St Joseph's College MelbourneCatholic Education Melbourne; Our schools (webpage) retrieved on 14 May 2015 from http://www.ceomelb.catholic.edu.au/our-schools/school/4167/ was a Roman Catholic secondary college which opened early in 1903 and closed at the end of 2010. It was part of the Association of Edmund Rice schools, founded and run in the tradition of the Christian Brothers. Between the years 2000 and 2009 it formally operated two campuses, a senior campus (VCE and VET) located in Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, Victoria and a junior campus (Years 7–10), in Brearley Parade, Pascoe Vale, Victoria. These two campuses were previously known as St. Joseph's College, North Melbourne and St. Joseph's College, Pascoe Vale respectively.

Sport

Sport was an important ingredient in the education of boys attending North. The school had its own football squad as early as 1906 when it played its first match against Christian Brothers College, St Kilda at Albert Park where it scored 2 points.Review of St. Joseph's Christian Brothers' College North Melbourne, Golden Jubilee 1903–1953, The College magazine Cynosura. St Joseph's College, North Melbourne As enrolments grew then so did the involvement in other sports, often in competition with other schools. Inter school athletics, handball and tennis competitions, such as those conducted by the then Combined Catholic Schools Association organisation, were held as early as 1911. The College was a founding member of the Association and won the Athletics Championship in 1914.

Their famous 70 meter long banners, North is Speed, Power, and a cheer squad, led by the Committee organizing War cries, or COW,North 1980. (St. Joseph's College Magazine, First publication since 1953) North Melbourne, St Josephs, North Melbourne where notable features of the annual competitions at the Olympic Park Stadium.

St Joseph's College students also became members of one of the schools sporting houses or teams. These built on the existing pastoral class groupings to generate team spirit during sporting carnivals with students wearing their team colors. These houses, later named after four early headmasters of the college, were:

Hogan McSweeney Geoghegan Kelly

College crest

At the time of amalgamation in 2000 a new logo was developed to represent the college. This logo was composed of pre-existing elements which were representative of the school's history and philosophy. Set on a traditional heraldic background, in the form of a shield, it features a rampant Gryphon protecting a smaller inner shield bearing a large shining star, a symbol used by the Christian Brothers, supported by smaller stars in the shape of the southern cross. The entire design sits above a ribbon which includes the words, "Luceat Lux Vestra".St Josephs College Melbourne 2000. (magazine) St Josephs College, North Melbourne The symbol appeared on the newly designed College uniform, which included a blazer after a lapse of a number of years, and various College medallions. The logo was used extensively on College publications and documents including Cynosura, the annual school magazine.

Associated schools

Over its long 107-year history the college was associated with a number of schools at one time or another. These included many primary, or feeder schools, to which the college Old Boys Association offered scholarships up until the 1950s. The school also had connections with a number of higher secondary colleges such as St Kevin's and Parade, East Melbourne. Although not exhaustive this list includes most of those known.

Schools St Oliver Plunkett (Pascoe Vale) St Paul's (Coburg) St Fidelis (Moreland) St Mark's (Fawkner) St Matthew's (North Fawkner) St Thomas More (Hadfield) Corpus Christi (Glenroy) St Joseph's (West Brunswick) St Monica's (Moonee Ponds) St Brendan's (Flemington) St. Augustine's College, Yarraville St Columba's Primary (Essendon) Trinity College (Brunswick) St Mary's Primary School, West Melbourne Cathedral College, East Melbourne Therry College (Broadmeadows) St Thomas' (Clifton Hill) St Joseph's (North Fitzroy) St Joseph's Technical School, Abbotsford St Joseph's Technical School (South Melbourne) St Kevin's College (Toorak) St George's School, Carlton St Ambrose's School, Brunswick

College history

1903–1930

St. Joseph's owes its early beginnings, in part, to the establishment of St Mary's Primary School, West Melbourne some 50 years earlier. With high numbers of Catholic children in the area needing education, members of the Christian Brothers were asked to take control of existing schools at West Melbourne and at Carlton. At the same time they were to establish a Brothers community and a secondary school in Queensberry Street, North Melbourne and this was completed by the end of 1902. This 'community house' was the residence of Brothers teaching at St. Mary's, St. George's (Carlton), St. Joseph's, and for a time, St. Augustine's College, Yarraville. The total cost of the building and furnishings was a little over £4516, £3000 of which was provided by local parish priests. The combined enrolment of St. Mary's, St, Joseph's and St. George's was 550 boys in 1903.

In January 1903, Christian Brothers' High School, as it was then known, opened with an enrolment of 44 students. Staffed by three Christian Brothers, that number had grown to 112 by the beginning of 1904. Students were divided into eight classes; Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth, a Commercial Class, Sub-Matriculation and Matriculation Class.Christian Brothers' High School, North Melbourne. The Advocate 26 December 1903. Page 15. Retrieved on 9 March 2015 from http://nla.gov.au/nla-news-article169747880

The first Principal was William J Hogan, followed by Francis A Kelly in 1904 and Matthew A Geoghegan in 1908.Stewart, Ronald (2000) The Spirit of North 1903–2000. St Joseph's College Melbourne, North Melbourne The first football team, featuring a large white star on its guernsey, was formed around 1906 and began a long tradition of involvement in a variety of sports. A year earlier a wooden handball court had been built, a first for any school in Melbourne and in 1913 this was replaced by a brick three wall court, said to be the best in Australia at the time. Over the next five decades the school hosted State and Interstate handball championships at various times. The court continued to be used by the Victorian Handball Association up until at least 2010 but in the second half of the century the popularity of handball was surpassed by team sports such as Australian Football.

Early school Annuals indicate a variety of titles to identify the school and it was not until 1912 that the name "St. Joseph's" was formally added.Christian Brothers College, St Josephs, North Melbourne: The Tenth Annual Report, Prospectus and Prize List. St Joseph's College, North Melbourne Even though its naming varied slightly over the years, the school was more simply known to its students as "North".

In 1913 the North Old Boys Association was formed to assist the school in serving its expanding school population (200 pupils in 1909) and the increasing need for finances as the period after the First World War was an economically difficult one. In the early years both Primary and Secondary school classes were conducted on the Queensberry Street site. The school was able to achieve impressive educational results from its pupils in Junior and Senior University and Public Service Examinations as results published in early Annuals show.

Between 1918 and 1941, students wishing to study for their Leaving Certificate had to do so at St. Kevin's College. By 1921 the enrolment stood at 174 and handball had become the leading sport and both public and school tournaments were frequently held on the handball court.

1940–1960

By 1940 the Christian Brothers' felt that the school had expanded to the point where it was able to take over the provision of night classes in a Catholic Accountancy school for young men in the Melbourne area. The classes started with 40 or 50 students but expanded, post war, to around 200 and provided study allowing its pupils to attain membership to the Australian Society of Accountants. Hundreds of young men attended there until 1969 when the night school closed.

1951 saw the first Matriculation class since its earliest years. A class of 23 students graduated from the College meaning that it had attained full secondary school status. During the Golden Jubilee year of 1953, 122 boys were members of the College Cadet unit and provided a martial spectacle as they paraded before visiting dignitaries. Arthur Calwell, a prominent politician and old boy, was a guest speaker on one occasion as was Archbishop Daniel Mannix.

During the 1950s the growing school population, due partly to the post War migration boom, forced the college to purchase land and eventually build a second school in the suburb of Pascoe Vale. In 1956 the Preparatory College, as it was then known, opened under the guidance of Ernest S Crowle as principal, who was himself an old boy of the college. In its early years it provided tuition in Grades 4, 5, 6 and Form 1 and had an initial enrolment of 274. By 1970 the school had become entirely secondary with classes comprising Form 1 to 4. Traditionally students completed their "junior" studies (Grades 7 to 10) at Pascoe Vale and then transferred to the "senior" campus in North Melbourne.

From its early beginnings the college was heavily involved in a range of sports and Australian Rules Football in particular. North's football teams were often considered tough opponents both within the local school competition and the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) as the North Old Boys Amateur Football Club, or NOB's, which it rejoined in 1964 after a lapse in membership. In 2005 the North club amalgamated with St Patrick's College, Ballarat to become North Old Boys St. Patrick's College Amateur Football Club.

1980–2010

During the later 1970s, 80s and into the 1990s, the Preparatory School in Pascoe Vale South, also known as St. Joseph's Junior College, with enrolments averaging around 490, took on a more independent identity to eventually be known as St. Joseph's College, Pascoe Vale. It had a separate administration, principal, School Board, registration number, logo and annual magazine, known as Scythia, to set it apart from its parent school, North.

Beginning in 1997 preliminary discussions regarding the future of the two schools took place with a view to ensuring their continuing viability. The major issues included enrolments, student welfare, administrative structures, curriculum, staffing and finances. In 1998 the outcome of talks and independent reviews was that the schools should amalgamate within two years in order to remain a relevant and viable educational entity.

The year 2000 saw the two sites formally amalgamated under a new name and banner to become the one College. It retained the traditional College colours of purple and white and College motto. A common uniform, which included a navy blue blazer with monogrammed logo, became mandatory. In 2003 the total student population was approximately 750 cared for by a single Principal, two Campus Directors and 92 staff.Cynosura 2003 (Centenary Edition) St Josephs College Melbourne, North Melbourne