Principal's Message
Vision and Mission
Our Vision
Inspired by Jesus we work to bring all to the fullness of life enlivened by the Gospel truths and the example of our founder charisms.
This privilege and responsibility belongs to everyone at Kildare Catholic College.
Our Mission
Guided by our Vision, Kildare Catholic College is an inclusive community where:
- a commitment to Christ and Gospel values are at the centre of all we do
- the Catholic faith and charisms of our founders are lived and celebrated.
- learning and teaching are holistic, inspired and strive for excellence.
- diversity is honoured and we promote respect, equity and social justice
- compassion, optimism and hope prevail.
Our Values
In the footsteps of Jesus and in the spirit of Venerable Nano and Blessed Edmund, we name these as OUR VALUES:
Faith (Our Centre)
Because we believe in God and the call of the Gospel in the enduring spirit of Nano Nagle and Edmund Rice… we are a Christ-centred faith community, inviting everyone into a spiritual journey and a loving relationship of trust in God who loves unconditionally.
Learning (Mind)
Because we believe in the transforming power of quality education… we strive to meet the learning needs of all the students so that every student can expect growth and flourish into adulthood, empowered with a life-long love of learning.
Care/Compassion (Heart)
Because we believe that the Gospel call to authentic community and encounter from the heart can change lives… We act with compassion, hospitality and welcome for everyone in our community, no matter their circumstance or need, both within and beyond the college gates.
Justice (Hands)
Because we believe in the Gospel call to be agents of change for the common good… We act in ways that are just and fair and stand in solidarity with those who are the least, the last and the lost. We act in loving service to others, initiating equity for all, and care for our common home.
Our History
Kildare Catholic College is named after county Kildare in Ireland. This connects the school name to the two charisms of the school which are the Presentation Sisters and the Christian Brothers. Both of these orders have connections to this county in Ireland and strong roots within Catholic Education.
The school was established in 2004 as an amalgamation of three local schools:
- St Michael’s High School (Boy’s 7 – 10)
- Mount Erin High School (Girl’s 7 – 10)
- Trinity Senior High School (Co-ed 11 – 12)
The current site was originally Mt Erin High School and at the time of amalgamation it was also the site for Trinity Senior High School. St Michaels was located down by the Wagga Wagga Cathedral.
Charisms of Kildare Catholic College
Kildare has a dual charism (spirituality) of both Presentation Sisters and Christian Brothers. This is due to the fact of the school being an amalgamation of three predecessor schools.
The Presentation Sisters
This order of religious women was founded in Ireland by Venerable Nano Nagle. Born to a wealthy family in Ireland in 1718, Nano Nagle’s parents sent her to France to be educated since strict penal laws barred Catholic children from attending school in Ireland. She returned to Ireland after her father’s death in 1746; her mother died soon after. Prayer and reflection led Nano back to France to become a sister. Even as she began her new life as a sister, Nano’s thoughts often returned to the children of the poor families back in Ireland.
At age 32, she left the convent in France and returned to Ireland, where she secretly gathered the children of the poor and taught them catechism, reading, writing and mathematics. As Nano spent her days with the children, they would tell her of their sick friends or family members. Nano began to visit the sick and the elderly after school, bringing them food, medicine and comfort.
She often made visits late into the night, carrying her lamp among the alleyways. Before long, Nano became known as the Lady of the Lantern.
Nano decided to open a convent where women could share the mission of Jesus through prayer, teaching and care for the sick and needy. Nano and three companions opened the first Presentation Convent in Cork, Ireland, on Christmas Day in 1775. In 1784, at age 65, Nano died.
Mount Erin Convent was built in 1874-76 and is what is now known as the boarding school and also the Historic Centre. This historic site is where five Presentation Sisters from Ireland established a convent and school in 1876. We also have several sisters buried in the cemetery on site which is in the middle of the main quad area outside the Resource Centre.
The sisters spent many years teaching in the girls school and also at Trinity High School. Eventually due to the members of the congregation ageing the sisters started to slowly withdraw from the school teaching staff and there are no longer any sisters on staff at the school.
The Presentation Sisters went on to found many schools throughout this diocese and in other parts of Australia.
The feast of Nano Nagle is celebrated on 26th of April.
The Christian Brothers
This order of men was founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, was a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist. Edmund was the founder of two religious institutes of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.
Born in Callan, Ireland, in 1762, Edmund came to the bustling city port of Waterford as a young man. He was talented and energetic and soon became very wealthy. Married to Mary Elliot, in 1789 he experienced her tragic death soon after she gave birth to their daughter Mary. Deeply saddened by her loss, Edmund entered a time of mourning. As his daughter continued to open the depths of his love, his relationship with God deepened. In his own brokenness, he was moved with compassion to recognise the brokenness of those around him. He entered more deeply into their struggle and found in the story of Jesus the call to liberation that is at the heart of what Jesus preached and in which his church is engaged.
The Ireland of Edmund’s day was an unjust place where many lived in poverty and social structures deeply oppressed the majority of the population. In 1802 he set up a free school for boys living in poverty. His aim was to promote an education that recognised the dignity of each individual and thus he sought to liberate them from their ignorance of God and of their Catholic faith, while at the same time empowering them with an education which would enable them to rise from the demeaning poverty and sense of hopelessness in which they were trapped. Thus Edmund sought to liberate individuals and indeed to free his society from oppression.
Edmund died in 1844, aged 82. On the 6th of October 1996 Edmund was beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II.
His brothers came to Sydney in 1843 but left in 1848, to return back in 1868 going on to found a range of schools across Australia. The brothers founded St Michael’s High School in … Like the Presentation Sisters, the Christian Brothers also began to slowly withdraw from the schools as the members of the order began to age and they has less men joining the order.
The feast of Blessed Edmund Rice is on the 5th of May.
