Xavier College

This article is about the school in Melbourne, Australia. For other schools using the name Xavier, see List of schools named after Francis Xavier.
Xavier College

Latin: Sursum Corda
Lift up your hearts
Location
Kew & Brighton, Victoria
Australia
Coordinates 37°48′44″S 145°1′54″E / 37.81222°S 145.03167°ECoordinates: 37°48′44″S 145°1′54″E / 37.81222°S 145.03167°E
Information
Type Independent,
Day and Boarding
Denomination Roman Catholic, Jesuit
Established 1878
Chairman Frank Peck[1]
Rector Fr Chris Middleton SJ
Principal Chris Hayes
Key people

Adam Lewis (Director of Senior Campus)

Peter Cooper (Director of Burke Hall)

Kathleen Uphold (Director of Kostka Hall)
Years offered P–12
Gender Co-educational (P-4),
Boys (5-12)
Enrolment 2,080
Colour(s) Cardinal and Black          
Website www.xavier.vic.edu.au

Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878.

The college is part of the international network of Jesuit schools begun in Messina, Sicily in 1548. Originally an all-boys school, the College now offers co-education until Year 4, and an all-boys environment from then on. In 2011 the school had 2,085 students on roll,[2] including 76 boarders.[3]

The school is in the Archdiocese of Melbourne,[3] and is affiliated with the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),[4] the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[5] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),[6] and the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS).[7]

In December 2010 The Age reported that, based on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour, Xavier College ranked equal tenth among Australian schools.[8]

Culturally, Xavier was described in June 2009 by old scholar John Roskam as "the last bastion of old-style Labor Right, DLP education".[9] Grant Thomas described the school as 'the best-connected school in Melbourne'.[10] Its notable alumni include the current Federal Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten, two State Governors, two Deputy Prime Ministers, one State Premier, two Deputy Premiers and numerous Supreme Court Justices.

History

What is now called "The Senior Campus" is located in Barkers Road, Kew, 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the centre of Melbourne. The foundation stone of the campus was laid in 1872 and the school began formally in 1878 on land known originally as Mornane's Paddock. Founded as a Jesuit school, it was originally named St Francis Xavier's College. Construction continued during the school's early years, with the main oval added in 1883, and the West Wing and Great Hall in 1890.[11] In 1900, Xavier replaced St Patrick's College in East Melbourne as the only Catholic institution among the six Associated Public Schools at that time.[3] A Memorial Chapel on the Senior Campus was constructed in memory of Old Xaverians killed in the First World War, opening in 1934.

In 1993 a multi-purpose sports centre, the Stephenson Centre, was opened. A science facility and the Eldon Hogan Performing Arts Centre opened on the campus in 2008, with eleven science laboratories, a music rehearsal room, and a 500-seat auditorium.[12]

At his appointment as principal in October 1997, Chris McCabe was the first lay head of a Jesuit school in Australia.[13] On his retirement at the end of 2008,[14] the post was filled by Chris Hayes, the former principal at St Edmund's, Canberra.[15]

Some buildings on the Senior Campus,[16] and Studley House at the Burke Hall Campus,[17] are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Xavier has a long-standing rivalry with St Kevin's College, in legal circles, an Old Xaverian Supreme Court judge quipping that 'You boys who were taught by the Brothers can never aspire to the Supreme Court. Positions on that Bench are reserved for those of us who were taught by the Jesuits'.[18]

Memorial Chapel

An Italian Renaissance style chapel was built in 1928 to celebrate the golden jubilee of Xavier College. From conception to completion, construction took around sixteen years and was led by Rectors Fr. Edmund Frost and Fr. Frank O’Keefe.

The foundation stone reads:

Memorial Chapel foundation stone
AD HONOREM DEI VIVENTIS
IN MEMORIAM SODALIUM DEFUNCTORUM
HUNC LAPIDEM PRIMARIUM IMPOSUIT
RMUS DANIEL MANNIX D.D.
ARCHIEPISCOPUS MELBOURNENSIS
FESTO CHRISTI REGIS
AN. MDCCCCXXVII		 In honour of our living God
In memory of our fallen comrades
This foundation stone was laid by
His Grace Daniel Mannix D.D.
Archbishop of Melbourne
on the Feast of Christ the King
In the year 1927
Burke Hall
Cigarette card featuring the Xavier College colours and crest, circa 1920s

In 1920, Studley Hall, a gift from T.M. Burke, a Catholic businessman, was opened in 1921 as Xavier's first preparatory school. Fr James O'Dwyer SJ, Rector of Xavier between 1908-1917, became Burke Hall's first headmaster, before the campus was renamed Burke Hall several years later in honour of its benefactor. Burke donated a classroom block in 1923 and, in 1926, Burke's wife provided funding for a construction of a chapel in memory of her deceased brother.[11] The campus was extended in 1966 with the donation of an adjacent mansion from the estate of John Wren following his death. After renovations to the original ballroom, which in 1975 became the library, and the original hall had been converted to classrooms, a new classroom block was built in 1987. A multi-purpose hall was constructed in 1997 overlooking the main oval that was re-graded in 1998. In 2002, a co-educational Early Years Centre was opened on the Burke Hall campus for students up to grade 4.[3] In 2011 a new classroom block, the St Mary MacKillop Building, was added and named after the first Australian-born saint.

Kostka Hall

Following the request by Daniel Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne, that the school should have a campus in the southern suburbs of the city, Fr. William Hackett SJ, Rector of Xavier opened the Kostka Hall Junior campus in 1937, with the addition of a second building, Marchwood (also known as St Johns).[11] This was demolished in 1959 to make way for a major building project, including classrooms, tuckshop, and administrative buildings, and a chapel was built in 1967. Science rooms were added in 1969, and in the 1970s the Jesuits bought various adjoining properties to expand the campus. In 1996 a multi-purpose hall was completed with a new arts centre opened in 1998. In 2005 an Early Years Centre based on the one at Burke Hall was opened.

Buxton Campus

In addition to the three main campuses, the school has an outdoor education facility in Buxton, near Marysville, and a rowing shed on the banks of the Yarra River. It also leases the historical mansion Billilla in Halifax Street, Brighton, from the Bayside City Council.[19][20] In 2009, the Buxton outdoor education centre was temporarily closed due to extensive damage from the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.[21]

Houses

Senior Campus

After existing in some form for several decades, in 1977 the system of inter-house sport and activities was restructured. Each house was assigned a housemaster and seven tutors. Boys are split up into these seven tutor groups within each house and the tutor group meets each day with the tutor acting as mentor during their four-year attendance. House meetings take place around once a week, lockers are organised according to house and several inter-house sporting events are held each year.[22] In 1991, the houses, previously known by their colour, were given names.[23] and in 2010, the new houses of MacKillop and Regis were added.

House Named after Motto Premierships †
     Bellarmine St Robert Bellarmine Integrity In All 1998
     Cheshire Grp Cpt Leonard Cheshire VC No Call Ignored 1992, 1997
     Claver St Peter Claver To Serve Not Be Served 1995, 2004, 2009, 2010‡
     Gonzaga St Aloysius Gonzaga No Greater Love 1991, 1993, 1996, 2006, 2010‡, 2011
     Ignatius St Ignatius Loyola To God Alone The Glory —
     MacKillop St Mary MacKillop Virtue Conquers All 2012
     Mannix Archbishop Daniel Mannix Love One Another 2000
     Regis St John Francis Regis Courage Burns Within —
     Ricci St Matteo Ricci To Understand The Unknown 1994, 1999
     Spinola Bl Charles Spinola Always and Ever Faithful 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013

† Unawarded 2001-2002.

‡ Gonzaga and Claver shared the 2010 Old Xaverians Trophy for the Champion House, having accumulated the same number of points throughout the year.

Burke Hall

The six houses of Burke Hall had existed for many years as Hodgson, Ignatius, Studley, Surbiton, Trawalla, and Waverley.[23] In 1987, two new houses were added and with the exception of Ignatius, the houses were renamed.

House Named after Motto Premierships
     Aloysius St Aloysius Gonzaga No Greater Love 1999, 2005, 2008, 2009
     Campion St Edmund Campion The Expense Is Reckoned 1987‡, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2013‡
     Claver St Peter Claver To Serve Not Be Served 1988, 2010,
     Ignatius St Ignatius Loyola To God Alone The Glory 1992, 2012, 2014
     Loyola St Ignatius Loyola And Not To Count The Cost 2002, 2007, 2011
     Owen St Nicholas Owen Unless The Lord Builds 2003, 2004, 2006‡
     Regis St John Francis Regis Your Word My Light 1994, 1997
     Southwell St Robert Southwell Who Least Hath Some 1987‡, 1996, 2000

‡ Tied premierships: 1987, 2006.

Early Years Centre

Upon its foundation in 2002, separate houses were created for the Early Years Centre students at Burke Hall.

House Named after
     Chisholm Caroline Chisholm
     Favre Bl Peter Favre
     Berchmans St John Berchmans
     MacKillop St Mary MacKillop

Kostka Hall

Awards commenced in 1971.

House Named after Motto Premierships
     Campion (formerly Tully House) St Edmund Campion To praise Lord Karishad. 1976, 1977, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
     Claver (formerly Hackett House) St Peter Claver To Serve Not Be Served 1973, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009
     Owen (formerly Maritima House) St Nicholas Owen Unless The Lord Builds 1972, 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997
     Regis (formerly Craig House) St John Francis Regis Your Word My Light 1971, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1993, 2001, 2008

Curriculum

Thirty-three VCE subjects and five external VET studies are offered. Xavier is one of only fifteen schools in Victoria to offer Latin and one of only two which offers Ancient Greek, which it has done continuously since 1878. Xavier and sister school Genazzano FCJ College have collaborated to develop a cross curriculum appreciation of the Classics as seen in both school's Latin as a LOTE option. Xavier, unlike some other APS schools, does not offer the International Baccalaureate.

Xavier has a strong academic history. For each of the past sixteen years (excluding 2009) the Dux of the school received an ATAR score of 99.95, the highest possible. In 2008, 2010 and 2011, three students achieved this mark at Xavier out of 32 in the state.[24] In 2012, five students achieved the maximum ATAR of 99.95.

Co-curriculum

The main activities include Sport, Music, Drama, Debating, and Community Service. Students may also join specific interest groups such as the Chess Club. Outdoor Education is compulsory in Years 5 to 10, and students spend up to one week at the Outdoor Education Centre at Buxton, or an alternative venue, where they are given instruction in a variety of activities.

Community service

Students are encouraged to participate in community service, and a minimum amount of completed service hours is mandated. Each Friday evening Xavier students volunteer their time at a tutoring school in housing commission apartments in Richmond, where many residents are recent migrants or refugees. This activity is completed with students from the sister school Genazzano FCJ College.[25] Year 11 students are required to participate in an additional 35 hours while on a week-long community service placement.

In collaboration with Genazzano FCJ College, Xavier College participates in a community outreach program in conjunction with the combined parishes of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Deepdene, Sacred Heart, Kew and Immaculate Conception, Hawthorn. For the duration of one week, 12 students from the partnered schools participate in a community building program in Bourke, an Outback town of New South Wales.

Debating

From Year 8 and above, students have the opportunity to participate in the Toorak division of the Debaters Association of Victoria competition. The college also takes part in the annual Jesuit Schools' Debating Carnival competing with Aloysius, Ignatius Riverview, Ignatius Adelaide and Loyola Mt Druitt.

Sport

(L-R) The Memorial Chapel on top of the hill overlooking a game of Australian rules football being played on the Roche Oval, Xavier College.

Sport is compulsory for all students at Xavier,[26] and in addition to cricket and Australian rules football, a range of sporting activities are offered including athletics, badminton, basketball, cross country, hockey, lawn bowls, martial arts, rowing, rugby union, sailing soccer, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, water polo and volleyball.[27]

Cricket is the main summer sport, and the school has won premierships in 2009/10 and 2010/11.[28] Two alumni who pursued careers in the sport were Percy McDonnell (1860-1896) who captained the Australian Test team in six matches, including the tour of England in 1888, and Karl Schneider (1905-1928), who is described in Cricinfo as one of "the most naturally gifted batsmen to have graced the game".[29] While at the school, he played in the 1st XI for four years, three of which as captain. He broke the APS runs (1642) and wickets (139) records which remain unbroken,[29] and captained Xavier to back-to-back premierships in 1923-24.[28] Due the performances of David Seal in 1974 the school won the premiership once again after fifty years.[30]

The school's Australian rules football eam has produced numerous VFL/AFL players, and has won twenty-nine football premierships, third of the APS schools behind Scotch (36) and Melbourne Grammar (35).[28] The Old Xaverians Football Club has also been successful in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), winning eight premierships in the last decade.[31]

Performing Arts

Performing Arts have been part of the school's activities since 1929, with Musical Theatre/Operetta's and Dramatic Plays having a shared focus in the college's co-curricular program. The school conducts an annual Senior Musical Production with Genazzano FCJ College[32] as well as the annual Winter Play and Spring Play, which has been performed in collaboration with Loreto Mandeville Hall since 2000. The two Junior Campuses also have Performing Arts and Dramatic programs, each staging a major production every year. With the development of both the Crypt Drama Studio, below the Memorial Chapel, in 1999 and the Eldon Hogan Performing Arts Centre, performing arts at the college has become an integral part in the school's co-curricular program.

The Yearly Senior Calendar includes:

  • Annual Musical Production in late February/early March, produced in association with Genazzano FCJ College. (Year 10,11,12)
  • The Comedy Revue, run entirely by and for students in late March. (Year 9,10,11,12)
  • VCE Theatre Studies Play, produced by the VCE Theatre Studies Class in May. (Year 11,12)
  • Annual Winter Play, produced in late July in association with Loreto Mandevalle Hall Toorak. (Year 9,10,11,12)
  • VCE Theatre Studies and Drama Solo and Monologue Performance Night in late September (Year 11,12)
  • Spring Play, coordinated and held at Loreto Mandevalle Hall, Toorak, in association with Xavier College Drama. (Year 9,10,11)

Past Xavier & Genazzano FCJ College productions

Past Xavier and Loreto Mandeville Hall Productions

Maytime Fair

The Maytime Fair has been held annually in May since 1952 and is hosted by Xavier College. It raises funds for the work of the Jesuit Mission, with support from friends and benefactors connected with schools, parishes, and other communities in Victoria and beyond.[33] The annual fairs have been assisted by traditional sister school Genazzano FCJ College, and together, the two schools have provided a number of student-run stalls such as "Go Nuts for Donuts", a Fairy Tent and face-painting, amongst others.

Each stall and attraction at the Maytime Fair donates its profit to the work of Jesuit Mission. The Maytime Fair consistently contributes over $100,000 each year for work in the developing world, including India, Cambodia, East Timor and Myanmar.[33] In 2008 over $130,000 was raised, which was given to assist in the relief effort by Jesuit Missionaries in response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2010, over $150,000 was raised.[34]

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Old Xaverians

Alumni of Xavier College are known as Old Xaverians, and all former students become members the Old Xaverians' Association (OXA).[35]

In politics, academia and the law, Xavier's alumni includes:

In other areas, notable Old Xaverians include:

In popular culture

Sexual abuse allegations

In March 2013, a submission was made to Victoria's parliamentary inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse involving criticism of the college's alleged history of institutionalised brutalisation and sexual abuse of children in its care. The inquiry is expected to hand over testimony to a concurrent Royal Commission, including allegations of sexual abuse both at Burke Hall and the Senior College, regarding both brutal physical discipline and predatory molestation. Illustrating the enabling environment the college gave to child abusers, the inquiry heard that one victim who reported ongoing abuse to the head was threatened with a strap to the face.[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.xavier.vic.edu.au/the-college-councilors.html
  2. ↑ "About Us". About Xavier. Xavier College. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Xavier College". Catholic Schools Victoria. Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd. 2007-01-30. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  4. ↑ "Professional Development". Victorian Branch. Junior School Heads Association of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  5. ↑ "Victoria". School Directory. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  6. ↑ "Xavier College". Schools — Victoria. Australian Boarding Schools' Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  7. ↑ "Conclusions and further research" (PDF). Publications. The Australian Political Studies Association. p. 45. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  8. ↑ Topsfield, Jewel (4 December 2010). "Ties that bind prove a private education has its awards". Melbourne: The Age. p. 11.
    The hard copy article also published a table of the schools which were ranked in the top ten places:
    1st (19 awards) Scotch College, Melbourne
    2nd (17 awards) Geelong Grammar School
    3rd (13 awards) Sydney Boys High School
    Equal 4th (10 awards each) Fort Street High School, Perth Modern School and St Peter's College, Adelaide
    Equal 7th (9 awards each) Melbourne Grammar School, North Sydney Boys High School and The King's School, Parramatta
    Equal 10th (6 awards each) Launceston Grammar School, Melbourne High School, Wesley College, Melbourne and Xavier College.
  9. ↑ John Roskam: Is this the next member for Higgins?, The Punch, 15 June 2009, retrieved 2010-12-22.
  10. ↑ "The Xavier network". The Age (Melbourne).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "History". About Xavier. Xavier College. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  12. ↑ "Xavier College Science & Performing Arts Centre" (PDF). Catholic Development Fund. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  13. ↑ "Overview". About Xavier. Xavier College. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
  14. ↑ Xavier principal announces his retirement, 06-Feb-2008, Province Express
  15. ↑ "Xavier College welcomes new principal". 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  16. ↑ "{{{2}}}, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0893, Heritage Overlay HO4". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria.
  17. ↑ "Studley House, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0789, Heritage Overlay HO101". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria.
  18. ↑ http://www.vicbar.com.au/GetFile.ashx?file=VicBarNewsFiles/127%20Farewell.pdf
  19. ↑ "Billilla Mansion". 2007-01-30. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  20. ↑ Billilla Gardens, Brighton, Bayside City Council
  21. ↑ "Xavier College - Outdoor Education Centre at Buxton". Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  22. ↑ Sharpe, Graham [ed.]. The Xaverian 2009, 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Wallbridge, Fr Philip SJ [ed.]. The Xaverian 1981, 1981, pp. 86-91. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  24. ↑ "Xavier College - VCE Results". Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  25. ↑ "Friday Night School moves to Richmond". 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  26. ↑ "Xavier College". Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  27. ↑ "Co-curricular Program: Sport". Xavier College. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 "Boys' APS Premierships" (PDF). The Associated Public Schools. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Karl Schneider". Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  30. ↑ Wallbridge, Fr Philip SJ [ed.]. The Xaverian 1975, 1975, pp. 105-6. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  31. ↑ "VAFA Premierships" (PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. p. 3. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  32. ↑ "Co-curricular Program: Productions". Xavier College. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "The Maytime Fair". Events. The Jesuit Mission. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  34. ↑ "Jesuit Mission says thanks". Province Express. 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  35. ↑ "Old Xaverians' Association". Alumni. Xavier College. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  36. ↑ Alison Caldwell (26 March 2013). "Xavier College abuse victim pushes for $6b lawsuit". ABC News (www.abc.net.au/news).

Further reading

External links