Santa Maria College

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Santa Maria College is a Years 5 – 12 Catholic school for girls, both day and residential, offering a quality education inspired by Jesus Christ and the vision of Catherine McAuley, with a commitment to living out the Mercy values of:
Hospitality: To show hospitality is to respect the dignity of each person valuing them for who they are. We do this by welcoming the stranger and creating a friendly space where everyone is included.
Compassion: To be compassionate is to feel for others. We do this by keeping our hearts open to the cause of all people and reaching out to them in a spirit of mercy.
Justice: To be just is to be concerned about achieving fairness for all. We do this by promoting the dignity of all people and upholding their rights as human beings.
Service: To give service is to want to make a positive difference or contribution to the lives of others. We do this by being open, sensitive, and responsive to the needs of all people.
Excellence: To excel is to strive to do everything to the highest possible standard to which we are capable. We do this by using our gifts and talents to their fullest at all times. The College’s Mercy heritage and history go back to the arrival of seven Sisters of Mercy in Perth in 1846. They were led by Mother Ursula Frayne and proved themselves to be resourceful, resilient, and strong women. The Sisters opened their first school on St George’s Terrace in February 1846. As enrolments increased, school buildings, including a boarding school, were built on the grounds of the present Mercedes College.
As the demand for boarding places increased from country families, the Mercy Superior at the time, Mother Brigid McDonald, and her Council resolved to build a new ladies’ college for boarding and day students in the bushland in Attadale. Santa Maria College opened its doors in 1938.
The post-war period brought with it a rapid expansion in residential development around the College. As a result, there was a growth in student numbers and the student population at Santa Maria College changed from primary borders to a majority of day students.
Today Santa Maria College is a vibrant community of over 1200 students from Years 5 to 12. We enjoy beautiful, modern facilities and lead in the areas of technology and innovative education. However, we retain the vision of those early Sisters of Mercy and strive to provide a nurturing environment for a holistic, values-laden, education.
At Santa Maria College, all that we do is underpinned by a deep commitment to our Catholic faith. We believe that each individual, every lived experience, and a broad range of perspectives should be respected and cherished. This spirit of inclusion and our commitment to understanding drive the Santa Maria approach to educate and nurture the women of the future.
The vision of Sister Catherine McAuley led to the founding of the College in 1938. Since then, the traditions of her order, the Sisters of Mercy, have enabled Santa Maria girls to thrive at school and beyond. Hospitality, Compassion, Justice, Service, and Excellence are our guiding principles at Santa Maria College. We believe that our values reflect not only the principles of our faith, but the values wider society holds dear.
A practical partner to Religious Education, the Service Program teaches girls the value – to themselves and others – of making a positive difference in the lives of others. Throughout their school journey, students are required to serve their families, their school, and the broader community. Girls are asked to chronicle their service to create insights into the spiritual and psychological dimensions of making a positive difference in the lives of others.
A range of volunteering activities and groups enable our girls to become, as a reflection of their faith, well-rounded, caring, and productive members of the community. Wherever an individual’s path might lead, the values instilled by engagement with this program never lose their relevance.
A sense of self-respect and an instinct for empathy are crucial to the development of resilient, capable, generous, productive people. Woven into the student experience at Santa Maria is a well-resourced approach to pastoral care, the Mercy Wellbeing Program. The Mercy Wellbeing Program is integrated with our academic work, with our Service Program, and with our faith.
We understand that people who value themselves understand the value of others. We support our girls throughout their school years to ensure they enter the wider world with self-confidence balanced by a sense of respect and concern for others.

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