St Francis Xavier College, Beaconsfield

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] It has campuses in Berwick, Beaconsfield and Officer.

St Francis Xavier College
Location
Casey & Cardinia Shire , Victoria
Coordinates	Berwick Campus: 38.0706°S 145.3384°E / -38.0706; 145.3384 (Berwick Campus) Beaconsfield Campus: 38.0529°S 145.3732°E / -38.0529; 145.3732 (Beaconsfield Campus) Officer Campus: 38.0608°S 145.4351°E / -38.0608; 145.4351 (Officer Campus)
Information
Type	Independent co-educational secondary day school
Motto	Via Veritas Et Vita (I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6))
Religious affiliation(s)	Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL)
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Established	1978
School number	03 9707 3111
Principal	Vincent Feeney[1]
Years offered	7–12
Gender	Co-educational
Enrollment	3000 (2024)
Average class size	25
Houses	Romero   Ozanam   Nagle   MacKillop   Acutis   Bosco   Bakhita   Glowrey
Colour(s)	Navy blue   Red   White   Gold
Affiliation	Southern Independent Schools
Website	www.sfx.vic.edu.au

Campuses

St Francis Xavier College has three campuses:

• Beaconsfield: Opened in 1978, the campus houses students years 10–12^[3]
• Berwick: The Berwick campus was opened in 2003. It serves students years 7–9^[4]
• Officer: Having opened in 2012, the newest campus accommodates students years 7–9^[5]

Closed/converted campuses:

• Cranbourne: Opened in 1987, converted to St Peter's College seven years later^[6][7]

History

The Beaconsfield campus was opened on 7 February 1978, with an initial intake of 72 students, with the first principal being Robert Schneider.^[3][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.^[6] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Curriculum

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]

St Francis Xavier College VCE Result 2012-2022^[12][2]

Year	Rank	Median study score	Scores of 40+ (%)	Cohort size
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

Extra-curricular activities

The school participates in the annual athletics carnival and swimming carnival, where students from different houses compete.^[2] 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.^[2]

SIS premierships

St. Francis Xavier College has won the following SIS senior premierships.^[14][15]

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 to avoid arising suspicion and being persecuted.

"The Stars": The southern cross.^[9]

NAPLAN

Year sevens in 2020 were unable to complete NAPLAN because of COVID-19. However, the same cohort participated in year nine NAPLAN in 2022.^[2]

Percentage of Students who met all Minimum National Standards^[2]

Year	Grade Seven	Grade Nine
2021	94.4% – 97.0%	91.8% – 97.7%
2022	94.9% – 97.8%	88.7% – 96.5%

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 COVID-19.^[2]

Median NAPLAN results for Grade 9^[2]

Year	Year 9 Grammar & Punctuation	Year 9 Numeracy	Year 9 Reading	Year 9 Spelling	Year 9 Writing
2022	564.5	565.5	567.0	579.5	560.2

Attendance

The college has listed the specific attendance percentage per grade per campus, here.

Semester 1 & 2 Attendance Rate^[2]

Year	Semester 1	Semester 2
2022	87.40%	82.93%

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.^[2] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Camps, retreats and experiences

Year 7 camp

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 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.^[16]

Learning adjustments

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]

Principals

Principals plaque at St Francis Xavier College Beaconsfield (2023)

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]

History of principals at SFX

Epoch	Principal
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

Notable alumni

• Steven Salopek, former AFL footballer for Port Adelaide
• Jake Aarts, AFL footballer for Richmond
• Tyanna Smith, AFLW footballer for St Kilda
• Georgia Gee, AFLW footballer for Essendon
• Moira Deeming, member of the Victorian Legislative Council
• Destanee Aiava, professional tennis player