Marrickville, NSW Family Guide

Marrickville has Catholic schools run by two different bodies, and which one you are dealing with changes when you apply and who gets priority. This section sets out who runs what, the enrolment calendar and the fees each school publishes, so a family can plan the Catholic option alongside the government zones listed above.

Who runs the Catholic schools here

Marrickville sits in the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, whose systemic Catholic schools are run by Sydney Catholic Schools. In the suburb that means St Brigid's Catholic Primary School on Marrickville Road, Kindergarten to Year 6, and Casimir Catholic College on Livingstone Road, a co-educational college for Years 7–12, according to the college's own site.

St Maroun's College on Wardell Road is Catholic too, in the Maronite tradition. It is run by the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family and runs from a pre-school through to Year 12, as its history page sets out. Our directory lists it as an independent school, so its enrolment goes through the college itself rather than the Sydney Catholic Schools process below.

When you have to apply

Kindergarten places are confirmed in the year before a child starts, and St Brigid's enrolment page asks for applications before the last week of March of that year. It also says families of all backgrounds are welcome to apply if they will support the school's Catholic values.

Secondary is where families get caught out. Under the Sydney Catholic Schools enrolment policy, the colleges confirm Year 7 places while children are still in Year 5, and Casimir's site is already advertising enrolments for the intake that today's Year 5 children will join. You can apply at any time, but schools assess applications once a year.

Who gets priority

When a school has more applications than places, the same policy sets the order. Baptised Catholic children from regularly worshipping families with links to the local parish come first, then brothers and sisters of current students, then students from the college's feeder primary schools, then children with special pastoral circumstances, then other Catholic, Orthodox and Christian families, with families of other faiths or none considered last. Every family, Catholic or not, agrees to support the school's Catholic ethos, including Religious Education.

The feeder link is what makes the primary choice matter for Year 7: St Brigid's pathways page names Casimir, Domremy Catholic College in Five Dock and St Mary's Cathedral College in the city as the colleges where its students are prioritised.

What each school publishes on fees

Casimir's published fees, Year 7 to Year 12:

St Maroun's publishes its ladder from Year 1:

These are the tuition figures each school publishes and AroundSchools holds. Check each school's own schedule for levies and other charges before you compare them.

The rest of the neighbourhood

Catholic schools are one part of the local picture. Counted from Casimir, in the middle of Marrickville, within 2 km:

The government intake zones for central Marrickville are in the panel above, and the catchment checker confirms which ones cover your street.

Next steps

Open the three school profiles to see what each one publishes, look for open days on their own sites, and check your street in the catchment checker so you know your government school before the Catholic applications fall due.