Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle announces name of school to open in 2015
The Catholic Schools Office in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is pleased to formally announce that the name of its planned new school, to be built and opened in Chisholm by 2015, will be ‘St Aloysius Catholic Primary School’.
The new school will be a two stream primary school (K – 6) with an eventual capacity of 420 students and has been named after the patron saint of young students and youth generally, St Aloysius Gonzaga.
Bishop Bill Wright said he’s delighted to officially be able to announce the name of the new school.
“My preference in naming the new school was definitely for adopting the name of an individual ‘patron’, someone with a real life history and story, who might hopefully become a bit of a model or inspiration to future students,” Bishop Bill said.
Bishop Bill also explained that the name received quite strong advocacy from a number of women who were consulted during the process of deciding on the new name.
“That suggestion was pleasing to me, since I’d done most of my schooling at St Aloysius College, but its aptness to a school in Chisholm or the Diocese was not otherwise immediately apparent to me before these discussions,” he said.
“They pointed out that the diocese had had a ‘St Aloysius School’, at Hamilton, but the name had disappeared from the diocese with its closure. Further, the Hamilton St Aloysius had been conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, who had also been the pioneers of Catholic education in the schools of the district surrounding Chisholm. In short, they rather liked the idea of ‘bringing back Aloysius’ and, at the same time, acknowledging the Mercy tradition in the region. This, combined with the fact that St Aloysius is the patron saint of young students and youth, meant that I too was happy to support this being the new name,” he said.
The site of the new school is on a parcel of land within the Waterford County residential subdivision at Chisholm, Thornton North and St Aloysius Catholic Primary School is due to open in 2015.
Director of Catholic Schools, Mr Ray Collins, said he supports Bishop Bill’s decision to name the new school St Aloysius Catholic Primary School and is excited about the prospect of offering quality Catholic education to even more people in the Maitland and Chisholm region.
“On account of his youthful religious conviction, I think it is very fitting that our new school be named after the patron saint of young students and I welcome the announcement that our newest school will be called ‘St Aloysius Catholic Primary School’,” Mr Collins said.
“I look forward to our future students learning more about, and being inspired by, St Aloysius, and I am especially proud to be able to share this news with parents who have already enrolled their children at the new school,” he said.
The Catholic Schools Office is currently taking enrolments now for St Aloysius Catholic Primary School for 2015 and Ray Collins is encouraging parents to register their interest sooner rather than later because of the strong interest in the school.
“We have had strong interest from the Maitland community which are excited about the prospect of another Catholic school being built in the region,” he said. “However whilst 2015 may seem like a fair way off, I encourage parents who may be considering enrolling their children at St Aloysius Catholic Primary School to do so now. We are currently taking enrolments but we also encourage parents to give us a call if they have any questions about the new school and what it will offer.”
INTERESTED IN HAVING YOUR CHILD ATTEND ST ALOYSIUS CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL? ENROL NOW!
Parents or carers interested in enrolling their child/ren at St Aloysius Catholic Primary School, Chisholm in 2015 are encouraged to enrol now by phoning 4979 1207.
