Whitefriars College

Independent, single-sex school in Donvale, Victoria, Australia

SloganBelong. Believe. Become.School feesDomestic: $13,418–$14,934^{[citation needed]} International: $24,770AffiliationAssociated Catholic CollegesWebsitewww.whitefriars.vic.edu.au

Whitefriars College is a Roman Catholic Independent school for boys located in the Melbourne suburb of Donvale, Australia. Established in 1961, the college reflects the tradition of the Carmelites, and is recognised for its uniform's brown blazer with the college crest appearing on the breast pocket. The college has been a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges since 1999. The college was one of the first schools in Victoria to implement a notebook-computer program, which has now transitioned to a notebook-tablet program, in which every student is provided with a notebook-tablet.^{[citation needed]}

House system

The college has eight houses, each one named after a Carmelite of note. The houses are:

House name	Patron	Colour
Avila	Teresa of Avila
Brandsma	Titus Brandsma
Corsini	Andrew Corsini
Lisieux	Therese of Lisieux
Stein	Edith Stein
Mantua	Baptista Mantuanus
Soreth	John Soreth
Trinity	Elizabeth of the Trinity

As there is a vertical pastoral care (more commonly known as homeroom) system at the college, each house is made up of seven pastoral care groups and each group contains approximately 24 students. This change was made in 2005. Each house is governed by a Head of House. Unlike other schools, students at Whitefriars College are more so responsible to their respective Head of House combined with Pastoral Care teacher, than that of their Year level co-ordinator.

Curriculum

Whitefriars College offers its senior students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).

VCE results 2012-2023^[2]
Year	Rank	Median study score	Scores of 40+ (%)	Cohort size
2012	84	32	14.2	308
2013	140	31	8.2	289
2014	136	31	8.1	299
2015	135	31	8.3	336
2016	148	31	7.3	316
2017	184	30	5.9	289
2018	198	30	4.5	307
2019	122	31	9.3	275
2020	146	31	5.9	271
2021	128	31	9.2	274
2022	150	31	5.5	266
2023	96	32	10	262

50 years celebration

The college celebrated its 50th year in operation from 2010 to 2011. The school received a New Chapel, Quadrangle and Classrooms to commemorate the occasion. In addition to this, some existing classrooms were also renovated. Students were also presented with a 50-year badge to be worn on their blazer lapel.

Principals


Year	Tenure	Name	Notes
1961–1972	11 Years	Frank Shortis, O.Carm
1973–1976	3 Years	Bernie McPhee, O.Carm
1977–1978	1 Year	Peter Byrth, O.Carm
1978–1988	10 Years	Noel Kierce, O.Carm	Served as College Chaplain until 2015
1989–1995	6 Years	Hugh Brown, O.Carm
1996–2012	16 Years	Paul Cahill, O.Carm	Longest serving Principal
2013–2017	4 Years	John Finn	First lay Principal
2018	1 Year	Anthony Kirley
2019	1 Year	Gregory Stewart	Temporary Appointment
2020–2023	Present	Mark Murphy

Sport

Whitefriars is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC).

ACC premierships

Whitefriars has won the following ACC premierships.^[3]

Basketball (11) – 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019
Cricket (5) – 2002, 2003, 2012, 2015, 2020
Football (4) – 2004, 2005, 2013, 2014
Hockey (3) – 2014, 2015, 2017
Swimming (13) – 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Tennis (6) – 2011, 2012, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023

Community service

The school has two student-run community service organisations, the Key Club, sponsored by the Doncaster-Templestowe Kiwanis, and Young St. Vinnie's. Both groups work in the school community as well as in the wider community on a number of projects. The Key Club runs a recycling drive and St Vinnie's runs a weekly blood donation drive, in which VCE students are encouraged to give blood.

Notable alumni

Sam Collins – Fremantle Football Club, Gold Coast Football Club Footballer and No. 55 2015 NAB AFL Draft
Patrick Cronin – Manslaughter victim
Stephen Donaghue – Solicitor-General of Australia
David Morris – 2010 Olympic Aerial Skier and Australian record holder; 2014 Winter Olympic silver medalist.
Marc Murphy (2005) – Carlton Footballer and No. 1 AFL Draft Pick. Former Captain of Carlton Football Club
Xavier O'Neill – West Coast Eagles footballer
Andy Otten (2007) – Adelaide Football Club and No. 27 draft pick 2007
Christian Petracca – Melbourne Football Club Footballer and No. 2 2014 NAB AFL Draft, 2021 Premiership player, 2021 Norm Smith Medalist
Victor Perton – Long standing member for Doncaster (1988–2006)^[4]
Nicholas Reece – Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne and Chair of Movember, former senior advisor to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Victorian Labor Party^[5]
Ben Simmons – Philadelphia 76ers NBA Basketballer and No. 1 2016 NBA Draft
Paul van der Haar – Essendon Football Club Footballer – 1984 / 1985 Premiership Winners – Essendon Team of the Century
Karl von Möller – Film Director and Cinematographer
Sam Weideman – Melbourne Football Club Footballer and No. 9 2015 NAB AFL Draft
Joseph Zema – Canadian football player
Patrick Lipinski – Western Bulldogs Football Club and Collingwood Footballer and No. 28 2016 NAB AFL Draft
Dylan Williams – AFL Footballer
Nick Coffield – AFL Footballer

Controversy

In 2019, Whitefriars reached a confidential settlement with a student relating to accusations that the school failed to take adequate action after an older student allegedly groomed and sexually abused at least two younger boys.^[6]

References

^ "FR NOEL KIERCE Obituary" Sidney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
^ "Trend of Whitefriars College by VCE results". bettereducation.com.au. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Premiers & Champions – Associated Catholic Colleges". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ "Former Member Profile Victor Perton". parliament.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
^ "Whitefriars VCE Australian Politics Excursion to Melbourne City Council". whitefriars.vic.edu.au. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
^ "Year 7 student allegedly raped by Year 12 student at Melbourne Catholic boys school". Australia: ABC News. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2021.