St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool

St. Francis Xavier's College
St. Francis Xavier's College
	; School crest ;
Address
	Woolton Hill Road ; Woolton; Liverpool, Merseyside, L25 6EG; England
Coordinates	53°22′58″N 2°52′49″W / 53.382662°N 2.880281°W
Information
Type	11–18 boys Academy
Motto	"...life in all its fullness." Jn 10:10
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	October 27, 1842; 181 years ago
Founder	Society of Jesus
Local authority	Liverpool City Council
Specialist	Mathematics and Computing College
Department for Education URN	138463 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair	Lisa Riccio-Jones
Headteacher	David Hayes
Staff	130
Gender	Boys
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1297
Houses	Almond, Bryant, Campion, Kemble, Mayne, Lewis, Owen, Rigby
Colour(s)	Year 7-11; Maroon & Blue ; Year 12-13; Black & Blue
Publication	SFXtra and Prospectus
Website	www.sfx1842.org

St Francis Xavier's College (abbreviated SFX) is an 11–18 boys Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in Woolton, Liverpool, England. The college is under the trusteeship of the Brothers of Christian Instruction. Their mission is that of their founder, Jean Marie de la Mennais, "To make Jesus better known and loved". By October 2021, a total of 1,097 boys attended the school, 108 of whom were in the Sixth Form provision. ^[2]

The school is a specialist school for mathematics and computing, and was the first school in Liverpool to gain specialist school status in that category. The schools most recent inspection by Ofsted took place in October 2021, and inspectors concluded that the school "required improvement" across all areas, including quality of education provided, behaviour and attitude of pupils attending the school, as well as leadership and management. ^[3]

History

Establishment

The college was founded in 1842 in association with Stonyhurst College, Lancashire by the Society of Jesus which is a Roman Catholic religious order.^[4]

The college had a rector from 1842 to 1844. It had two pupils.^[5]

A year later, it had a dozen pupils. Father Francis Lythgoe moved the college to St. Anne Street where it stayed until 1845.^[5] In 1844 Father Johnson took over from Father Francis Lythgoe and moved his 24 pupils to the newly opened Presbytery on Salisbury Street. Father Collyns took over the college in 1853. With more than 50 pupils the rector Father Collyns decided that a new premises was needed. By 1856 the college had its own building built alongside the Presbytery and in 1877 a new college was built on 6 Salisbury Street.^[6]

Second college building

The newest Salisbury Street building was designed by Henry Clutton, a Catholic architect. He used the designs of Father Vaughan as the bases of his designs. The new college was completed in the summer of 1877 and cost £30,000.^[6]

Move to Woolton

In 1961 the college was transferred as a grammar school to its present twenty-six-acre site at High Lee, Woolton. From 1984 to 1990 the Lower School site for Years 7, 8 and 9 was located on Queens Drive (Formerly Cardinal Newman RC) in Wavertree L15. Later, the Lower School was re-sited with the Upper School at High Lee. In 1990, the college opted out of local authority control, becoming a grant-maintained school. The college was granted Technology College status from April 1996. In September 1999 it became a Foundation School. In 1992, the college became co-educational in the sixth form and in September 2000 the De La Mennais Sixth Form Centre was opened.

Overview

School uniform

All boys attending the school are expected to wear the agreed school uniform which is determined through the schools School Uniform policy. The current school uniform for boys consists of; ^[7]

Maroon school blazer (Years 7–11)
Black school blazer (Years 12–13)
Black, normal style school trousers
Plain white school shirt
School pullover with embroidered school badge
School tie
Black school shoes

Boys attending the school are permitted only to wear formal style school shoes, with pumps, trainers, or walking boots being forbidden. Additionally, the wearing of make up by pupils is also forbidden for pupils in Years 7–11. ^[8]

Curriculum

All boys attending the school, and who are in Years 7–9, are taught at Key Stage 3 with a curriculum designed "to offer students a broad and balanced opportunity to experience a wide range of subjects". Subjects studied between Years 7–9 include English, Mathematics, Science, Religious Education, Modern Foreign Language (Spanish and French), Humanities (History and Geography), Creative Arts and Design (Music, Art, Design and Technology), Computing, Physical Education, PSHCE, and Literacy and Reading. ^[9]

For boys in Years 10–11, they are taught at Key Stage 4 and study the core curriculum subjects of English, Maths, Science, Physical Education and Religious Studies. Additionally, boys have the option of choosing other subjects, either at GCSE, Vocational Award or Cambridge National level. Such optional subjects include Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Film Studies, French, Geography, History, Information Technology, Music, PE, Physics, Spanish, Sport, Technology and PSHCE. ^[10]

Pupils in Years 12–13 are taught at Key Stage 5, and pupils are granted a degree of flexibility over their subject choices. Pupils are provided with a choice of 15 A Levels, 3 BTECs, 1 CTEC and 2 Cambridge Technical awards to choose from. Pupils may additional wish to undertake courses provided at St Julies, the schools collaborative partner where pupils have the option to choose an additional 6 A Levels, 1 BTEC and 1 Technical Certificate. ^[11]

School choir

The choir was formed in 1994 and has performed in front of Pope John Paul II. They have toured Europe and the United States, and gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records for singing at every cathedral in England and Wales.^[12]

The school sang on the reworked version of The Farm's 1990 hit "Alltogethernow", remixed by BBC Radio 1's DJ Spoony. The single, which reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart, was the official song for the England football team at the UEFA Euro 2004 competition. It was performed by the choir on Top of the Pops in 2004.^[13]

Head Teachers

D Hayes	2021	Present
P Evans / C Flaherty	2020	2021
P Halliwell	2019	2020
P Ferguson / K Maddocks	2019	2019
D Yates	2018	2019
G Flowers	2016	2018
L D Rippon	2004	2016
Brother Francis Patterson	1979	2004
Brother Robert Power	1974	1979
Father Doyle	1962	1974
Father Edward James Warner	1953	1961
Father Neylan	1939	1953
Father Brinkworth	1937	1938
Father Woodlock	1919	1937
Father J. Sponson	1902	1919
Father Thomas Poter	1870	1902
Father Collyns	1853	1870
Father West	1851	1853
Father Johnson	1844	1853
Father Francis Lythgoe	1842	1844

Notable former pupils

Peter Baxendell - Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies
James Clement Baxter – Liberal politician and former chairman of Everton FC^[14]
Piaras Béaslaí (Percy Beazley) – Irish revolutionary and writer^[15]^[16]
Charles Brabin – American film director^[17]
Keith Briffa – climatologist
Denis Cosgrove – former professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles
Gabriel George Coury – recipient of the Victoria Cross^[18]
Chris Crookall – actor^[19]
Walter Bryan Emery – former Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London
Jon Flanagan – footballer
Paul Gallagher – Roman Catholic cleric and diplomat, titular archbishop of Hodelm
John Gregson – actor
Franny Griffiths – musician
Augustine Harris – Catholic Bishop of Middlesbrough from 1978 to 1992, prison chaplain at HM Prison Liverpool from 1952 to 1965
George Hartland – Conservative MP for Norwich from 1931 to 1935
Paul Aloysius Kenna – recipient of the Victoria Cross
Lancelot Lawton – British historian, military officer, scholar of Ukrainian studies
Sammy Lee – former footballer and assistant manager of Liverpool FC^[20]
George Lynskey – High Court judge on the former King's Bench
Vincent Malone – bishop
Jimmy McGovern – screenwriter^[21]
Brian Nash - musician
Mike Newell – footballer^[22]
Laurence O'Keeffe – UK ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1988 to 1991, and to Senegal from 1982 to 1985
Edward J. Phelan – director-general of the International Labour Organization^[23]
Paul Raymond – publisher of pornographic magazines
Peter Serafinowicz – actor, writer, comedian^[24]
Leslie Stuart – composer of Edwardian musical comedies^[25]
Tony Warner – footballer
Michael Xavier – musical theatre actor

References

Notes

^ "Contact Us". St Francis Xavier's College. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
^ "Inspection Report". Ofsted. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "Inspection Report". Ofsted. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "College History". St. Francis Xavier’s College. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b Heery, Pat; Bewley, Bill (2002). "Chapter 2: The College Premises". The History of St. Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool 1842–2001. Pat Heery. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-9535782-1-4. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b Heery, Pat (2002). "Chapter 2: The College Premises". The History of St. Francis Xavier's College Liverpool 1842 - 2001. Pat Heery. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-9535782-1-4. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
^ "Uniform". St Francis Xavier’s College. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "Uniform". St Francis Xavier’s College. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "Curriculum". St Francis Xavier’s College. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "Curriculum". St Francis Xavier’s College. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "Curriculum". St Francis Xavier’s College. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "Liverpool choir's Number One goal". Liverpool City Council. May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
^ "Gold disc for Euro anthem choir". BBC. June 2004. Archived from the original on 12 June 2004. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
^ "The History of Everton Football Club - Dr James Baxter". www.efchistory.co.uk. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
^ "Béaslaí, Piaras | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Piaras Béaslaí: the writer who became a rebel". 9 August 2020. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Charles Brabin - Bio". connect.in.com/. 26 August 2009. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
^ Gabriel Coury from Catholic Herald Archived October 16, 2009, at the Portuguese Web Archive
^ Grange Hill back for Series no. 27 Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine from Liverpool Echo, 2 February 2004, retrieved 18 December 2014
^ Sammy Lee Archived 2009-04-06 at the Wayback Machine from BobPaisley.com, retrieved 18 December 2014
^ Rampton, James (30 November 1996). "Profile: Jimmy McGovern: TRUTH WILL OUT". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 May 2010.^{[dead link]}
^ Students looking to Ferry elite cup across the Mersey Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine from Liverpool Echo, 14 May 2003, retrieved 18 December 2014
^ "Edward J. Phelan". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
^ "Peter Serafinowicz". The Sunday Telegraph. September 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2009.^{[dead link]}
^ Lamb, Andrew. "Barrett, Thomas Augustine (1863–1928)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2007, accessed 26 May 2012 (subscription required)