St Francis Xavier College is a 7–12 Catholic co-educational school in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. In 2024, it had over 3,000 students and 333 staff, with over 1,500 students and teachers in the Beaconsfield campus alone. It has campuses in Berwick,

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

and

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

Campuses

St Francis Xavier College has three campuses: * Beaconsfield: Opened in 1978, the campus houses students years 10–12 * Berwick: The Berwick campus was opened in 2003. It serves students years 7–9 * Officer: Having opened in 2012, the newest campus accommodates students years 7–9 Closed/converted campuses: * Cranbourne: Opened in 1987, converted to St Peter's College seven years later

History

The Beaconsfield campus was opened on 7 February 1978, with an initial intake of 72 students, with the first principal being Robert Schneider. Due to the increase demand for the Beaconsfield campus, the Cranbourne campus opened in 1987. However, seven years later the campus was converted int
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 Narre Warren ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 38 km southeast of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Narre Warren recorded a population of 27,689 at the 2021 ce ...

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.

Curriculum

St Francis Xavier College offers its senior students the

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is the credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 10, 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria as well as in some international schools i ...

(VCE), the

Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) was a 'hands-on' program for students in Years 10, 11 and 12 that was available from 2002 to 2023. It has now been superseded by the VCE Vocational Major and the Victorian Pathways Certificate. T ...

(VCAL), and

Vocational Education and Training Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...

(VET) programs.

Extra-curricular activities

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 The Southern Independent Schools (SIS), formed in 1978, is a group of 14 schools in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. History In 1978, six southern independent secondary schools united to provide sporting competitions in swimming, cross ...

(SIS). The college participates in SIS chess, debating, music, public speaking and sport.

SIS premierships

St. Francis Xavier College has won the following SIS senior premierships. Combined: * Athletics (7) – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 Boys: * Basketball (3) – 2003, 2009, 2019 * Cricket (7) – 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2015, 2016 * Football (12) – 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 * Soccer (6) – 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2024 Girls: * Basketball (8) – 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 * Football (5) – 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018 * Netball (11) – 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019 * Soccer (3) – 2015, 2016, 2020

College crest

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 A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

to avoid arising suspicion and being persecuted. "The Stars": The

southern cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

NAPLAN

Year sevens in 2020 were unable to complete

NAPLAN The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests focused on basic skills that are administered to Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. These standardised tests assess students' reading, writing, ...

because of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. However, the same cohort participated in year nine NAPLAN in 2022. The college takes note of a "notable drop for our Year 9 students", citing the reason being that they spent a "significant proportion of Year 7 and 8 learning remotely", because of

Attendance

The college has listed the specific attendance percentage per grade per campus
here
Students can check attendance on the college's timetable site for students, SIMON. Absent without reason will lead to a message being sent to the student's parents. Further lack of reasoning, the student's care group teacher will follow up for investigation. And attendance offices are also called upon to follow up the absence. However, anecdotal evidence from students suggests that if a student is absent without reason, the change will be reflected on SIMON with no further follow up by teachers or office staff.

Camps, retreats and experiences

Year 7 camp

Year 7 camp takes part at the start of the year (exception being

). 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.

Year 8 city experience

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.

Learning adjustments

Hands On Learning A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "hand ...

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.

Principals

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. Maree Johnson had an auditorium named after her.

Notable alumni

* Steven Salopek, former AFL footballer for

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

* Jake Aarts, AFL footballer for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Tyanna Smith Tyanna Smith (born 29 October 2002) is an Australian rules footballer playing for in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She was drafted with the sixth selection in the 2020 AFL Women's draft by the . Early football Smith played junior football for the Be ...

, AFLW footballer for St Kilda *

Georgia Gee Georgia Gee (born 28 October 1999) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Gee was drafted by Carlton with their first selection and twelfth overall in the 2017 AFL Women's draft. She ...

, AFLW footballer for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

Moira Deeming Moira Deeming is an Australian politician and member of the Victorian Liberal Party. She has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria, for the Western Metropolitan Region since November ...

, member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

Destanee Aiava Destanee Gabriella Aiava (born 10 May 2000) is an Australian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of world No. 147 in singles, achieved on 11 September 2017, and No. 133 in doubles, achieved on 5 August 2024. Aiava has ...

, professional tennis player

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis Xavier College, Beaconsfield 1978 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1978 Catholic secondary schools in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Casey Buildings and structures in the Shire of Cardinia