St Mary’s Cathedral College welcomes first girls through the gates as co-ed experiment begins

The inner city Catholic school once attended by the Prime Minister has welcomed girls through its gates for the first time in decades – and there’s already a waitlist for next year.

The inner city Catholic school once attended by the Prime Minister has welcomed girls through its gates for the first time in decades.

The staggered transition of St Mary’s Cathedral College from an all-boys’ school to a co-ed one officially began on Tuesday with 60 girls joining a Year 7 cohort of 156 students.

All other grades will return to school on Wednesday, precisely one year to the day the College announced the move which includes expanding the junior school from Year 3 and Year 4 to Kindergarten to Year 4.

St Mary’s, which first opened in 1824, is one of the first cabs off the ranks in transitioning from boys’ schooling to coeducation, setting a precedent for others enrolling girls from 2026 including Newington College and Cranbrook School.

Unlike the two independent private schools and fellow diocesan Catholic school St Paul’s Manly – which also goes co-ed this year – at St Mary’s male-only cohorts will be phased out slowly as the current crop of Year 7s rise through the grades, rather than having girls immediately introduced in the senior years.

Sisters Alexandra Dolan-Gold (Year 7) Elizabeth Dolan-Gold (Kindergarten) and Charlotte Dolan-Gold (Year 4) will be among the school's first female students since last century. Picture: Richard Dobson

The school will have a total enrolment of 947 students across all grades in 2025, up from 814 last year, and is “full” for Years 5 and 6 with more prospective students on a waitlist.

Principal Kerrie McDiarmid said “it’s a historic moment” for a school which hasn’t had female pupils since 1967 – years before current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese enrolled.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese takes a selfie with principal Kerrie McDiarmid (right) and students at his alma mater, St Mary's Cathedral College.

For the next two years male senior students in Year 9 to 12 will have a “home base” converted office block five minutes away on William Street, acquired by the Sydney Archdiocese as a second campus for the growing school.

“Any change in a school context requires you to ready all of the people in the school for that, and we’ve got a unique ‘phronesis’ program, a character education program,” Ms McDiarmid said.

“We’ve been doing that work for a couple of years now, readying students for the co-ed context.

“The dual campus allows us to have a smooth transition … but students will be moving across campuses and engaging with each other, which I think will help with that readiness.”

52-58 William St, Woolloomooloo is the site of a $19m extension of St Mary's Cathedral College in Sydney. Picture: Woods Bagot

Asked whether school leaders will need to work to undo the machismo of an all-boys environment, Ms McDiarmid said the school’s “Catholic values” will continue to “dominate who we are and what we do”.

“Respect is at the heart of our environment – it always has been,” she said.

Maria Piccolo is starting Year 7at St Mary's Cathedral College in the Sydney CBD, joining older brother Jonathan Piccolo (Year 10). Picture: Richard Dobson

Inner west couple Fiona and David Piccolo considered sending their 12-year-old daughter to girls’ schools Domremy College or St Ursula’s College, but ultimately it was at Maria’s urging that she will be joined by her two older brothers, existing St Mary’s pupils Jonathan and Oscar, on Wednesday.

“To be the first group is a bit challenging, because you’ve got to set the path for other girls,” father of seven Mr Piccolo said.

“If it was well-established we probably wouldn’t have had any doubt about sending her here … you just think, ‘are there other girls that she can look up to’? But someone has to be the first.”

The Dolan-Gold sisters at Year 7 orientation at St Mary's Cathedral College on Tuesday. Picture: Richard Dobson

The Dolan-Gold family are enrolling three girls in the experiment after returning to Sydney following two years living in New York.

Dad Dave Dolan said despite attending a boys’ school himself, he was eager for his daughters to have a mixed gender education.

“We wanted them to go to a Catholic school … (and) we were looking for a school that was co-ed, but there weren’t many that fit all the boxes – we were quite lucky, really, that this one flipped over at the right time,” he said.

“I think it helps that it’s an arts and music school, because the focus is on the liberal arts and that’s something really unifying that boys and girls can do together,” mum Emma Gold added.