Our History

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St John’s College, Woodlawn owes its foundations in 1931 to the vision of Bishop John Carroll; the generosity of Margaret Buckley, who donated the land on which the College was built; and the dedication of the Marist Fathers who responded to Bishop Carroll’s invitation to move from New Zealand to build and staff the College.

Starting as an Agricultural College, the first Rector was Father Thomas Segrief from New Zealand. It was Father Segrief who was responsible for raising funds throughout the Diocese to pay for the building of the College.

Over the years the College has grown, flourished and adapted to various needs and circumstances, from being an all boys’ boarding college, owned and staffed by members of the Society of Mary (Marists), to today’s co-educational Diocesan day school of St Carthage’s Cathedral Parish, Lismore.

The College is now staffed by the men and women who are committed to Marian principles which incorporate values of endeavour, humility and discretion.

At the closing of boarding in 1998, student numbers at Woodlawn were only 210. These numbers rapidly increased with the introduction of female students and are consistently around 770.