education
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
courses including construction, hospitality and retail operations.
For Years nine and ten the school offers a variety of elective courses to students, including Music, Drama, Visual Arts, Commerce, Design and Technology, Information Software Technology (IST) , Wood Technology, Food Technology, Sport Science, Italian, Indonesian and Japanese.
Sports House System
Every student in the school is allocated into a sporting House which is led by two popularly elected Year twelve senior sport leaders. The houses then compete at the College Athletics Carnival, College Swimming Carnival, and College Cross Country day to obtain the greatest number of points.There are four College sporting houses and each is represented by a specific colour and named after a Catholic historical figure.
- Rice house- Named after Edmund Ignatius RiceEdmund Ignatius RiceBlessed Edmund Ignatius Rice , was a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist. Edmund was the founder of two orders of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers....
and represented by the colour redRedRed is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
. - MacKillop house- Named after Mary MacKillopMary MacKillopMary Helen MacKillop , also known as Saint Mary of the Cross, was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on...
and represented by the colour blueBlueBlue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
. - Nagle house- Named after Nano NagleNano NagleHonora "Nano" Nagle founded the "Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in Ireland . Of the many schools founded by the Presentation Sisters - a number are named after Nano Nagle.- Family background and historical context :The time of Nagle's birth was one of dark sorrow for...
and represented by the colour yellowYellowYellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
. - La Salle house- Named after Jean-Baptiste de La SalleJean-Baptiste de La SalleSaint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle or John Baptist de La Salle was a priest, educational reformer, and founder of Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools...
and represented by the colour greenGreenGreen is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
.
In 2007, Rice house won the swimming carnival, while La Salle won the athletics carnival.
In 2009, Mackillop won the swimming carnival, while Nagle won the athletics carnival. In 2010, Mackillop won the swimming carnival and the athletics carnival is still to come.
Co-Curriculum - Sports and Activities
- CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
- Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
- Rugby LeagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
- Oz-Tag: The college fields both Boys and Girls Oz-Tag teams.
- Rugby UnionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
- FootballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
: Aquinas has successful boys and girls soccer teams in many age groups. - Debating: Annual participants in the Catholic Secondary Schools Association debating competition 1993-2006 on a Friday evening with great success for teams from Years 7 to 12. In 2007 the College left the association and launched its own Debating association with several other local schools in the Sutherland Shire and Canterbury Bankstown regions.
- Public SpeakingPublic speakingPublic speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
:Fields speakers in every year group from Years 7 to 12 every year in the Catholic Secondary Schools Association Public Speaking Competition. - MusicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
: Considerable prowess is demonstrated by the school's Music students with 2004 graduate Vanessa Rowe's HSC Music 2 " Lines Written In Early Spring" Composition being selected for the Encore HSCEncore HSCThe Encore Concert refers to a musical concert held in the Sydney Opera House every year. Performers of the Encore Concert are year 12 students of the previous year who have finished the Higher School Certificate in New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory, studied either Music 1, Music 2...
Production and CD. - DramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
- AthleticsAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
- SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- NetballNetballNetball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
- Cross country runningCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
: Participate in the NSW CCCSA Cross Country events. - Waterpolo
- ChessChessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
Outside School Sporting Associations
Aquinas College is associated with a number of external sporting associations for weekend sport.- Aquinas Holy Family ColtsAquinas Holy Family ColtsThe Aquinas Holy Family Colts Football Club is a junior and amateur rugby league football club that was formed in 1992 and competes in the Cronulla-Sutherland District Rugby Football League; the club was formed in conjunction with both the Holy Family junior school and Aquinas College after they...
which competes in the Cronulla-Sutherland District Rugby Football LeagueCronulla-Sutherland District Rugby Football LeagueThe Cronulla-Sutherland District Rugby Football League is an amateur competition for rugby league clubs in and around the Sutherland Shire district of New South Wales, Australia.The Cronulla-Sutherland District Rugby Football League was formed in the early 1950s following the formation of several... - Aquinas College Cricket Club now known as the Aquinas Comets which competes in the Sutherland Shire Junior Cricket Association competition
- Holy Family Netball Club which competes in the Sutherland Shire Netball Association competition
- Holy Family and Aquinas Basketball Club
School Captains and Leaders
The school annually elects male and female school captains, male and female vice captains, and a male and female house leader for each sporting house.School Captains-
- 2011- Brooke Jones and B.J Kilzi
- 2010- Lisa Celi and Joel Beater
- 2009- Ellyce Horan and Thomas Atkinson
- 2008- Aimee Regan and Bruno Mollica
- 2007- Rachel Collins and Nathan Boyle
- 2006- Ashleigh Fitzgerald and Trent Prasser
- 2005- Brittany Grubel and Justin O'Donnell
- 2004- Amy Vidaic and Roje Adaimy
- 2003- Maree Warton and Stuart Smith
- 2002- Adriana Cincotta and Jason Comarmond
- 2001- Joanne Nitis and Daniel Iacono
- 2000- Brigid Tyson and Matthew Mortimer
- 1999- Tanya Abad and Mark Winder
- 1998- Amy New and Ivan Ip
Archbishop of Sydney Awards
The Archbishop of Sydney Awards for Student Excellence give public recognition to some of the most outstanding young men and women in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney.The awards are presented by the current Archbishop of Sydney (has been Cardinal Edward Clancy and Cardinal George Pell through its history) as each student is presented to the Cardinal at Saint Mary's Cathedral while a citation is read by a similarly excellent student from the same school. The award was introduced in 1999 and has run annually ever since.
The college nominates one Year twelve student each year to receive the award and one to read the citation.
The recipients have been-
2000 - Mark Abad
Lions Club Youth of the Year Awards
Aquinas College sends one Year twelve student as representative of the college to the Menai region Lions Club Youth of the Year competition. The students are required to answer questions of a forum on a variety of social, political, economic and current affairs issues, and then present one prepared and two impromptu speeches before an audience whereby the panel then judges one student as the Youth of the Year for the region.The college has typically had great success and several students have won the district competition and proceeded to the regional and state finals.
The representatives have been-
- 2008- Ashleigh Boyling (Won the Public Speaking Section)
- 2007- David Smith
- 2006- Peter Phillips (Won the Public Speaking Section)
- 2005- Justin O'Donnell
- 2004- Anne-Marie Fensom (Won the district tile and went on to Regionals)
- 2003- Shari Wakefield (Won the Public Speaking Section)
- 2002- Bronwyn Tyson (Won the district title and went on to Regionals)
- 2001- Joanna Icke (First Place Regional Debating)
- 2000- Matthew Mortimer (Won the Public Speaking Section)
Notable alumni
The first Year twelve group of Aquinas students are nearing their 10th anniversary reunion which is sure to provide some information about the lives of Aquinas alumni.Current notable alumni include;
- Sydney Morning Herald journalist Louise Hall (Graduated 1999)
- Entertainer Erin Mortimer (Graduated 2004) Was a performer in the 2005 touring production of Grease-The Arena Spectacular. Also a student of the Australian Institute of MusicAustralian Institute of MusicThe Australian Institute of Music is a private not-for-profit institution originally founded in 1968 by Dr Peter Calvo, and then known as the Sydney Guitar School...
sang the national anthem at the 2006 AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
-Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Rugby LeagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
Test in Sydney, and the State of Origin (game one) match held at ANZ Stadium in May, 2008. - triple jTriple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
presenter Dom Alessio (Graduated 2001) is one of the hosts of the Australian music show Home & Hosed - Former President of the University of Sydney chapter of the Golden Key International Honour SocietyGolden Key International Honour SocietyThe Golden Key International Honour Society is an Atlanta, Georgia-based non-profit organization founded in 1977 to recognise academic achievement among college and university students in all disciplines....
Jarrod Vassallo (Graduated 2000)