St Kevin's College, Melbourne

St Kevin's College
Address
31 Moonga Road
Toorak, Victoria 3142
Australia
Coordinates 37°50′10″S 145°1′29″E / 37.83611°S 145.02472°E / -37.83611; 145.02472Coordinates: 37°50′10″S 145°1′29″E / 37.83611°S 145.02472°E / -37.83611; 145.02472
Information
Type Independent day school
Motto Latin: Omnia Pro Deo
("All for God")
Denomination Roman Catholic (Christian Brothers)
Established 1918
Headmaster Stephen F. Russell
Gender Boys
Enrolment 2,100
Houses      Cusack
     Kearney
     Kenny
     McCarthy
     Purton
     Rahill
Colour(s) Green, gold and blue               
Slogan "Family, Learning and Fullness Of Life"
Website www.stkevins.vic.edu.au

St Kevin's College, founded 1918, is an independent Roman Catholic, all-boys primary and secondary school. The college is located in Toorak, Victoria, Australia. It 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. St Kevin's was founded by the Christian Brothers and is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria.

St. Kevin's overlooks Gardiners Creek, a tributary that runs into the Yarra River, with Scotch College on the opposite side. The college has a long-standing tradition with the historic St. Patrick's Cathedral and is responsible educating their choirboys.[1]

St Kevin's is a school of the Archdiocese of Melbourne,[2] and is directed by Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA)[3] and the Headmaster is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[4] and is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS).[5] and the IBSC (International Boys School Coalition).

History

The school was established in 1918 in East Melbourne by the Christian Brothers. In 1932, the school was moved to the corner of St George and Orrong Roads, Toorak. Property in Heyington was purchased and developed into playing fields. The Heyington Property is now the Senior School Campus, housing Years 7 to 8, and Years 10 through to year 12, in a vertical house system.

The Heyington Campus was built in 1960, notably the Kearney Building, which is visible on the approach from the Glen Waverley railway line. The Lansell Road property was opened in 1972, and that same year the Orrong road property was sold. In 1982, the K.C. Smith building was constructed for the middle school years on the Senior Campus, and in 1990 the Pavilion was opened. Since its opening, the Pavilion has flooded twice, both in 2005. Ovals one and two were completely submerged, resembling flooded school foyers in the 1970s.

Oval Number 1, Scoreboard in the background, and the Pavilion to the right

The Cummins Building was refurbished in 1997, and currently houses the creative arts precinct, which includes arts, drama, music and artistic works. The McCarthy Building was opened in 1997, housing Art Studios, the Campus Library and the Administration Block. The Lansell Road property is now home to the Glendalough Campus, and in 1999 became a full primary school, housing prep to grade 6 students. Also in 1999, Year 9 students moved from the Senior Campus to a dedicated campus named Waterford in Richmond. Waterford currently resides in the former Vaucluse College FCJ site in Richmond.

1999 saw a major change in the structure of the school, with the introduction of the House System for years 10-12. This saw the desegregation of year levels and their amalgamation into houses with five tutor groups comprising Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 boys, accompanied by a tutor. Previously, boys were organised by year levels, and supervised by Year Level Coordinators, somewhat similar to the current system found in the Middle School (Years 7-9).[6]

In March 2006, a $16 million indoor pool, gym and sports facility, the Wilding Centre, was blessed by Cardinal George Pell and opened for the students.

In 2009 the Godfrey building was opened.

In 2010, the Boyd Egan Hall was opened at Glendalough and substantial floods filled the school's ovals and damaged the Fraser tennis courts.

In 2011, work began on a three storey 14 million dollar Science Wing, located adjacent to Heyington railway station at the end of the Kearney Building. In 2013, the Kearney West building was officially opened. The building contains brand new science labs, chemistry labs and woodwork rooms, which are used for senior classes.

In 2014, the McMahon Music Centre was opened at Glendalough and the remaining laboratories in the Kearney building were refurbished. Music and Drama facilities in the Cummins building were modernised.

In 2017, the Tooronga Fields campus were opened as the SKC offsite sports ground.[7]

The Houses are Cusack (Green); Kearney (Blue); Kenny (Red); McCarthy (Light Blue); Purton (Gold); Rahill (Maroon).

Campuses

St Kevin's College has five campuses:

  • Glendalough – The St Kevin's College Junior School in Lansell Road Toorak is named after the location of the St Kevin's Monastery in Ireland. (P-6)
  • Heyington – In 1932 the current site of Heyington was purchased and at the time was used for playing fields. It now serves as the main academic campus. (7,8,10,11,12)
  • Waterford – Purchased by St Kevin's College in the early 2000's for the year 9 campus and situated on Richmond Hill, it occupies the facilities of the former Vaucluse College. (9)
  • St Peter's – An ELC Centre that is a co-venture with Loreto Mandeville Hall.
  • Tooronga sports campus - Opened on the 17th of June 2017 at the cost of $38 million, the Tooronga campus is a sports campus which consists of 3 soccer pitches that meet Football Federation Victoria standards as well as an AFL oval. There are also 12 tennis courts and a hockey pitch which meet Hockey Federation standards that surrounds the tennis courts. It also includes a 200-metre athletics track with high jump and long jump training areas as well as 12 cricket nets, two pavilions containing unisex change rooms, viewing areas, a basketball half court and a function centre.[6]

Houses

The Houses for the Senior (10-12) and Middle School (7-9) are named after Christian Brothers associated with the College. They are:

St. Kevin's College - Middle and Senior School Houses[6]
House Colour Established House Area Named After Motto
Cusack      1999 4th Floor, Kearney Building Br. J.F. Kenny c.f.c., Science Master 1918-1945 N/A
Kearney      1999 3rd Floor, Kearney Building Br. J.A. Kearney c.f.c., M.A., Headmaster, 1930-1934 First in Friendship (note: unofficial motto adopted by student body)
Kenny      1999 3rd Floor, Kearney Building Br. J.R. Cusack c.f.c., M.A., Teacher of Modern and Ancient History and Languages, 1919-1927 and 1931-1941 N/A
McCarthy      2008 4th Floor, Cummins Building Br. F.I. McCarthy c.f.c., M.A., B.Ed., Ph.D., Headmaster, 1977 Audere et Vincere (Venture and Conquer)
Purton      1999 4th Floor, Kearney Building Br. D.G. Purton c.f.c., M.A., Headmaster, 1941-1943 N/A
Rahill      2010 2nd Floor, Godfrey Building Br. P.A. Rahill c.f.c., Teacher of English and Literature, 1927-1929 and 1935-1949 Veritas Omnia Vincit (Truth Conquers All)

The original 'Foundation' Houses are Cusack, Kearney, Kenny and Purton. These Houses are located in their original areas in the Kearney Building. The 'Extension' Houses are McCarthy and Rahill, added to extend the capacity of the House system in their years of establishment. McCarthy House occupies the former Brothers' Quarters in the Cummins Building, above the staff room and the Music and Drama Faculty. Rahill House occupies a purpose built area in the Godfrey Building, above the Art Faculty and below the College Administration Offices.

Boys are assigned their house at their entry point into the Senior school, however during Years 7-9, they primarily serve as a means of organisation for co-curricular competitions such as House Swimming, House Athletics and House Sports.

Publications

The College has a strong tradition of journalism and reporting that carries on to this day. The English curriculum at St. Kevin's allows for boys to develop their skills in the communication of ideas in English and is put into practice through the numerous publications that can be found in the College, each of which is aimed towards a certain audience, and has its own individual purpose.

Publication name Type Responsible authority Intended audience Frequency of publication Method of distribution Link
Senior School Newsletter Newsletter St. Kevin's College Parents, Students, Staff, Members of the SKC Community (Years 7-12) Weekly, during semesters Online, via College Portal, College Website and Email
Junior School Newsletter Newsletter St. Kevin's College Parents, Students, Staff, Members of the SKC Community (Years Prep-6) Weekly, during semesters Online, via College Portal, College Website and Email
Omnia Magazine St. Kevin's College Parents, Students, Staff, Members of the SKC Community, Alumni, Prospective Parents, Prospective Students (Prep-12) 1 Issue per school term

(4 annually)

 Online, via College Website and delivered to subscribers via mail
Kearney Magazine Magazine Kearney House Students, Staff, Families of Students of Kearney House (10-12) ~2 Issues per school term

(8 annually)

 Online, via College Portal, Kearney Magazine website and distributed on campus by students of Kearney House.

Previously, there was a student run magazine, 'The Kevinian', however this publication is now defunct and no more new issues of it are being published. This magazine was a student initative run by students, for students, with support from the College. Kearney Magazine has filled in the place of this magazine, serving as the unofficial magazine for the student body, still run by students, for students.[6]

Curriculum

St Kevin's College offers its Years 11 and 12 students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), the main assessment program which ranks the students in the state.

The class of 2009 have been highest-performing academic group in the history of the modern VCE for St Kevin's College, making St Kevin's in 2009 the top-performing, non-selective, all boys, Catholic and Associated Public Schools of Victoria member school, with 33 per cent of study scores at 40 or over, and 14 perfect scores were achieved across 10 subjects.[8][9][10]

Co-curriculum

As part of upholding the value of "fullness of life" of the College, a number of initiatives are conducted:

Debating and public speaking

St Kevin's competes in the Debaters Association of Victoria Schools competition, and the Heyington Campus is the host venue for the Toorak regional competition. Five debates are held each year, and St Kevin's teams debate against other Melbourne schools on various current interest topics. St Kevin's participates in a range of other debating and public speaking tournaments, including those organised by Rotary, the RSL, UNYA and as of 2011, the WIDPSC, with one student competing representing Australia, and recording 8th place.[11]

Sport

St Kevin's College is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria, the College teams take part in a competition providing a wide range of sports at different levels of achievement. In 2009 the College won the Soccer, Australian Rules Football and Rugby premierships – a feat never been achieved before in APS sporting history.

Theatre and drama

St Kevin's has a theatre department and each year produces a wide range of Plays, Musicals and Operas. A relationship between several different girls' schools has been established to enhance the co-curricular dramatic arts program.

Aviation

St Kevin's College offers an aviation program to its students, and is the only secondary school in Australia to offer students the opportunity to earn a pilot's licence by the time they graduate.[12] The program has been commended by aviators and industry experts, including Nancy Bird Walton.[13]

Coat of arms, crest and motto

The current school crest was adopted by Br Kearney in 1933. The school crest bears:

  • The Celtic Cross, signifying Irish heritage, in the top left quadrant,
  • A single star, representing the Star of Knowledge in the top right quadrant,
  • The Southern Cross representing Australia in the bottom left quadrant,
  • A book with the Greek Letters Alpha and Omega scribed, symbolising God is all from beginning to end in the bottom right quadrant.
  • Surmounting the shield is another Celtic Cross which represents faith in God.
  • The school colours are, blue, green and gold.

The school's motto is, in Latin, 'Omnia Pro Deo' meaning 'All for God' or transliterated means 'All things for God'. This is taken from a letter of St Paul.

Relationship with other schools

St Kevin's College has a long-standing tradition with Loreto Mandeville Hall with whom it established an ELC Centre, St Peter's. The College also has a strong establishment with fellow independent schools Korowa Anglican Girls' School, Sacré Cœur School, Genazzano FCJ College and St Catherine's School, Toorak.

Notable alumni

Politics, public service and the law

  • Bill Bourke (2 June 1913 – 22 May 1981), a former politician and a former Labor federal Member for Fawkner.[14]
  • John Bourke, QC (30 June 1901 – 19 October 1970), a former Labor Member for St Kilda in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.[15]
  • Jack Comber (15 April 1919 – 23 October 1992), a former Labor federal Member for Bowman (Queensland).[16]
  • Barney Cooney (born 11 July 1934), a former Labor Senator for Victoria.[17]
  • Frank Field (23 December 1904 – 4 June 1985), a former Labor Member for Dandenong in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 10th Deputy Premier of Victoria.[18]
  • Jim McClelland (3 June 1915 – 16 January 1999), a former Labor Senator for New South Wales, solicitor, jurist, Minister in the Third Whitlam Ministry and Royal Commissioner.[19]
  • Clem Newton-Brown (born 3 September 1967), the former Liberal Member for Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.[20]
  • Peter Randles (10 June 1923–12 April 2008), a former Labor, Labor Anti-Communist and Democratic Labor Member for Brunswick in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.[21]
  • Scott Ryan (born 12 May 1973), Liberal Senator for Victoria.[22]
  • B. A. Santamaria (14 August 1915 – 25 February 1998), a prominent Australian Roman Catholic, journalist and anti-Communist political activist; founded the Democratic Labor Party, which was expelled from the ALP in 1955, and ceased to exist in 1978.
  • Ted Serong, DSO OBE (11 November 1915 – 1 October 2002), was a senior officer of the Australian Army, most notable for his contributions to counter-insurgency and jungle warfare tactics during the Vietnam War.
  • Charles Sweeney, QC, a Federal Court Judge.[23]
  • George White (14 January 1905 – 5 May 1986), a former Labor, Labor Anti-Communist and Democratic Labor Member for Mentone in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.[24]

Sport

Media, entertainment and the arts

Clergy

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cathedral Choir". St Patrick's Cathedral: Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "Catholic Education Office – Directory". Web.ceomelb.catholic.edu.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Our Schools and Entities | Edmund Rice Education Australia". Erea.edu.au. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Schools". AHISA. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "St Kevin's College website". APS Sport. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 St. Kevin's College Diary - History. St. Kevin's College. 2018. pp. 2, 11.
  7. ↑ St. Kevin's College Diary 2018. 2018. p. 2.
  8. ↑ VCE Results, stkevins.vic.edu.au; accessed 26 November 2017.
  9. ↑ Perkins, Miki (17 December 2009). "Full marks for Mount Scopus in VCE rankings". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Staff (17 December 2009). "Mt Scopus in Burwood sees 44 per cent of its VCE students get 40 or more for their subjects". Herald Sun. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  11. ↑ http://aidpsc.webs.com/results.htm
  12. ↑ Vedelago, Chris (29 October 2005). "Passing the test with flying colours – National". Melbourne: theage.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  13. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  14. ↑ http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1949/1949repsvic.txt
  15. ↑ Profile, parliament.vic.gov.au; accessed 6 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Pandora Archive". Pandora.nla.gov.au. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  17. ↑ "Famous alumni on Latham's hit list". Crikey. 30 March 2005. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  18. ↑ re-member – Parliament of Victoria, vic.gov.au; accessed 26 November 2017.
  19. ↑ "SavedQuery". Parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  21. ↑ re-member – Parliament of Victoria
  22. ↑ Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ "A brilliant career interrupted by war". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 January 2008.
  24. ↑ re-member – Parliament of Victoria, vic.gov.au; accessed 26 November 2017.
  25. ↑ Grasso, John (2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Scarecrow Press. p. 106.
  26. 1 2 D'Anello, Luke (3 September 2012). "Lachlan Hunter another son of a gun". Leader.
  27. ↑ Stevens, Mark (9 April 2011). "Tom Liberatore, the extractor".
  28. ↑ "The Samuel Griffith Society: Volume 11: Appendix 1". Samuelgriffith.org.au. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  29. ↑ "Parer, Damien Peter (1912–1944)". Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  30. ↑ "Tipping, Edmond William (1915–1970)". Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  31. ↑ "Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge". Archdiocese of Canberra – Goulburn. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  32. ↑ "Lombard, Francis William (1911–1967)". Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.