Villanova College (Australia)

Whinstaines House (after which the suburb was named) was built by prominent society figure Alexander Brand Webster. After his death the house and remaining 9 acres of land were sold in 1925 to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who established College Whinstanes, which opened as a Junior Boys Boarding School. The school’s motto “Vincit Veritas” is the Webster motto was borrowed from a stained glass window in Whinstaines Hose with the Webster crest.

In 1948, Archbishop James Duhig welcomed Fr O'Donnell with five other Irish Augustinians to Australia, and invited them to start a school in Brisbane. They subsequently established Villanova in the suburb of Whinstanes (now part of Hamilton). On 25 January 1948, the college was officially opened by the Chancellor of the University of Queensland, William Forgan-Smith, who raised the college flag in front of the main entrance and was blessed by Archbishop Duhig.[3] In 1953 a decision was made to move the college due to lack of prospects for expansion in Whinstanes.

Early in the 1880s, merchant Reuben Nicklin built a large house Langlands in Coorparoo. In 1886, Nicklin built another house Hatherton (now Queen Alexandra Home) at another site in Coorparoo and sold the Langlands house and its grounds.[4] (Nicklin and his wife died in the wreck of the RMS Quetta in 1890)[5]. Thomas Connah and William Brookes bought a large block of land that included Nicklin's house. Connah resided in Nicklin's former residence. Connah became Queensland Auditor-general and he sold Langlands to Archbishop James Duhig in 1916. Langlands became the Good Samaritan Convent of Saint Scholastica until 1953, when Villanova College moved from Whinstanes to the Coorparoo property.[6]

Villanova College with Goold Hall left of picture

The school was officially opened on 22 November 1953 by Archbishop Duhig. The building had been built at a cost of £50,000 and could accommodate 500 students.[7] In the 1960s/70s, a library, science laboratories, senior classrooms and a new primary block joined the existing buildings on the campus. During this period, the college saw additional co-curricular facilities including a swimming pool on campus and sporting fields at Tingalpa. Villanova had been a founding member of The Associated Schools (TAS) and was always competitive. During the 1970s/80s the College saw the foundation of the Student Council as well as the leadership role of all the boys in the senior class which led to the abolition of the prefect system. The election of captain and vice-captains of the school and houses by the senior class was started. The Goold Gymnasium and Assembly Hall was built as well as more classrooms, new science laboratories, a technical drawing room and some Art rooms.

The late eighties and nineties saw the governance of the College now entrusted to a College Council composed of staff, parents, Augustinians, past students and friends of the College. It also saw new courses start in computing, and catering start at the college and the introduction of a campus-wide computer network as well as computers in classrooms. The 1990s saw the college split from the TAS competition and the foundation of the AIC Competition.[8]

In 2006 the college inaugurated its three present schools:[8]

• Junior School, consisting of Years 5 and 6
• Middle School, incorporating Years 7, 8 & 9
• Senior School - Years 10, 11 & 12.

The most recent building in the college is the Veritas building and the Fr. Michael Morahan Staff Centre. The buildings were completed as part of the BER program by the Australian Government.

Students in Years 5 to 6 study the Key Learning Areas: Religious Education (RE), English, Mathematics, Study of Society and Environment (SOSE), Science, Technology and Computer Literacy, Visual Art, Music, Media, Drama and Health and Physical Education (HPE).

In Year 7 the Major Core Curriculum is divided into two parts; Humanities, which consists of English, SOSE and RE, and Maths, Science and Technology, as well as studies in Music, Drama, Art and Computing as well as HPE and Library lessons each week. In Year 8 the Major Core Curriculum consists of two parts; Humanities, which consists of English, SOSE and RE, as well as Maths and Science. Six enrichment subjects are offered, Music, Art, Drama, Computing, Business Studies and Graphics and Chinese and Italian.

In Year 9 the Major Core Curriculum is divided into separate subjects of RE, SOSE, Science, Mathematics, English and HPE. Year 9 Students also take four elective units, two for semester 1 and two for semester 2.

In Year 10 the Core Program includes English, Mathematics, RE and Health. The Core Program also includes Science Core Option Units and Social Science Core Option Units where students choose two from each, one for each term. They also choose four elective units from a range of core extension and elective subject areas. In Year 11 and 12 it is mandatory for students to take the subject of RE, a Mathematics subject and an English subject and in addition they must choose three or four from the Authority and Authority-Registered subjects. Instead of this, they can choose to do a VET or SAT Course. In 2010, 141 students in the Year 12 cohort received an Overall Position (OP) result. 38 were in the 1–5 range and 67 were in the 6–15 range.

The college is a foundation member of the AIC sporting association. The college has sporting fields at Tingalpa, in Brisbane's east suburbs. The AIC sporting association is for all years from fives to Open. It comprises 8 schools, Marist College Ashgrove, St Edmunds College, Ipswich, St Patrick's College, Iona College, Padua College, St Laurence's College and St. Peters Lutheran College. The sports played by the association are rugby union, soccer, cricket, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, chess, Water Polo, athletics and cross country.

The CIC sporting association is for grades 4 to 7 and Villanova competes against Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane Boys' College, Brisbane Grammar School, Iona College, Marist College Ashgrove, Moreton Bay Boy's College, Padua College, St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, Nudgee Junior College, St Joseph's Nudgee College, St Laurence's College, St Patrick's College, and The Southport School.

The college currently has over 30 main music ensembles including:

• Symphony orchestras
• String orchestras
• Concert bands
• Vocal ensembles
• Guitar ensembles
• Percussion ensembles
• Jazz ensembles
• Commercial (contemporary) ensembles
• Irish ensembles
• Chamber string, woodwind and brass ensembles

The music program is also compulsory for the junior school. The college hosts Queensland's largest music festival for Catholic Schools and Colleges, Queensland Catholic Schools & College's Music Festival (QCMF).[10] This festival is a four-day event in which over one-hundred schools from around Queensland and Australia showcase their talents and receive plaques for particular levels of achievement. Villanova is home to a music centre, known as the Augustine Centre. Within this centre is the Hanrahan Theatre, named after the second rector of the college, Fr John Hanrahan.

Villanova is involved with the Queensland Debating Union (QDU) and CIC debating competitions. In 2001, Villanova placed first in the Senior A QDU debating competition. The QDU competition at Villanova involves students from years 8 to 12, who debate against other schools in the district. The CIC competition involves students from years 5–7 compete against the other schools in the CIC competition.

Villanova takes part yearly in the Young ICT Explorers Competition Australia held annually at the University of Queensland St. Lucia campus. The college has also established their own Technical Production crew (more commonly known as "Tech Crew"), that facilitate and manage the technical (lighting and sound) side of Hanrahan Theater, under the direction of the facilities manager. Every year the 'Tech Crew' elect a leader to manage the group.

Villanova runs musical productions in conjunction with Loreto College every two years. Recent productions have been Crazy for You (2014), Guys and Dolls (2016), and most recently Footloose (2018). Students of Chinese language studies have the opportunity to visit China every second year. The music department holds a Music Tour for all students in the colleges Senior Ensembles every two years, the most recent tours being to the United States in 2013, Tasmania in 2015, and New Zealand in 2017 as part of the Rhapsody Rotorua Music Festival.

AFAS members can visit impoverished students in the Philippines and assist in developing their communities, also every two years. Villanova competes in the Tournament of Minds competition and in 2010 took out first place in the Primary Division of Applied Technology. Other activities include Environment Group, Student Council, Eucharistic Ministry, LIONS Youth of the Year and the RACI Titration Competition. Villanova conducts a sports tour with St Augustine's College, Brookvale, Sydney, alternating as hosts.[11]

The Augustinian Ministry programme (AYM) at Villanova College, offers students the opportunity to contribute to both local and international communities through service. Students have the opportunity to join these groups and nominate for leadership positions within the ministries. Ministries Villanova offers students to be involved in includes:

• Young Christian Students (YCS) – Helps Students within the college community, settling in of new students and helps improve the overall image of the college.
• St Vincent de Paul Society – Helps people in the local Brisbane community. One major event being Easter Hampers for the needy.
• The Benenson Society – Fights to help worldwide issues. These issues include Human Rights and Immigration.
• Young Augustinian Youth Ministry – Works for people both locally and worldwide. This ministry is run by students from the middle school.
• Australian Filipino Augustinian Solidarity (AFAS) – Provides scholarships for students in the Philippines and donates money to contribute to fundamental resources for Filipino people.