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CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS |
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| CONGREGATIONAL FOUNDATIONS | |
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| KEMPSEY |
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| 1965 | KEMPSEY | 1985 |
| DESPITE THEIR LONG INVOLVEMENT IN BOY'S EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ONLY EVER OPENED ONE SCHOOL IN THE LISMORE DIOCESE AND THAT WAS AT KEMPSEY. IN 1965 THE LONG CHERISHED DESIRE OF THE PARISH BECAME A REALITY WHEN THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ARRIVED FROM SYDNEY TO OPEN ST PAUL'S COLLEGE, A PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR BOYS WHICH ALSO INCLUDED A LARGE MONASTERY FOR THE BROTHERS TO RESIDE IN. FOR FIFTEEN YEARS THE BROTHERS STAFFED THE SCHOOL BUT IN 1980 THE COLLEGE WAS AMALGAMATED WITH THE ADJACENT ST PIUS X SCHOOL RUN BY THE SISTERS OF MERCY AND BY 1985 THE BROTHERS HAD WITHDRAWN FROM THE SCHOOL AND THE MONASTERY THUS ENDING THE CHRISTIAN BROTHER'S BRIEF STAY IN THE DIOCESE. CHRISTIAN BROTHERS MONASTERY | ||
 | CHRISTIAN BROTHERS MONASTERY |
| UNLIKE EARLIER GENERATIONS OF RELIGIOUS WHO HAD OFTEN HAD TO MAKE DO WITH WHATEVER ACCOMODATION WAS AVAILABLE ON ARRIVAL THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ON THEIR ARRIVAL IN 1965 FOUND A SPACIOUS AND COMFORTABLE MONASTERY ALREADY PREPARED FOR THEIR USE. THE CREAM BRICK MONASTERY HAD BEEN BUILT AS PART OF THE ORIGINAL DESIGN OF THE SCHOOL COMPLEX AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AGREEMENT UNDER WHICH THE BROTHERS WOULD STAFF THE SCHOOL. IT WAS TO SERVE THE BROTHERS AS THEIR HOME FOR SOME 20 YEARS. FOLLOWING THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE BROTHERS IN 1985 THE BUILDING WAS USED BRIEFLY AS A CONVENT BY THE SISTERS OF MERCY BEFORE BEING CONVERTED FOR USE AS CLASSROOMS. NEXT |
| THE PURPOSE-BUILT MONASTERY IS A LARGE TWO-STORIED L-SHAPED BUILDING WITH AN ATTACHED CHAPEL. FROM THE SCHOOL-SIDE IT IS MARKED BY AN ARCADE-STYLE CLOISTER (LEFT) BUT FROM THE REVERSE IT RESEMBLES A SMALL BLOCK OF UNITS AS CAN BE MOST CLEARLY SEEN ABOVE. THE PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE TO THE MONASTERY WAS IN THE ANGLE OF THE TWO WINGS ON THE SOUTH SIDE (SEE BELOW LEFT). UPSTAIRS WERE THE BROTHER'S PRIVATE QUARTERS WHILE DOWNSTAIRS WERE THE VARIOUS COMMUNAL AREAS. THE BUILDING WAS QUITE COMMODIOUS AS BEFITTED THE LARGE PRIMARY AND SCONDARY SCHOOL COMPLEX. AN ATTRACTIVE CHAPEL WITH A SHALLOW CHANCEL WAS BUILT AT THE FAR END OF THE WEST WING MARKED BY A CROSS ON BOTH THE CHANCEL WALL AND THE WEST WALL. MONASTERY CHAPEL |  |
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| MONASTERY CHAPEL | |
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| ST PAUL'S COLLEGE | |
| ST PAUL'S COLLEGE | ||
 | UNTIL ST PAUL'S COLLEGE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1965 THE SISTERS OF MERCY HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR BOTH THE CO-EDUCATIONAL PRIMARY SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL. ST PAUL'S WAS INTENDED TO TAKE OVER NOT ONLY THE TEACHING OF JUNIOR SECONDARY BOYS BUT ALSO THE UPPER PRIMARY BOYS. THUS IT CATERED FOR YEARS 5 TO 10 WITH THE STUDENTS GOING ON TO OTHER SCHOOLS FOR THEIR SENIOR YEARS. IN 1973 THE MERCY SISTERS OPENED ST PIUS X GIRL'S SCHOOL ADJACENT TO THE COLLEGE AND UNTIL 1980 THE TWO SCHOOLS SHARED SCIENCE AND LIBRARY FACILTIES. IN 1980 THEY WERE AMALGAMATED AND IN 1991 THE COLLEGE ENROLLED ITS FIRST SENIORS. TODAY IT IS A FULL SIX-YEAR CO-EDUCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL. NEXT |  |
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| (ABOVE & BELOW LEFT) THE MAIN SCHOOL BUILDING WHEN OPENED IN 1965 SHOWING LITTLE CHANGE OVER FORTY YEARS (BELOW RIGHT). (BELOW RIGHT) AN AERIAL PHOTO TAKEN OF THE SCHOOL IN 1987 SHOWING ST PIUS X ON THE LEFT AND THE MONASTERY AT THE REAR. | |
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| THE SCHOOL ORIGINALLY COMPRISED BOTH A PRIMARY AND A SECONDARY SCHOOL. THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED IN 1965 ARE STILL IN USE (BELOW & RIGHT). MACLEAY REGIONAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL |  |
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| MACLEAY REGIONAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL | ||
| FOLLOWING THE 1980 AMALGAMATION OF ST PAUL'S AND ST PIUS X THE SCHOOL BECAME CO-EDUCATIONAL AS WELL AS GAINING CONSIDERABLY IN INFRASTRUCTURE. THE NEW SCHOOL WAS THEN GIVEN THE NAME OF THE MACLEAY REGIONAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL. | ||
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| ST PAUL'S COLLEGE | ||
| IN 1985 THE SCHOOL REVERTED TO THE NAME OF ST PAUL'S COLLEGE. FURTHER EXPANSION OCCURRED WHEN THE SCHOOL BECAME A SIX-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL IN 1991-92 AS CAN BE SEEN ABOVE. TODAY WHILE THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN FULLY LAICISED IT RETAINS THE DEEP COMMITMENT TO HOLISTIC EDUCATION AND THE CHARISM OF ITS TWO FOUNDING ORDERS IN CARRYING OUT THE TEACHING APOSTOLATE. TOP SCHOOL WEBSITE CONGREGATIONAL INFORMATION | ||