St Stanislaus' College is an Australian independent Roman Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys located in Bathurst, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Sydney.
Founded in 1867 and conducted since 1889 by the Congregation of the Mission's priests and brothers, the college is the oldest Catholic boys' boarding school in Australia, and caters for approximately 700 students from Year 7 to Year 12, including approximately 120 boarders. The early history of the college is intertwined with that of the short-lived St Charles' Seminary; both institutions shared the original towered section of building facing Brilliant Street until the latter closed in the late 1800s.
St Stanislaus' College is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (AISNSW), the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC), and is one of 13 full members of the Independent Sporting Association (ISA).
St Stanislaus' College exists to give a secondary education to boys in such a way that the Christian faith in the Catholic tradition is offered, built up and practised. The school also aims to provide a holistic education, supporting the spiritual, intellectual, social and physical growth of boys into young men.
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College motto
St Stanislaus' College shares its motto with its older sister, St Vincent's College in Castleknock, Dublin: "Nos Autem In Nomine Domini" ("We, however, in the name of the Lord"), which comes from Psalm 20:7 (Septuagint numbering 19:7). The text in the psalm is "Hi in curribus et hi en equis; nos autem in nomine Domini Dei nostri invocabimus" ("Some trust in chariots or horses; we, however, [trust] in the Name of the Lord."). However, considering "invocabimus", it may be more accurately translated as "we, however, will call upon the Name of the Lord".
Patron saints
St Stanislaus
The main patron saint of the college is St Stanislaus Kostka SJ of Poland (1550–1568). He walked from Vienna to Rome to join the Jesuit order. En route Kostka stopped at Dilingen in obedience to St Peter Canisius who tested his vocation there. On his seventeenth birthday, Kostka achieved his aim and joined the order. Partly because of the exhaustion from his arduous journey, he died about two months before he turned eighteen.
House patrons
The college has six houses.
The patron of St Vincent's House is St Vincent de Paul (1581–1660), the founder of the Congregation of the Mission, also called the Vincentian order. The charism of St Vincent influences all that the College does in that it is a way of following Christ that has been passed on at the College since 1889. St Vincent also founded the Daughters of Charity and gave his life in service of the poor and is known as the patron saint of charitable societies.
The patron of St Charles' House is St Charles Borromeo (1538–1584) who was the patron of the short-lived seminary which was the sister institution of the College in the early years. There is a statue of him on the old part of the College grounds. He was Cardinal Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584, and a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Philip Neri.
The patron of St Joseph's House is St Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the patron of St John's House is St John the Evangelist; the patron of St Justin's House is St Giustino de Jacobis CM, a Vincentian missionary bishop in Ethiopia; and the patron of Xavier's House is St Francis Xavier SJ, a Jesuit missionary who traveled around South-East Asia.
All six House Patrons have their own stained glass windows in the College Chapel.
College war-cry and song
The Ric
The College war-cry is known as "The Ric". The words are:
The Vincentius
The College Song is the 'Vincentius', a Latin hymn about St Vincent de Paul which includes a rendering of verses 15 and 16 of Psalm 132.
History
St Stanislaus' College was established in 1867 with 14 boys, near the present St Michael and St John's Cathedral. Tuition occurred until 1873 in part of the Denominational School, which replaced the demolished St Michael's church, and the boarders lived nearby under the care of Michael McGirr; the first President was his cousin, Fr James McGirr. A quote from the Catholic newspaper, The Freeman's Journal, mentions the new College:
A first class high school under the patronage and name of St Stanislaus will be opened on Monday next, under a competent staff of teachers, for the more advanced boys. Latin, Greek, French, mathematics, music, and the high branches of English literature are to be particularly attended to, principally with a view of preparing students for matriculation in the University, as well as fitting them for commercial pursuits.
The school came under the control of the Congregation of the Mission in 1889, following the arrival of the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers from Ireland. Their task was to run the College and St Charles' Seminary on the same site. The seminary was founded in 1875 and closed at the end of 1891.
In 1892, the College became a member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS). However, travelling to Sydney for sports was difficult and membership was relinquished some years later.
In 1896, the college received much media attention when it became the site of the first x-ray for medical purposes in Australia. This x-ray was taken by Father Joseph Patrick Slattery on 21 September, and showed the location of gunshot in the shattered hand of an ex-student.
The main oval was opened with a game of cricket on St Patrick's Day 1932, a College team pitted against an Australian XI captained by Alan Kippax and including Don Bradman. The college has mainly played rugby union although rugby league was played for some years in all decades from the 1910s to the 1950s. The First XV won the Waratah Shield in 1974, 1980, 1981 and 1995.
Regarding the present site, the original part of the college's building with its three towers was constructed in stages from 1872 to 1907. Other additions included the Gallagher Wing, completed in 1942; an extension of the Chapel and Marble Hall, completed 1954; the John Hall Wing, completed in 1962; and the Slattery Wing, opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1965. In 1971 an olympic swimming pool was opened; the Guthrie Library, completed in 1976; the McMahon Wing, opened in 1985 and completing an internal quadrangle; the "Brothers" Industrial Arts Complex, constructed in 1989; and in 2005 a large indoor recreation venue and performing arts centre was built, overlooking No. 1 Oval. In 2011, the Trade Training Centre near the Fitz Oval was completed.
Co-Curricular
Students at St Stanislaus' College are offered a variety of co-curricular activities to participate in including:
Visual Arts Club (SADA)
Annual Musical – in collaboration with MacKillop College with past shows including You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Freaky Friday The Musical, School of Rock The Next Generation, Legally Blonde and Little Shop of Horrors.
College Play – with past shows including The Real Inspector Hound, The Chocolate War, A Christmas Carol,Twelve Angry Men and Lord of the Flies.
Crew Club (stage production, sound and lighting)
Stage Band, Concert Band, Drum Corps and Vocal Group
Cantor Group
Agriculture Club
Agricultural Show Team
Chess Club
Public Speaking and Debating
Spelling Bee
Robotics Club
Indigenous Culture Group
St Vincent de Paul Youth Conference
Project Inspire (Year 10) and Unleashing Brilliance (Years 7–9) – academic extension program
Media Team – photography and live stream
Sport
St Stanislaus' College is a full member of the Independent Sporting Association (ISA) and offers a variety of co-curricular sport offerings including:
Athletics
Cross Country running
Basketball
Cricket
Rugby
Rugby League
Football/Soccer
Swimming
Tennis
Touch Football
Equestrian Team
College Chapel
The chapel, part of the original building, was extended in 1954. Due to problems with the ceiling it was renovated in recent years, reopening during 2013.
The main stained-glass window depicts the trinity, angels, and several Mysteries of the Rosary: the Annunciation (including part the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary in Latin, Ave Maria gratia plena, i.e., "Hail Mary full of grace"), the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven (including the opening words of the Latin hymn "Regina Caeli Laetare...", i.e., "Queen of Heaven, rejoice..."). The two side-altars feature two beautiful Hardman & Co. stained-glass windows each. There are two series of stained-glass windows at the sides of the chapel. Towards the front the windows represent the College House patron saints. Behind these are symbolised the Four Evangelists.
Two circular paintings have graced the chapel wall on either side of the main window for many years: St Vincent de Paul to the left, and Saint Patrick to the right.
Leadership
Presidents
The following individuals have served as presidents of St Stanislaus' College:
Heads of College
The following individuals have served as heads of St Stanislaus' College:
Child sexual abuse
During 2007, former priests, chaplains and teachers came under investigation over alleged child sexual abuse that up to 40 boys were allegedly sexually abused at the school from the 1960s through to the early 1990s.
Several people associated with St Stanislaus' College have faced legal proceedings due to alleged sexual abuse:
Brian Spillane, an ordained priest, was initially charged by police in 2008 with 33 sexual abuse offences, including six counts of sexual intercourse with pupils from St Stanislaus' College. In 2009, he was charged with a further 113 offences. On a separate matter, Spillane was convicted in November 2010 of nine counts of indecent assault against three girls aged between eight and seventeen while he was based in both Bathurst and Sydney, for which he was sentenced to nine years jail in 2012 with a non-parole period of five years. After a court-ordered media blackout was lifted dating from 2013, it was reported in 2016 that Spillane was convicted of assaults on five St Stanislaus' College students after a trial in 2013, that in 2015 he pleaded guilty to assaults on four boys at the school in the late 1980s, and during 2016 Spillane was convicted of attacks on five students between 1974 and 1990. Spillane was sentenced in early 2017 for the latest offending, and is serving a total of 25 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of sixteen and a half years.
Kevin Phillips, also an ordained priest, pleaded guilty to four counts of gross indecency with a child under the age of 18, resulting in concurrent sentences of 9 months under the first three charges, and an additional 9 months for the fourth.
John Gaven, a Vincentian Brother, was charged with 28 sex offences; and in March 2013 was found guilty on six sexual assault charges against former students.
Along with Spillane, Phillips and Gaven, one other man has been charged with sexual abuse cases related to the school: with five counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.
Glenn Michael Humphreys, an ordained priest, was found guilty by a District Court jury of sexual assault offences against St Stanislaus' College students during the 1970s and 1980s. Humphreys was sentenced in June 2018 to a minimum custodial term of three and a half years.
Notable alumni
The following individuals have been educated or served as staff members of St Stanislaus' College and St Charles' Seminary. They are listed with the years at College in brackets, where known.
Clergy and Brothers
Dom Richard Hugh Connolly OSB (1889) – a monk of Downside Abbey and a major contributor to Syriac scholarship (1873–1948)
Most Rev Patrick Vincent Dwyer (c. 1867–c. 1874) – Bishop of Maitland, 1909–1931
Rev Fr Chris Middleton SJ (1970–1975) – Rector and Deputy Headmaster, St Ignatius' College Athelstone, Adelaide, 1998–2002; Principal, St Aloysius College, Sydney, 2003–2014; Rector, Xavier College, Melbourne, since June 2014
Most Rev Patrick O'Regan (c. 1971–1976) – Bishop of Sale, Archbishop of Adelaide
Entertainment and the arts
John O'Grady (c. 1920s) – an author with works including the comic novel They're a Weird Mob
Damien Parer (c. 1930) – Australian war photographer
Bill Peach (c. 1940s) – ABC television journalist and host of This Day Tonight
Ainsley Melham (2009) – Broadway actor
Military
Leslie John Roberts Jones (c. 1900s) – RAAF pilot, aeronautical engineer
Ray Parer (c. 1910s) – RAAF pilot, aviator and adventurer