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,[2] including 76 boarders.[3]
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.[8]
Grant Thomas described the school as "the best-connected school in Melbourne".[9] 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.
History
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.[10] 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 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.[11]
At his appointment as principal in October 1997, Chris McCabe was the first lay head of a Jesuit school in Australia.[12] On his retirement at the end of 2008,[13] the post was filled by Chris Hayes, the former principal at St Edmund's, Canberra.[14]
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'.[17]
Memorial Chapel
An Italian Renaissance style chapel was built in 1927 to celebrate the golden jubilee of Xavier College.[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:
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, c.1920s
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.[10] 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, 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, with the addition of a second building, Marchwood (also known as St Johns).[10] 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. This campus was closed in 2021, due to a decline in enrollments, and in 2024 a new building called 'The Kostka Building' was built at the Senior Campus, primarily to be used by year 7 and 8 students, who in 2024 transitioned from Burke Hall to the Senior 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.[18][19] 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.[20]
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.[21] In 1991, the houses, previously known by their colour, were given names.[22] and in 2010, the new houses of MacKillop and Regis were added.
‡ 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.[22] 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.
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.[citation needed] In 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2016, three students achieved this mark at Xavier out of 32 in the state.[23] In 2012, five students achieved the maximum ATAR of 99.95.
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.
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".[28] 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,[28] and captained Xavier to back-to-back premierships in 1923–24.[29]
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.[30]
Water Polo (8) – 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
Performing Arts
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[33] 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 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.[34] 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.[34] 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[35]
Notable alumni
Former Senator Richard Alston a Former Xavier student
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.
Kew is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, inner city suburb 5 km east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Kew recorded a population of 24,499 at the 2021 census.
Haileybury is an Australian private school with campuses in Keysborough, Brighton East, Berwick, Melbourne's CBD, Darwin, Northern Territory and online campus, Haileybury Pangea. It also has an international campus in the Tianjin outer district of Wuqing, China. Middle School at Haileybury introduces parallel education where students are separated into single-gender classrooms for their academic studies and for Sport and Camping programs. Although learning in separate classes, boys and girls share the same campus and socialise in co-curricular activities together. Haileybury has been described as the largest independent school in Australia.
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St Kevin's College is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college has five campuses, three of which are in the suburb of Toorak, the fourth in Richmond, and the fifth being a sport campus located behind Stockland Tooronga. The school owned a campsite 'Silver Creek' in the town of Flowerdale which was completely destroyed by the Black Saturday bushfires.
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St Bernard's College is an independent Catholic secondary school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon West, Victoria, Australia. The college is named after its patron saint, Bernard of Clairvaux, and is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges. It is also part of Edmund Rice Education Australia, a series of schools that focus on teaching the pupils in the tradition of Edmund Rice.
Genazzano FCJ College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Ballarat Clarendon College is a private, co-educational, day and boarding school, located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Emmanuel College, formerly St. Paul's College, is a dual-campus private Roman Catholic comprehensive co-educational secondary day school, occupying campuses in Altona North and Point Cook, in the south-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Saint Ignatius College is an independent Catholic secondary day school for boys and girls, located in the rural hinterland of the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The school provides education from Year 7 to Year 12, conducted in the Jesuit tradition, and operates with oversight from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The college is part of the international network of Jesuit schools begun in Messina, Sicily in 1548.
↑ "About Us". About Xavier. Xavier College. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
1 2 3 4 "Xavier College". Catholic Schools Victoria. Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd. 30 January 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
↑ "Professional Development". Victorian Branch. Junior School Heads Association of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
↑ "Victoria". School Directory. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
↑ "Xavier College". Schools—Victoria. Australian Boarding Schools' Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
↑ "VAFA Premierships"(PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. p.3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
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