Christian Brothers College, Fremantle

CBC Fremantle
Location
Fremantle, WA
Australia
Coordinates 32°3′6″S 115°45′10″E / 32.05167°S 115.75278°E / -32.05167; 115.75278Coordinates: 32°3′6″S 115°45′10″E / 32.05167°S 115.75278°E / -32.05167; 115.75278
Information
Type Catholic, Single-sex
Motto Latin: Palma Virtuti
(Goodness is its own reward)
Denomination Roman Catholic, Congregation of Christian Brothers
Established 1901
Headmaster Shaun Kenny
Enrolment ~800
Colour(s) Green & Gold
         
Website www.cbcfremantle.wa.edu.au

Christian Brothers College Fremantle (CBC) is a private, Catholic, day school for boys situated in Fremantle, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It caters for students from Years 7–12.

The school traces its origins back to 1901, when it was established by the members of the religious order of the Christian Brothers.

Since its foundation, the school has been located on its current Ellen Street site, in the coastal community surrounding Fremantle. The campus consists of a Junior School (Years 7–10), Senior School (Years 11–12), performing arts, sporting grounds and gymnasium.

CBC Fremantle is associated with Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA)[1] and has been a member of the Associated & Catholic Colleges of Western Australia (ACC)[2] since its inception in 1937.

The College doesn't have an official sister school, but maintains good relations with both Iona Presentation College located in Mosman Park and Santa Maria College in Attadale.

History

The facade of Christian Brothers College Fremantle, as viewed from Ellen Street.

The school's first building was opened in 1882 on High St in the port town of Fremantle under the name Fremantle Catholic Boys' School in a building still standing on school grounds, Edmund Hall.[3] However this building was only constructed because the school had out grown St Patricks Presbytery where it had been started. The single storey building was designed by a former Fenian convict, Joseph Nunan,[4] an architect by profession who drew up the plans for the new school and it was built using limestone. The foundation stone of Edmunds Hall was laid on 26 January 1882.[4] The new school began with an enrolment of thirty primary-aged boys under the management of Mr Otto De Grancy. It opened on 14 November 1883.[4]

A change in the colony's Education Act in 1895 meant that all financial support for church-based schools was withdrawn. The recently arrived religious order of Christian Brothers was invited to take over the running of the parish school, and to establish a high school for the education of boys in the Fremantle area. In January 1901, the first group of brothers took charge of what was then known as St. Patrick's Boys' School. Thirty boys were enrolled but this number soon grew to ninety within four weeks. Soon afterwards, the High School opened with an enrolment of twenty-nine which soon rose to fifty-seven by the end of the year.

In 1905 a Public Schools Association was created in Western Australia which had only four members. Its purpose was to organise sporting contests between the schools but it also created an elite club as other similar schools were denied membership. This school was a member with the High School, the Scotch College and the Guildford Grammar School.[5]

From 1901 to 1913, Christian Brothers' College Fremantle was one of the half-a-dozen schools in Western Australia preparing students for public examinations of The University of Adelaide. Until the University of Western Australia opened in 1914 with two brother and two former CBC students among the first graduates. In the last twenty years the school has become staffed by predominantly by lay teachers, with 2002 seeing the appointment of the schools' first lay Principal, Mr David McFadden. The years that followed saw CBC Fremantle undergo radical changes including the addition of a world-class gymnasium, new science labs, manual arts area, the renovation of the library, Year 12 common room and the addition of the new language buildings.[6]

In October 2007, Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) took responsibility for the governance of CBC Fremantle along with forty other Edmund Rice schools, including Aquinas College and Trinity College[1]

Previous Headmasters

Name Year(s) served
Br. J. Morgan, CFC 1901–1903
Br. B. Hanrahan, CFC 1904–1906
Br. D. O'Donoghue, CFC 1907–1909
Br. B. Doyle, CFC 1910–1915
Br. A. Ryan, CFC 1916–1917
Br L Brennan, CFC 1918–1920
Br P Joyce, CFC 1921–1923
Br B Jordan, CFC 1924–1926
Br L Mackey, CFC 1927–1932
Br L Duffy, CFC 1933–1937
Br A Doody, CFC 1938–1940
Br A O'Connor, CFC 1941–1946
Br P O'Connor, CFC 1947
Br S Quilligan, CFC 1948–1950
Br D Callopy, CFC 1951–1953
Br. A. Kelly, CFC 1954–1959
Br. T. Marshall, CFC 1960–1965
Br. P St John, CFC 1966–1970
Br. D Drake, CFC 1971–1974
Br. P Faulkner, CFC 1975–1980
Br. K McMaster, CFC 1981
Br. P. Kelly, CFC 1982–1990
Br. Alan J. Wedd, CFC 1992–2002
Mr. D. McFadden 2002–2006
Mr. R. Henderson 2007–2010
Mr. Shaun Kenny 2011–Present

House system

Like many other Australian schools CBC utilises a house system, overseen by the Head of House. Each of the four houses is named after a significant figure in the school community.

House name Named after Colours
Patrick Prior to 1901, the present college site was the site of the 'Catholic Boys' new school, now known as St. Patrick's.[7] Bottle Green[7]
Rice Named in the honour of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, the founder of the order of Christian Brothers.[8] Gold[8]
Morgan In recognition of the schools' first Principal appointed at CBC Fremantle, Rev. Brother Joseph Morgan.[9] Red[9]
Samson Named after the late Fremantle identity, Sir Frederick Samson. An early student at the College who, after graduation went on the become Mayor of Fremantle. His family owned the Heritage registered Samson House, which is situated on Ellen street along with the College.[10] Royal blue[10]

Campus

The school is based on its campus in Fremantle. One of the oldest schools in Western Australia, the property on Ellen Street houses the junior and senior school, and overlooks Fremantle Park. The College has several heritage listed buildings[4] including the administration building in which the Christian Brothers once lived.

Co-curriculum

Sport

Since the beginning of the schools' origins, sport has been an integral part of College life with students attending weekly after school sport. CBC Fremantle has been involved in the ACC Swimming, Athletics and Cross-County carnivals since its inception and has had consistently strong results. Annually the interschool swimming team represent the College in the Quad Meet competing against Aquinas College, Hale School and Guildford Grammar School in preparation for the ACC 'A' Division Carnival. Recent success includes winning the overall boys' shield at the ACC 'A' Division Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. The school also won the Wildcats shield in 2008 and the Geoff Marsh Shield for Cricket in 2011.

CBC Fremantle Amateur Football Club

The CBC Old Boys Association fields 7 teams each Saturday to play against various other football clubs in the Western Australian Amateur Football League (WAAFL). The club was founded in 1932 and continues to this day with relative success, winning the A Grade, A Reserves and A Colts Premiership treble in 2000 as well as grand final appearances in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Arts

The arts department hosts jazz orchestra, string ensemble and various other stage and concert bands throughout the different year groups. The College boasts one of the best swing bands in the state and receives many commendations on its performances in the Catholic Performing Arts Festival, as well as numerous interstate and international tours.

Uniform

CBC has adopted a rather distinctive uniform that enables students to be easily recognised in the community. For all students in Years 7–11 the historic 'Victoria Grey' shirt is worn year round, in the Summer terms (1 and 4) this is paired with dark grey shorts and grey socks with the school stripe. In the Winter months (terms 2 and 3) students must wear the Green blazer with matching Green/Gold striped tie. Year 12 students wear the same uniform, with the exception of a white shirt and leavers tie year round. The jazz orchestra wear a separate tie and when performing, the yellow blazer.

Students in leadership positions such as house captains and prefects are given a badge that is pinned to the blazer.

Notable alumni

Once a boy has graduated from CBC, he becomes a member of the CBC Fremantle Old Boys Association.

Notes

  1. 1 2 "EREA Our Schools and Entities". Western Australia Branch. Edmund Rice Education Australia. 2007. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  2. Unknown. "Abridged History", "ACC Website", 23 September 2010, accessed 19 March 2011
  3. Christian Brothers' College, Fremantle, house.ksou.cn, accessed 16 August 2013
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Christian Brothers College, Fremantle". Heritage Council. Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  5. Constitutional Centre of Western Australia, wa.gov.au, accessed 16 August 2013
  6. Unknown. "College Diary". Positive Productions, 2011, p. 4.
  7. 1 2 Portal 2002. Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia: Christian Brothers College. 2002. p. 31.
  8. 1 2 Portal 2002. Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia: Christian Brothers College. 2002. p. 33.
  9. 1 2 Portal 2002. Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia: Christian Brothers College. 2002. p. 34.
  10. 1 2 Portal 2002. Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia: Christian Brothers College. 2002. p. 36.
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