| Motto | Concordia res parvae crescunt 'In Harmony, Small things grow' |
|---|---|
| Established | 1862 |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Founder | The Congregation of the Xaverian Brothers |
| Location | Lower Park Road Victoria Park, Manchester Greater Manchester M14 5RB England |
| Local authority | Manchester |
| DfE number | ???/8602 |
| DfE URN | 130504 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | Approx 1800 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 16–18 |
| Colours | Blue, yellow and white |
| Diocese | Salford |
| Former name | Xaverian School |
| Website | Xaverian College |
Xaverian Roman Catholic Sixth form College is a College in the city of Manchester.
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It lies in the inner city suburb of Rusholme close to Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road. The College's location means that its intake is extremely diverse with many students coming from ethnic minorities as well as from various socio-economic classes.
As well as running conventional AS-Level and A-Level courses, the college also provides facilities for the resitting of core GCSE subjects and various vocational courses. The college also accommodates a group of around 50 students from the University of Manchester taking a foundation degree in dentistry and medicine.
As well as accommodating Roman Catholic students primarily, the College also accommodates any students of any faith that comply with and adhere to the college's policy of Peace and Harmony. The college prayer is the "Salve Regina".
It is situated in Victoria Park just off Oxford Road/Wilmslow Road (B5117), south of Whitworth Park. It is just east of the St Edward the Confessor RC church, and in the Anglican parish of St Chrysostom's Church.
The College has rich and diverse history spanning over several decades, including connections with first Irish Prime Minister Éamon de Valera, Piccadilly records and Mancunian Films, a film production company.
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier (CFX) are a religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The order is dedicated to Catholic education in the United Kingdom, the United States and many other countries. The Xaverian Brothers are, to this day, travelling around the world establishing Xaverian institutes where they are needed most.
The College was founded by the Xaverian Brothers in 1862 and until 1903 was located in a four storey building on Oxford Road Manchester opposite what was to become the BBC Manchester HQ (personal reminiscence of former pupil (1902 - 1907) Reginald Nairn Rourke of Palatine Road, Didsbury, Manchester). On the move to the then gated Victoria Park it was originally housed in just a single building known as Firwood but over time through new building projects and acquisition, the Campus has grown. For this reason, buildings on Victoria Park campus date from 1840 onwards.
Firwood was home to the brothers up until 1993 when the last of them left. It has been rumoured that the first Irish Prime Minister, Éamon de Valera, was hidden within the building while fleeing the British authorities. Another former house which has now become part of the college, Ward Hall, was used as a camp for American servicemen during the Second World War.
Mancunian Films, a motion picture production company, used the exterior of the College in several of their films, including It’s A Grand Life starring Frank Randle and Diana Dors. The film company sold their local Dickenson Road Studios to the BBC in 1954, making Dickenson Road Studios the first regional BBC TV studio. When the BBC left in 1974 to move to their present location on Oxford Road, Xaverian College inherited their lighting rigs, now used in the drama studio in Redcliffe. From 1946-77 the school was a direct grant grammar school.
The College operated as a Roman Catholic grammar school for boys until 1977, when it became a mixed sixth-form college.[1] This allowed a significant expansion.
The college's Ofsted report rates it as outstanding: grade 1, the highest grade of the scheme. The college has a very strong academic reputation in Manchester and indeed the rest of the country with many subjects having 100% pass rates. More recently, additions and renovations have been ongoing. The Ryken Centre and Mayfield buildings have been added within the last decade and provide students with high-tech information technology equipment. The Ryken building was suitably named after one of the founders of the Xaverian order, Theodore James Ryken.
Xaverian College consists of many buildings situated on two sides of Lower Park Road. In total there are 8 buildings that make up the campus. They are; Ward Hall, Redcliffe, Marlylands, Firwood, Xavier, Sunbury, Ryken and Mayfield. The buildings on campus date back from 1840 onwards. The college buildings revolve around a central green where sports and social activities take place.
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