Latest News and Magazine
Honouring tradition and character
27 May 2024
Mr John Reading’s connection to Joeys stretches back to his own student days starting in 1967.
An education innovator
23 May 2024
From a challenging childhood to an education innovator, Jojo Yeboah’s path to success unfolded through his journey from Ghana to Sydney in 2008, where he was embraced by St Joseph’s…
Behind the Stumps
7 May 2024
Cricket at Joeys is not just a game of statistics – there are so many stories from across the years. Parts 1 and 2 of our cricketing exploration are both…
Discover Our
Marist Heart
St Joseph’s College is a Catholic school in the Marist tradition. Our mission is to educate boys for life, learning and leadership for the common good. We commit to excellence through teaching and learning, co-curricular and wellbeing programs that identify and nurture the best in each boy.
St Joseph’s College is committed to educating the students in its care to become men who value and nurture their faith long after they leave school. The College is inspired by the life and vision of St Marcellin Champagnat who, in post-revolutionary France, saw the plight of the poor (particularly those who had no hope of receiving an education), and consequently began the order of Marist Brothers to counter this need.
Country Legacy
As Australia’s largest boarding school for boys, the city and country connection that exists at Joeys is entwined in the very fabric of our community. Boys who hail from across Sydney learn, grow and form lifelong friendships with boys and their families from rural and regional Australia.
At Joeys, it is our privilege to be a school where 50% of our boys board, with 25% hailing from country regions. It's no surprise boys have called Joeys home for over 140 years! Boys from the bush have been instrumental in building the traditions and spirit of the College. We cherish our boarding culture and legacy, and will forever strive to 'keep the country in the College'.
History
Godfrey Kelly from Wiseman’s Ferry was the first boy in the St Joseph’s College register, transferring from the Marist Brothers secondary boarding school in Harrington Street to Hunters Hill. The 55 boys in the first intake lived and studied in a temporary two-storey wooden building. Construction of the permanent facilities began in 1882. The southern wing of today’s landmark sandstone building was built first and originally stood on its own. From 1889 to 1894, the northern and central wings were built, creating the beautiful, architecturally impressive school we know today.
At its centenary celebrations in 1981 and until the early 1990s, Joeys was as it always had been – a full-boarding school with Marist Brothers comprising a large proportion of the teaching and administrative staff. However, in response to falling enrolments affecting boarding schools everywhere, by 1996 Joeys was welcoming its first “extended” day boys into Year 7.
Future
St Joseph's College stands alone among the nation’s boarding institutions for how it integrates its boarders and day students. As the Headmaster Mr Michael Blake describes it, the only real difference between the two groups “is that half of them sleep over”. It is a community in which boys live, eat, pray, play and study together. The education and pastoral care they receive is of the highest standard, and the key Marist values of simplicity, modesty and humility are lived every day.
The College, too, lives every day by its motto, In Meliora Contende – Strive for Better Things – providing the environment and opportunities for every boy to become the best version of himself. Joeys is not a selective school. It is about giving everyone a chance, fostering all abilities and believing that everyone counts. Ultimately St Joseph’s College focuses on the young man of substance who will walk out of its gates, equipped with the character to build a productive and meaningful life.
