Our Story
MacKillop Catholic Regional College began its life as a junior secondary school for girls in 1970.
As the demand for the provision of quality Catholic education for both girls and boys in the local area increased, it was decided that the College would become co-educational and would adopt a new name ‘MacKillop Catholic Regional College’.
MacKillop College has specific prayer, written for our school community of Werribee.
This prayer has been developed with the intention that over time the prayer will be learnt by the entire school community, and as such will be said at significant MacKillop events such as assemblies, parent information nights and other school celebrations.
The prayer is Trinitarian in structure and includes words and phrases important to the charism of Saint Mary MacKillop of the Cross.
The prayer also includes Saint Joseph, who will now be mentioned in prayers said throughout the college. Saint Joseph was a significant influence on Mary MacKillop and was the name sake of her order of nuns: The Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. As the ‘protector of the dignity of women’ we believe Saint Joseph can be a model for us in how we live our lives.
As the College has evolved and grown since its opening in 1970, so has the symbolism of our crest. The underlying theme that links the four corners is our calling to be children of God, journeying towards our goal.
We journey in the security of freedom and joy, under the banner of the Southern Cross. The letters JJJ on the Josephite Cross stand for Jesus, Joseph and John the Baptist who embody prophetic spirit and strong commitment. As each day ends we take all this and go forth into the setting sun.
The colours of our emblem – red, green, yellow and white – connect us to our local community and our world.
The colour red represents the richness of our soil and the lifeblood of birth. the green symbolises the growth and production that occurs in our local market gardening community. It represents creativity, life, hope, compassion and the centredness of the earth.
Yellow, emanating from the sun, is the light of the world which nurtures, sustains and generates energy and warmth.
The yellow sun is the source of life, Christ’s light, the Divine consciousness and faithfulness. The sun’s rays focus and concentrate on the energy of Christ’s light. Truth, purity and strength are represented by white.
MacKillop Catholic Regional College takes its name from Mary MacKillop, widely known as St Mary of the Cross. St Mary founded the Australian congregation known as the “Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” in 1866 at Penola, South Australia.
She was born in Fitzroy (15 January, 1842) and died in North Sydney (8 August 1909). With Father Julian Tenison Woods, she founded a new type of
religious order to bring Catholic education to ordinary working families. St Mary was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on 17 October 2010 and is presently Australia’s first and only saint.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph have been serving the parish of Werribee, especially in the field of education since 1910.
Those of us who face the challenge of the future, look with confidence to St Mary MacKillop for the spirit of simplicity, faith and generosity which inspired and characterized her efforts to meet the needs of the times. We turn also to her glorious patron and ours, St Joseph, the just man, whose strength and spirit assisted Mary MacKillop.
