St Kevin's College, Melbourne Explained

St Kevin's College
Streetaddress:31 Moonga Road
Country:Australia
Coordinates:-37.8361°N 145.0247°W
Type:private primary and secondary school, Christian school
Motto:Latin: Omnia Pro Deo
Motto Translation:All for God
Principal:Deborah M Barker
Enrolment:2,100 (K–12)
School Colours:Green, gold and blue
Alumni:St. Kevin's Old Collegians

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.

St Kevin's was founded in 1918 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 for educating their choir boys.[1]

The Archdiocese of Melbourne provides oversight of St Kevin's,[2] and its administration is directed by Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA),[3] and is a member of both the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS)[4] and the International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC).

History

The school was established in 1918 on the corner of Albert St and Eades St, East Melbourne by the Christian Brothers as St Kevin's Central College [5] with the purpose of being a school where the "brainy boys"[6] of the other Christian Brothers Schools could further their education. 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 for the use of all Christian Brothers Schools. This location 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, which is next to the Glen Waverley railway line, was built in 1960, its main feature being the Kearney Building.

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.In 1990 the Pavilion was opened. Since its opening, the Pavilion has flooded twice, both in 2005. Ovals 1 and 2 were completely submerged.

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 that year, 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 Year 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 to 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 to 9).[7]

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 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 science 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 as well.

In 2017, the Tooronga Fields Campus was opened as the St Kevin's offsite sports ground.[8]

2018 saw St Kevin's College celebrate its centenary year. A special 100-year logo was created and was used throughout the school year as well as on ties and a badge that the students received. Several celebrations were conducted, including a free lunch provided by the school, intended to pay homage to the older traditions of the College chartering a train from Heyington railway station to other parts of Melbourne for a school picnic.[9] Special events such as "The Great Debate", featuring generations of St Kevin's old boys, took place[10] and a limited-edition 100-year history of the college was published for students and staff.[11]

Campuses

St Kevin's College has five campuses:

Houses

The Houses for the Senior (Years 10 to 12) and Middle (Years 7 to 8) Schools are named after Christian Brothers associated with the college. They are:

St Kevin's College – Middle and Senior School Houses!House !! Colour !! Established !! Named after !! Motto
Cusack 1999 N/A
Kearney 1999
Kenny 1999 N/A
McCarthy 2008
Purton 1999 N/A
Rahill 2010
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, while Rahill House occupies a purpose-built area in the Godfrey Building.

Boys are assigned their House at their entry point into St Kevin's College, however during Years 7 to 9, they primarily serve as a means of organisation for co-curricular competitions such as House Swimming, House Athletics and House Sports.[12]

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 were the highest-performing academic group in the history of the modern VCE for St Kevin's College, making St Kevin's the top-performing, non-selective, all boys, Catholic and Associated Public Schools of Victoria-member school in 2009. 33 per cent of study scores were 40 or over, and 14 perfect scores were achieved across 10 subjects.[13] [14] [15]

St Kevin's College VCE results 2011–2021[16] !Year !! Rank !! Median
study score !! Scores of
40+ (%) !! Cohort
size
2011 14 31 23.3 325
2012  16 36  28.1 354
2013  21 36  27.1 362
2014  34 35  22.1 358
2015  13 36  29.3 346
2016  21 35  27.1 360
2017  5 37  30.8 371
2018  7 36  30.2 358
2019  14 36  27.5 350
2020  19 35  25.9 356
2021  24 35  22 378
2022Increase 23

Publications

The English curriculum at St Kevin's allows for boys to develop their skills in the communication of ideas 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.

Extracurricular activities

The school has a number of extracurricular activities.

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.[21]

Sport

St Kevin's College is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria. The college's teams take part in a wide range of sports at different levels of achievement. In 2009, the College won the soccer, Australian rules football and rugby premierships – the first time this was achieved in APS history. The College was formerly a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges from 1940 to 1957.

APS Premierships

St Kevin's College has won the following APS premierships:[22]

*From 1998 until 2013, swimming and diving events were tallied to be awarded as a single premiership.

Theatre and drama

St Kevin's has a theatre department and each year produces a number 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.[23] The program has been commended by aviators and industry experts, including Nancy Bird Walton.[24]

Coat of arms, crest and motto

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

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.

Touchstones

As a member school of Edmund Rice Education Australia, St Kevin's has adopted the following touchstones which can be found on display around the several campuses and on the inside covers of school diaries. The touchstones are:

These touchstones have also been adopted by other Edmund Rice Education Australia schools in a similar fashion to St Kevin's College.[25] [26]

Controversy

Student sexism

On 21 October 2019, a viral video which showed some students performing a sexist chant while on public transport to an inter-school athletics event was made public.[27] Following the resultant media furore,[28] a public apology from Headmaster Stephen Russell was issued in a letter sent to all parents the following day.[29] In this apology, Headmaster Russell denounced the students' "misogynistic" behaviour as "offensive".[30] Ten students were reportedly suspended with the possibility of expulsion.[31] Shortly thereafter, a second video was released in which three Year 12 students performed the same sexist chant in public only a few hours after the publication of the first video.[32] The ABC further revealed that in 2018 a group of students made a derogatory rap song about female students from another school.[32] Russell again condemned the students' behaviour as "foolish and reckless" and acknowledged that the college's cultural problems were "more widespread than [he] understood".[32]

Mishandling of child abuse

In February 2020, it was reported that Stephen Russell wrote a character reference for Peter Kehoe, a non-staff athletics coach accused of grooming a St Kevin's student while under the school's employ. Kehoe was subsequently convicted and sentenced to a community corrections order and placed on the sex offenders register for eight years. The victim settled a civil claim with the school in August 2019. Amid calls to resign, Russell responded by suggesting that Kehoe was a "never a member of staff"[33] and expressed his remorse for providing Kehoe a character reference, stating: "I would not do it again".[33] Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said that Russell's response was "just not on" and suggested that Russell would have been removed from his position had he been the principal of a government school.[33]

On 19 February, Russell resigned from the school and dean of sport, Luke Travers, was stood down pending further investigation.[34] Later the same day, John Crowley, principal of St Patrick's College in Ballarat, was appointed as the acting Headmaster of St Kevin's.[34] The employment of Simon Parris, a mathematics teacher, was "concluded" from the Toorak school in late February amid a series of staff removals over a child grooming scandal;[35] and was subsequently suspended from teaching.[35] Janet Canny, a former deputy principal, stepped aside after court action was lodged against her over a complaint alleging breaches of mandatory reporting, and Gary Jones, a teacher, had his employment "concluded".[35] [36] [37] [38] At least six staff members were stood aside or left the school since Russell resigned.[39]

Notable alumni

Clergy

Media, entertainment and the arts

Politics, public service and the law

Sport

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cathedral Choir. St Patrick's Cathedral: Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne . 24 October 2010.
  2. Web site: Directory . Catholic Education Office . . 24 October 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110706125757/http://web.ceomelb.catholic.edu.au/index.php?sectionid=60&searchtype=enumber&searchfor=E1144&Submit=Search. 6 July 2011.
  3. Web site: Our Schools and Entities . . 24 October 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091014193521/http://www.erea.edu.au/. 14 October 2009.
  4. Web site: St Kevin's College website . . 24 October 2010.
  5. Web site: St Kevins College Blessed.
  6. Web site: St Kevin's College Opening.
  7. Book: St. Kevin's College Diary - History. St. Kevin's College. 2018. 2, 11.
  8. Book: St. Kevin's College Diary 2018. 2018. 2.
  9. Book: Omnia Magazine - 2018 Term 1. 2018. St. Kevin's College Heyington Library. St Kevin's College.
  10. Book: Omnia Magazine - 2018 Term 3. 2018. St. Kevin's College Heyington Library. St Kevin's College.
  11. Book: Bound by the Green, Gold and Blue. 2018.
  12. Book: The Unofficial Fan Magazine of Kearney House - Kearney Magazine, Term 1 2018. 2018. St Kevin's College Heyington Library. St Kevin's College. 8–9.
  13. Web site: VCE Results . St Kevin's College . 26 November 2017 .
  14. News: Full marks for Mount Scopus in VCE rankings . The Age . 17 December 2009. 24 October 2010 . Melbourne . Miki. Perkins .
  15. Web site: Mt Scopus in Burwood sees 44 per cent of its VCE students get 40 or more for their subjects . Herald-Sun. 17 December 2009. 24 October 2010.
  16. Web site: Trend of St Kevin's College,3121 by VCE results . 2022-08-16. bettereducation.com.au.
  17. Web site: Senior School Newsletter . Publications . St Kevin's College .
  18. Web site: Junior School Newsletter . Publications . St Kevin's College .
  19. Web site: Omnia . Publications . St Kevin's College .
  20. Web site: The Waterford Chronicle . St Kevin's College .
  21. Web site: Australian Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship.
  22. Web site: Boys' Premierships – APS Sport. 2020-08-01. en-AU.
  23. News: Passing the test with flying colours . The Age . 29 October 2005. 24 October 2010 . Chris. Vedelago.
  24. Web site: National Aviation Policy . 2009-12-24 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080903105924if_/http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/nap/files/WALTON.pdf . 3 September 2008.
  25. Web site: The Charter. March 2019. Edmund Rice Education Australia. 27 March 2019.
  26. Web site: SKC Mission Statement. March 2019. 27 March 2019.
  27. Web site: Elite private school apologises after boys' sexist chant on tram. Silva. Kristian. 2019-10-21. ABC News. en-AU. 2019-10-21.
  28. Web site: 'Kings of the castle': why punishment could backfire for St Kevin's sexist chant. Coulson. Justin. 2019-10-26. ABC News. en-AU. 2019-12-29.
  29. Web site: This letter has just been sent out to #StKevin's old boys. I left St Kev's in 1986 and never heard a chant like this in the 1980s. Mind you, I refused to go to aths days. There is an underbelly of sexism/misogyny in most boys schools. That's why my son is at a coed school.pic.twitter.com/A7k0RPMlML. Deane. Joel. 2019-10-21. @joeldeane. en. 2019-10-22.
  30. Web site: St Kevin's College issues apology after students' sexist chant on Melbourne tram. 21 October 2019. 3AW. en. 2019-12-29.
  31. Web site: Heraldsun.com.au Subscribe to the Herald Sun for exclusive stories. www.heraldsun.com.au. 2019-10-22.
  32. Web site: Melbourne all-boys school students filmed performing sexist chant encore. Silva. Kristian. Oaten. James. 2019-10-25. ABC News. en-AU. 2019-12-29.
  33. Web site: 'Never a member of staff': St Kevin's headmaster distances school from convicted coach . Heffernan . Madeleine . Carey, Adam. 2020-02-18. The Age. en. 2020-02-18.
  34. Web site: 'I hope it represents a shift in attitudes': Former student who exposed St Kevin's scandal welcomes headmaster's resignation . 19 February 2020 . . Australia .
  35. Web site: Teaching watchdog suspends St Kevin's College staffer . Herald-Sun.
  36. Web site: St Kevin's College teachers leave school . 22 February 2020 . The Age.
  37. Web site: New principal of St Kevin's says changes will be made . 24 February 2020 . news.com.au .
  38. Web site: Two more staffers leave St Kevin's amid 'grooming' scandal . The New Daily . 22 February 2020.
  39. Web site: St Kevin's boys told not to sing school songs, chants, war cries. Sakkal. Adam . Carey, Paul. 2020-03-04. The Sydney Morning Herald. en. 2020-04-16.
  40. Web site: Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge. 2009. Archdiocese of Canberra – Goulburn. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120119193252/http://www.cg.catholic.org.au/about/default.cfm?loadref=15. 19 January 2012. 2 January 2012.
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