Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox school

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 a co-education Kindergarten, and an all-boys environment from Foundation to Year 12. In 2011, the school had 2,085 students on roll,<ref name=About>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> including 76 boarders.<ref name=ArchdioceseXavier/>

The school is in the Archdiocese of Melbourne,<ref name= ArchdioceseXavier>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and is affiliated with the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),<ref name=JSHAA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),<ref name=AHISA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),<ref name=ABSA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS).<ref name=APS>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In December 2010, The Age reported that, on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour, Xavier College ranked equal tenth among Australian schools.<ref>Template:Cite news
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.</ref>

Grant Thomas described the school as "the best-connected school in Melbourne".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its notable alumni include one archbishop, two state governors, one deputy prime minister, one state premier, three deputy premiers, one High Court justice and numerous Supreme Court justices.

HistoryEdit

What is now called "The Senior Campus" is located on Barkers Road in 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.<ref name=History>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=ArchdioceseXavier/> A Memorial Chapel on the Senior Campus was constructed in memory of Old Xaverians killed in World War I, opening in 1934.

In 1993, a multi-purpose sports centre, the Stephenson Centre (since renamed), 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.<ref name=EHPAC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

At his appointment as principal in October 1997, Chris McCabe was the first lay head of a Jesuit school in Australia.<ref name=Overview>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On his retirement at the end of 2008,<ref>Xavier principal announces his retirement, 6 February 2008, Province Express</ref> the post was filled by Chris Hayes, the former principal at St Edmund's, Canberra.<ref name=Hayes>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some buildings on the Senior Campus,<ref>Template:Cite VHD</ref> and Studley House at the Burke Hall Campus,<ref>Template:Cite VHD</ref> 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'.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Memorial Chapel

An Italian Renaissance style chapel was built in 1927 to celebrate the golden jubilee of Xavier College.Template:Citation needed From conception to completion, construction took around sixteen years and was led by Rectors Edmund Frost and Frank O’Keefe.

The foundation stone reads:

File:Xavier-Chapel-Foundation-Stone.jpg
Memorial Chapel foundation stone
Template:Smallcaps 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
File:Xaviercigarettecard.jpg
Cigarette card featuring the Xavier College colours and crest, Template:Circa

In 1920, Studley Hall, a gift from T.M. Burke, a Catholic businessman, was opened in 1921 as Xavier's first preparatory school. James O'Dwyer SJ, Rector of Xavier between 1908 and 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.<ref name=History/> 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.<ref name=ArchdioceseXavier/> In 2011, a new classroom block, the St Mary MacKillop Building, was added and named after the first Australian-born saint, the St Mary MacKillop is a space for classes year 5 & 6.

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, William Hackett SJ, Rector of Xavier opened the Kostka Hall Junior campus in Brighton in 1937 on the water of Brighton beach and within close proximity to Brighton beach railway station. Classes were from Year 2 to Year 8 and by the end of the first year, the numbers of students had grown to 62, including 16 boarders. The Kostka hall boarding house didn't last long though, with the boarders being moved to Burke hall in the early 1940's after scares that the Japenese would wash up of Port Phillip bay leaving the students in jeopardy. With the addition of a second building, Marchwood (also known as St Johns).<ref name=History/> 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. After rumors of the campus closing for years In 2021, after 85 years, Kostka Hall campus closed its gates for the final time, due to a decline in enrollments and the substantial effect of COVID-19. Moving the students of Kostka hall to the newly built Manresa campus, a section of the school below the science wing. This was only used for the period of time inbetween Kostka halls closing and the new joint middle years campus. In 2024 the new building called 'The Kostka Building' was built, behind the chapel oval on the senior campus. Primarily to be used by year 7 and 8 students, who in 2024 transitioned from Burke Hall and Manresa to the Senior school. Making Burke hall just a junior years campus.

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 previously leased the historical mansion Billilla in Halifax Street, Brighton, from the Bayside City Council.<ref name=Billilla>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Billilla Gardens Template:Webarchive, Brighton, Bayside City Council</ref> In 2009, the Buxton outdoor education centre was temporarily closed due to extensive damage from the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, and was later sold in 2015.<ref name=Buxton>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HousesEdit

Senior CampusEdit

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.<ref name=Houses2>Sharpe, Graham [ed.]. The Xaverian 2009, 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2010.</ref> In 1991, the houses, previously known by their colour, were given names.<ref name=Houses/> and in 2010, the new houses of MacKillop and Regis were added.

House Named after Motto Premierships Number of Premierships
Template:Color box Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine Integrity In All 1998, 2018 2
Template:Color box Cheshire Leonard Cheshire No Call Ignored 1992, 1997, 2021 3
Template:Color box Claver Peter Claver To Serve Not Be Served 1995, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017 6
Template:Color box Gonzaga Aloysius Gonzaga No Greater Love 1991, 1993, 1996, 2006, 2010, 2011 6
Template:Color box Ignatius Ignatius of Loyola To God Alone The Glory
Template:Color box MacKillop Mary MacKillop Virtue Conquers All 2012, 2015, 2020, 2023, 2024 5
Template:Color box Mannix Daniel Mannix Love One Another 2000, 2014, 2022 3
Template:Color box Regis John Francis Regis Courage Burns Within
Template:Color box Ricci Matteo Ricci To Understand The Unknown 1994, 1999, 2001, 2015 4
Template:Color box Spinola Charles Spinola Always and Ever Faithful 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2019 6

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 HallEdit

The six houses of Burke Hall had existed for many years as Hodgson, Ignatius, Studley, Surbiton, Trawalla, and Waverley.<ref name=Houses>Wallbridge, Fr Philip SJ [ed.]. The Xaverian 1981, 1981, pp. 86-91. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> In 1987, two new houses were added and with the exception of Ignatius, the houses were renamed. Due to the Year Seven and Eights moving to the Senior Campus in 2024, new houses will be made for the Junior School and will be implemented at the start of the 2024 school year.

House Named after Motto Premierships
Template:Color box Aloysius Aloysius Gonzaga No Greater Love 1999, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2023
Template:Color box Campion Edmund Campion The Expense Is Reckoned 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2013, 2018, 2019
Template:Color box Claver Peter Claver To Serve Not Be Served 1988, 2010, 2022
Template:Color box Ignatius Ignatius of Loyola To God Alone The Glory 1992, 2012, 2014
Template:Color box Loyola Ignatius of Loyola And Not To Count The Cost 2002, 2007, 2011
Template:Color box Owen Nicholas Owen Unless The Lord Builds 2003, 2004, 2006 2014
Template:Color box Regis John Francis Regis Your Word My Light 1994, 1997, 2016
Template:Color box Southwell Robert Southwell Who Least Hath Some 1987, 1996, 2000, 2017, 2020

Tied premierships: 1987, 2006.

Early Years CentreEdit

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

House Named after
Template:Color box Chisholm Caroline Chisholm
Template:Color box Favre Peter Favre
Template:Color box Berchmans John Berchmans
Template:Color box MacKillop Mary MacKillop

Kostka HallEdit

Awards commenced in 1971.

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

CurriculumEdit

Xavier offers its senior students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). 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 schools which offer 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 does not offer the International Baccalaureate.Template:Citation needed

Xavier has a strong academic history. For each of the past sixteen years (excluding 2009 and 2015) the Dux of the school received an ATAR score of 99.95, the highest possible.Template:Citation needed In 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2016, three students achieved this mark at Xavier out of 32 in the state.<ref name=ATAR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2012, five students achieved the maximum ATAR of 99.95.

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Year Rank Median study score Scores of 40+ (%) Cohort size
2012 37 34 21.4 458
2013 63 33 18.8 451
2014 64 33 17.8 468
2015 69 33 16.6 442
2016 67 33 14.1 430
2017 66 33 15.0 399
2018 53 34 17.0 391
2019 56 34 16.2 417
2020 45 34 19.2 399

Co-curriculumEdit

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 a range of venues, where they are given instruction in a variety of activities.Template:Citation needed

Community serviceEdit

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.<ref name=FridayNightSchool>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed

DebatingEdit

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.Template:Citation needed

SportEdit

File:Xavier-College-Chapel.jpg
(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,<ref name=Compulsory>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Xavier-Sport>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cricket alongside rowing (colloquially known as XCBC) are the two biggest summer sports at the college. Two alumni who pursued careers in cricekt 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".<ref name="Cricinfo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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,<ref name="Cricinfo" /> and captained Xavier to back-to-back premierships in 1923–24.<ref name="Premierships">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Xavier has won the rowing APS Head of the River 5 times. Sixteen Xavier rowers have gone on to represent Australia, winning multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, including, among others, Peter Antonie, Michael McKay, Nick Green & Simon Keenan.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

The school's Australian rules football team has produced numerous VFL/AFL players, and has won thirty football premierships, third of the APS schools behind Scotch (36) and Melbourne Grammar (35).<ref name=Premierships/> The Old Xaverians Football Club has also been successful in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), winning eight premierships in the last decade.<ref name=VAFA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Along with football, the school's Old Xaverian community also links with the Old Xaverians Soccer Club and Old Xaverians Athletics Club.

APS PremiershipsEdit

Xavier has won the following APS premierships:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Athletics (16) – 1957, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1991, 2009
  • Basketball (3) – 2000, 2014, 2019
  • Cricket (11) – 1910, 1923, 1924, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2020
  • Cross Country (3) – 2004, 2008, 2014
  • Football (30) – 1910, 1917, 1924, 1932, 1933, 1955, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2021
  • Futsal (3) – 2015, 2020, 2021
  • Hockey (4) – 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
  • Rowing (5) – 1928, 1929, 1937, 1948, 1999
  • Soccer (10) – 1997, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024
  • Tennis (4) – 1995, 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Volleyball (2) – 2014, 2018
  • Water Polo (8) – 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
  • Touch football (0) -

Performing ArtsEdit

Performing Arts have been part of the school's activities since 1929, with Musical Theatre/Operetta 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<ref name=Xavier-Productions>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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)

Maytime FairEdit

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.<ref name=JesuitMissionFair/> 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.<ref name=JesuitMissionFair>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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, and in 2016 $260,000 was raised<ref name=Province-Express>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable alumniEdit

File:Alston Richard.jpg
Ex-Senator Richard Alston, a former Xavier student

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Alumni of Xavier College are known as Old Xaverians, and all former students become members the Old Xaverians' Association (OXA).<ref name=OXA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In politics, academia and the law, Xavier's alumni include:Template:Citation needed Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

In other areas, notable Old Xaverians include:Template:Citation needed Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

In popular cultureEdit

  • Holding the Man, a memoir, a play, and a feature film, begins at Kostka Hall and then the Senior Campus.
  • Remembering the Man, a feature-length documentary about the memoir Holding the Man, includes footage and photos of the Xavier College Senior Campus in the late 1970s and interviews with former students.
  • Sir Les Patterson, a fictional character portrayed by Barry Humphries, "attended" Xavier College.

Historical sexual abuse allegationsEdit

In March 2013, a submission was made to Victoria's parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse about the alleged abuse of children in its care in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

External linksEdit

Template:APS Schools Template:Jesuit education in Australia Template:Secondary schools in Victoria