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New secondary school in west honours former archbishop
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| By Bernadette Zebec
15 May, 2005 |
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| Br Lelvin with Cardinal Clancy at the school site. |
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A Catholic college to serve the increasing number of students in Sydney’s southwest will open next year in the heart of the Greenway Views estate at West Hoxton.
Clancy Catholic College – named after the former Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Edward Clancy – currently looks like loose gravel, mounds of dirt and a few craters, but by the start of next year it is expected to be enrolling up to 150 Year 7 students.
Cardinal Edward Clancy turned the first sod of the $24 million school last week as he launched the beginning of the six-stage construction of the new co-educational secondary College.
He said it was an exciting moment and that he would always take a special interest in the development of the school honouring his name.
“Having my name attached to a school in Sydney’s Catholic school system is a tremendous honour because I have a high regard for the Catholic Education Office and its outstanding schools,” he said.
Br Kelvin Canavan, executive director of schools for the Sydney archdiocese, said the college would enrol students from primary schools in the parishes of Austral, Carnes Hill and Prestons to keep pace with increasing student numbers in the area.
“We are expecting to have about 1000 students by 2011, when the school will eventually accommodate Years 7 to 12 students,” he said.
Clancy Catholic College will be the third Catholic high school for the growing area, where enrolments are already overflowing in neighbouring colleges – Freeman Catholic College at Bonnyrigg Heights and Good Samaritan Catholic College at Hinchinbrook.
“It’s part of an ongoing response to accommodate the increasing number of students in Sydney’s southwest who want to attend a Catholic high school,” Br Kelvin said.
“With housing more affordable in Sydney’s southwest, many young families are moving out to the new housing and land developments in the Liverpool area.
“It’s important to keep pace with population increases and to meet the growing demands of parents seeking a Catholic education for their children.”
In Liverpool and Fairfield, 37 per cent of the population is Catholic – 10 per cent higher than the national average.
Br Kelvin says 10 new Catholic schools have been established in the Fairfield and Liverpool local government areas since 1985. These schools now educate 6657 students.
About 20 per cent of all students in Australia attend Catholic schools.
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