Good Sams – Good Educators

When Archbishop John Bede Polding founded the Sisters of the Good Samaritan in 1857, he gave them a broad and flexible scope, indicating that the sisters were to have a Christ-like attitude of compassion for the diverse groups they served.

They were to be compassionate neighbours to the sick, the orphaned, the homeless and the poor. They would, he said, be ready to teach in schools and “apply themselves to every other charitable work”.

From humble beginnings

The journey of education in the Good Samaritan-Benedictine spirit began in 1861 with the establishment of a school at Sussex Street in Sydney. It is a journey rich and diverse. For over 150 years the Sisters of the Good Samaritan have been involved in all forms of education – faith education, all levels of schooling, tertiary and adult education.

The most recent school is the Good Samaritan Early Childhood Centre which was opened in Kiribati in 2009.

Ten incorporated colleges

Today there are ten incorporated school in Australia, each with a distinctive spirit, yet with a common vision of Catholic education.

Sydney Archdiocese
Rosebank College, Five Dock
St Scholastica’s College, Glebe Point, NSW

Broken Bay Diocese
Stella Maris College, Manly, NSW
Mount St Benedict College, Pennant Hills, NSW

Wollongong Diocese
St Mary Star of the Sea, Wollongong, NSW
St Patrick’s College, Campbelltown, NSW
Mater Dei, Camden, NSW

Melbourne Archdiocese
Mater Christi College, Belgrave, VIC
Santa Maria College, Northcote, VIC

Brisbane Archdiocese
Lourdes Hill College, Hawthorne, QLD

Reading the signs of the times

In reading the signs of the times as they relate to the Good Samaritan Sisters and their schools, the congregation discerned that 2011 was the appropriate time to embrace a new and different future.

Following a period of discernment which involved the sisters and the Good Samaritan schools, Institute Superior, Sister Clare Condon, established Good Samaritan Education.

With the agreement of the Archbishops of Melbourne and Brisbane and the Bishops of Wollongong and Broken Bay, the Archbishop of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell, constituted Good Samaritan Education as a new ecclesial entity on July 22, 2011.