| St Francis Xavier College | |
| Motto: | Via Veritas Et Vita |
| Motto Translation: | I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) |
| County: | Casey & Cardinia Shire |
| State: | Victoria |
| Coordinates: | Berwick Campus: -38.0706°N 145.3384°W Beaconsfield Campus: -38.0529°N 145.3732°W Officer Campus: -38.0608°N 145.4351°W |
| Religious Affiliation: | Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL) |
| Established: | 1978 |
| School Number: | 03 9707 3111 |
| Principal: | Vincent Feeney[1] |
| Years: | 7–12 |
| Website: | www.sfx.vic.edu.au |
| Gender: | Co-educational |
| Enrollment: | 3000 (2024) |
| Average Class Size: | 25 |
St Francis Xavier College is a 7–12 Catholic co-educational school in Victoria, Australia. In 2024, it had over 3,000 students and 333 staff, with over 1,500 students and teachers in the Beaconsfield campus alone.[2]
St Francis Xavier College has three campuses:
Closed/converted campuses:
The Beaconsfield campus was opened on 7 February 1978, with an initial intake of 72 students, with the first principal being Robert Schneider.[8] [9] Due to the increase demand for the Beaconsfield campus, the Cranbourne campus opened in 1987. However, seven years later the campus was converted into St. Peter's College. The Berwick campus, opened in 2003, is a dedicated junior campus, serving students year 7 to 9, with the intention to serve the community of Berwick, and neighbouring communities like Narre Warren and Cranbourne. The most recent campus to open is the Officer campus, which opened in 2012. Much like the Berwick campus it is for students between years 7–9. The Officer campus is meant to serve as the campus for students residing in Pakenham, Clyde, and outreaching suburbs of the Gippsland region.
St Francis Xavier College offers its senior students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), and Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs.[10] [11]
| 2012 | 202 | 30 | 4.6 | 354 | |
| 2013 | 261 | 29 | 3.7 | 412 | |
| 2014 | 206 | 30 | 4.7 | 386 | |
| 2015 | 154 | 31 | 5.8 | 415 | |
| 2016 | 186 | 30 | 5.9 | 435 | |
| 2017 | 253 | 29 | 4.3 | 513 | |
| 2018 | 188 | 30 | 5.3 | 541 | |
| 2019 | 220 | 29 | 6.1 | 505 | |
| 2020 | 229 | 29 | 5.9 | 598 | |
| 2021 | 259 | 29 | 4.3 | 615 | |
| 2022 | 265 | 29 | 3.9 | 564 |
The school participates in the annual athletics carnival and swimming carnival, where students from different houses compete. St Francis Xavier College is also a member of the Southern Independent Schools (SIS).[13] The college participates in SIS chess, debating, music, public speaking and sport.
St. Francis Xavier College has won the following SIS senior premierships.[14] [15]
Combined:
Boys:
Girls:
The college crest can be broken down into three different sections:
"The Eagle": The eagle is used as a symbol of a messenger/spreader of good news.
"The Fish": The fish is a secret symbol that was used by early Christians to avoid arising suspicion and being persecuted.
"The Stars": The southern cross.
Year sevens in 2020 were unable to complete NAPLAN because of COVID-19. However, the same cohort participated in year nine NAPLAN in 2022.
| 2021 | 94.4% – 97.0% | 91.8% – 97.7% | |
| 2022 | 94.9% – 97.8% | 88.7% – 96.5% |
| 2022 | 564.5 | 565.5 | 567.0 | 579.5 | 560.2 |
The college has listed the specific attendance percentage per grade per campus, here.
| 2022 | 87.40% | 82.93% |
Year 7 camp takes part at the start of the year (exception being COVID-19). This camp is in order for students to get to know each other, especially those of their house and of their care group. The three-day experience is filled with activities.[16]
Year 8 students get to experience a five-day program in which they explore Melbourne city, to learn about the "landscape, public transport and culture". Students work together in teams so that they can collect data, which is later used in a group-based inquiry project.
Hands On Learning is an educational program, founded in 1999, that adjusts student's education to support social and emotional development. The college is one of one hundred and twenty schools which offer the program. The program is run only at the junior campuses (Berwick and Officer). The program aims to engage in a practical learning style instead of an academic one. The college states that the program is to help students that are not supported with traditional learning programs, because those students could otherwise "disengage from school, demonstrate challenging behaviours and report low levels of belonging". The college states that 95% of students who participate in the program get an apprenticeship or job. Furthermore, the college states that beyond learning the program is based on four principles: a place to belong, people to belong to, real things to do, and a chance to give back.[17] [18] [19]
Previous and current principals of the school can be seen as according to the image of the plaque on the right. The current principal, since 2015, is Vincent J Feeney.[1] Maree Johnson had an auditorium named after her.[20]
| 1978–1983 | Robert Schenider | |
| 1984–1989 | Kevin Styring | |
| 1990–1999 | Aidan Burns | |
| 2000–2004 | Maree Johnson | |
| 2005–2014 | Paul Desmond | |
| 2015–present | Vincent J Feeney |