Villanova College is a private, Roman Catholic school for boys located in Coorparoo, a southern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy for all years and caters for approximately 1,150 boys in three schools, Junior, Middle and Senior from year five to twelve. Established in 1948 by six Irish priests, led by Fr Ben O'Donnell, OSA, who were from the Order of Saint Augustine in the suburb of Hamilton. In 1954, due to lack of prospects for growth in Hamilton, the College moved to its present site at Coorparoo. The college is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA), Combined Independent Colleges (CIC), and the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC).
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History
Whinstanes (1948-1953)
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. In 1953 a decision was made to move the college due to lack of prospects for expansion in Whinstanes.
Coorparoo (1954-present)
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. (Nicklin, his wife and daughter subsequently died in the wreck of the RMS Quetta in 1890.) 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.
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. 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.
In 2006 the college inaugurated its three present schools:
- Junior, consisting of Years 5 and 6
- Middle with the grades of 7, 8 & 9
- Senior with Year 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.
House system
Villanova College has four houses which compete in inter-house athletics, cross-country and swimming, as well as many other school based activities.
- Heavey House named after Bishop John Heavey; House colour: Green
- Goold House named after James Goold; House colour: Yellow
- Crane House named after Martin Crane; House colour: Red
- Murray House named after James Murray; House colour: Blue
Patron Saint
The college is named in honour of St. Thomas of Villanova, a sixteenth-century Spanish Augustinian who was born in 1488 and died in 1555. Thomas was Archbishop of Valencia. After his death he was canonized by Pope Alexander VII in 1658. His feast day is celebrated on 22 September. Other Augustinian Colleges named for this saint are St. Thomas of Villanova College, located in Ontario, Canada, and Villanova Preparatory School in California, United States. He is also the patron saint to the popular Catholic university, Villanova University located in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States.
Rectors of College & Principals of College
There have been 8 Augustinian rectors at Villanova College in its history. The traditional job of the rector was to lead the college but this has changed after the retirement of Fr. Michael Morahan in 2009. Now Villanova College has a lay principal with the priests living in the priory at Villanova College looking after school Masses. The current priest of the college is Fr Peter Wieneke.
Curriculum
Junior School
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).
Middle School
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.
Senior School
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.
Co-curriculum
Sport
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.
Music
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). 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.
Debating
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.
Technology
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.
Cultural and spiritual
Villanova runs musical productions in conjunction with Loreto College every two years. Recent productions have been Back to the "Godspell" (2012) and "Crazy for You" (2014) and recently "Guys and Dolls" (2016). 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 and Tasmania in 2015, where some of the colleges students performed in St Mary's Cathedral. The most recent tour was held in June 2015 to Tasmania.
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.
Augustinian Youth Ministry
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) - Helps fund student in the Philippines and provides fundamental resources.
Facilities
The college maintains two locations for student activity. The main campus is located at Coorparoo that includes a library, chapel, science laboratories, a hall named after James Alipius Goold, technical drawing and art rooms and a junior block. The main campus also houses a swimming pool and oval called 'Whinstanes', named after the original block in Hamilton. The college owns a block of land located at Tingalpa, called Villanova Park. It also has seven playing fields and the "Cor Unum Center".
Tolentine
Tolentine, also known as 'T' block, is the oldest and original building at Villanova and incorporates administration, pastoral and teaching facilities. At the time of building, the 'Tower', which is approximately 50m tall, was the second tallest building in Brisbane. Tolentine was split into two wings in 2006, with the incorporation of three separate sub-schools and a minor refurbishment. The block is named after the Augustinian Saint, Nicholas of Tolentine.
Also known as 'GC' & 'C' block, was built in 1967 to accommodate classrooms, a one-room library and a general purpose room. Today, the Good Counsel facility is dedicated solely to the middle school. Good Council and Cascia block are named after the Mother of Good Counsel and the Augustinian saint, Rita of Cascia.
Opened originally in 1971 as a two storey complex dedicated solely to the sciences, with a bottom floor reserved for the arts -- an art room and a media room for debates. In 1979, a third storey was added with two new laboratories. Today, the two top storeys are dedicated to science laboratories, with the bottom levels incorporating a technical drawings room, classrooms and a catering centre. The swimming pool is located near the Mendel complex. The complex is named for Gregor Mendel.
In 1985 and 1986, demolition of previous buildings and purchasing of new land allowed the construction of Goold Hall, incorporating an indoor sporting centre, a stage and numerous classrooms. The hall up until 2005 was used for school assemblies and musical productions, this has since changed with the construction of the Augustine Centre. After this, the Brisbane Augustinian community moved to the new priory located in the college grounds. The Hall is named for James Alipius Goold, the first Augustinian to come to Australia and the first Archbishop of Melbourne.
Years 1993 and 1994 saw further major building works with the construction of the O'Donnell block, comprising seven classrooms and art facilities. It was named after Villanova's first rector, Fr. O'Donnell OSA, who was invited from Ireland to attend the opening. Today it is used as the Primary School of the College.
Opened in May 2005, the Augustine Centre was the most anticipated development within the college, planned for over a decade. It was opened with the assistance of the wider community in coordination with the One Mind, One Heart campaign, which began in 2003. The program encompassed a donation by families to help construct two centres -- Augustine Centre and Cor Unum Centre. The Augustine centre incorporates music and drama facilities with the addition of staff offices. The Hanrahan theatre, the main auditorium of the complex, can be split into two lecture theatres and seats over 500, with high class technical features. The drama centre is attached via an annex and incorporates teaching and office facilities. The lower level of the centre incorporates a complete music tuition complex, with ten music classrooms, practice rooms and storage facilities. Furthermore, the centre also has meeting areas and food areas.
The Cor Unum Centre is situated at the College's sports facilities -- Villanova Park, opened in 2006. The centre incorporates sporting meeting facilities, food preparation areas and a grand stand located close to the Andrew Slack Oval.
The most recently opened complex within the college is the Veritas Building and the Fr Michael Morahan Staff Centre. The Veritas Building is dedicated to the Senior School. Both building were officially blessed and opened on 22 May 2012. The Fr Michael Morahan Staff Centre is in memory of the last Augustinian Priest and Rector of the College who died in 2011.
Old Boys Association
Villanova Old Boys Association Incorporated (VOBAI) is the association for all old boys of the college. VOBAI's objectives are to
- Foster the spiritual and temporal interests of the Old Boys;
- Promote the interests of Villanova College and its Old Boys;
- Establish and award prizes, memorials and bursaries; and
- Support the work of the Augustinian Fathers at Villanova College and elsewhere
Notable alumni
Some notable 'Old Boys' include:
Arts
- Eugene Gilfedder - actor and Playwright, Matilda Award winner 1988, 1999 and 2010.
- Liam Ferney - poet, author of Popular Mechanics and Boom.
- James Moloney - author, best known for The Book of Lies, The Gracey Trilogy, and A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove.
Medicine
- Dr Christopher Layton - Rhodes Scholar, holder of PhD in diabetic retinopathy from Oxford University, Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Queensland, director of the Ophthalmology Unit at the Gallipoli Medical Research Institute
Politics
- George Brandis QC - Liberal Senator, Commonwealth Scholar, Holder of Bachelor of Civil Law from Magdalen College, Oxford, Current Leader of the Government in the Senate and Attorney-General of Australia
- Paul Lucas (politician) - former Queensland Parliamentarian and former Deputy Premier of Queensland
- Gordon Nuttall - former State of Queensland Government (Labor) Minister
- Kerry Shine - (Australian Labor Party) Former Queensland Attorney General and Minister for Justice; State Member for Toowoomba North
- Ross Vasta - Federal Liberal Member for Bonner.
Sport
- Brad Meyers - Rugby League player for the Brisbane Broncos (1998-2004) and Gold Coast Titans (2008-present)
- Ben Mowen - former Wallaby captain and former captain of the ACT Brumbies
- Josh Robinson - 2002 Old Boy who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for Javelin
- Chris Simpson - former captain of the Queensland Bulls cricket team.
- Andrew Slack - former Wallaby 39 caps (Captain 1984-1987) and Reds player (133 games for Queensland).
- Michael Zullo - current member of FC Utrecht. Has also played for the Australia national football team on 2 occasions.
Media and entertainment
- Dan Feuerriegel - actor, appeared in Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Home and Away, and McLeod's Daughters
- Chris Reason - journalist and Co-Host of Channel Seven's Sunday Sunrise
- Andrew Slack - head of Sports for Channel 9 News Brisbane
- Benjamin Terry - journalist, Sky News International (London Headquarters)
Associated schools
Villanova's brother school is St. Augustine's College, Brookvale in Sydney. Loreto College is the sister school of Villanova College.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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