About St Maroun’s College
Founded in 1968 by the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, St Maroun’s College began as a small school for Lebanese migrant families and has grown to over 590 students from more than 37 nationalities.
Small class sizes – the norm across the school – help teachers know every student personally and work closely with families.
“We are known as a community school. The child is at the centre of everything we do,” says Business Manager Mary Flaskos.
The challenge: Juggling too many systems
In 2019, St Maroun’s managed administration, academics, and timetabling on three unconnected platforms.
“We had to do a download from the admin system, then upload into the learning and timetabling systems. It was really time-consuming,” says Mary.
A previous overseas system brought some integration but was clunky and unintuitive.
With growing enrolments, the school needed a more modern, user-friendly solution.
“Ease of use was number one,” she says. “We wanted something intuitive, that looked good, and that staff wouldn’t find clunky. A system that would grow with us.”
The solution: Sentral all-in
St Maroun’s made the switch to Sentral in January 2025 with no phased rollout.
“We literally said, right, this is the system, let’s go live. Being a smaller school, we felt confident we could do it,” recalls Mary.
Sentral handled two months of data migration. Staff completed targeted three-month training, with “module champions” offering peer-to-peer help. A sister school in Parramatta using Sentral reinforced the decision.
“Knowing that Sentral is used in Catholic, government, and independent schools gave us confidence too,” says Mary. “It told us Sentral was committed to improving the system as schools’ needs evolve.”
Now, all key workflows – enrolments, academic records, attendance, welfare, incidents, and fees – are managed in Sentral, with financial reconciliation still handled seamlessly via Xero.
Results: Streamlined operations and stronger connections
Compliance simplified
“Attendance is a legal requirement, and Sentral makes it so easy,” Mary says. “Census reporting and NCCD are straightforward, too – once you take the time to put the data in, it’s very rewarding.”
Student wellbeing enhanced
Wellbeing and incident data are now centralised, letting teachers act quickly using visual attendance and wellbeing charts rather than raw data. “Teachers see patterns and respond sooner. The graphs make it clearer than just numbers,” says Mary.
Plans are underway to include high-needs student profiles, so teachers can instantly check supports in place.
Parent engagement boosted
The parent portal and mobile app mean families have instant access to key updates: reports, announcements, fee statements, and calendars.
“Parents love having everything in one place and don’t have to ring for updates,” Mary says.
With such a multicultural community, support is hands-on: “If parents aren’t confident with English or IT, they often rely on children or a relative to help them get onto the portal. When that’s not enough, our IT team and office staff step in. We’ll sit down with parents, show them the app, and make sure nobody feels left out. It’s a team effort to bring everyone along.”
Efficiency delivered
Sentral sharply reduced manual and duplicated work. Teachers and admin staff no longer lose time moving data between incompatible systems, and report printing is faster.
“Despite enrolment growth, we haven’t needed to add admin staff. Sentral allows us to manage everything smoothly with the core team. That’s a real saving we can channel into teaching and learning,” Mary says.
“Sentral promotes the efficient running of the school. Nobody wants to spend endless hours entering data.”
Meanwhile, the Finance module has also transformed how the school manages fees and payments.
“Managing debtor accounts and having debtor information at call is essential to the financial viability of the school,” Mary explains. “The finance module allows us to raise fees in Sentral, link them to the parent portal, and connect automatically with our Xero accounting system. It cuts down our accounting and reconciling time.”
Excursions and special activities can also be billed directly through Sentral, with payments tracked easily for each event.
“Parents have everything relating to the school in one place,” Mary says. “It’s reduced our reliance on third-party providers to collect money and made things much simpler for families.”
Lessons learned
Although the transition was positive, more staggered training would have helped: “Short lunchtime or 20-minute sessions during the term would have helped staff feel more prepared,” Mary reflects.
“My advice to other schools: plan ahead and allow plenty of time for implementation. Sentral only took three months to learn, but there’s background data to transfer to factor in.” Training is key.
Key to the rollout’s success were the in-house “champions” in each module.
“We deliberately trained certain teachers and admin in the modules they use most. There was always someone nearby a colleague could turn to for quick help. It’s less intimidating getting support from someone who does your job, rather than from a tech expert.”
Looking ahead
St Maroun’s is now focused on streamlining support for high-needs students. Soon, their information will be just a click away for teachers.
Mary’s summation: “Sentral is integral to the operation of the college. It’s quick, easy to use, and it allows us to monitor students, meet our legal requirements, and run the school efficiently.”
St Maroun’s College shows how a smaller school, with the right approach and an all-in mindset, can gain immediate efficiencies and community benefits from a bold SIS change with Sentral.
At a glance:
Location: Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Type: K–12, co-educational Maronite Catholic school
Students: 590
Staff: 47 teachers, 12 support staff
Average class size: 22–23 (secondary)
Quick facts and benefits:
- 3 months of training delivered to all staff
- “Cold turkey” go-live on Sentral in January 2025
- No new admin staff needed despite enrolment growth
- All enrolments, attendance, welfare, and fees centralised
- One portal and the app give parents instant access to critical information
- Visual graphs for attendance and wellbeing help teachers respond sooner
"The finance module allows us to raise fees in Sentral, link them to the parent portal, and connect automatically with our Xero accounting system. It cuts down our accounting and reconciling time."
