St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool

St. Francis Xavier's College
Address
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Woolton[1] Liverpool , Merseyside , L25 6EG England
Coordinates	53°22′58″N 2°52′49″W / 53.382662°N 2.880281°W / 53.382662; -2.880281Coordinates: 53°22′58″N 2°52′49″W / 53.382662°N 2.880281°W / 53.382662; -2.880281
Information
Type	Academy
Motto	"...life in all its fullness." Jn 10:10
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	October 27, 1842; 178 years ago (1842-10-27)
Founder	Society of Jesus
Local authority	Liverpool City Council
Specialist	Mathematics and Computing College
Department for Education URN	138463 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair	Andrew Keeley[2]
Headteacher	David Hayes
Staff	130
Gender	Boys, Coeducational in the 6th form
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1297
Colour(s)	Year 7-11 Maroon & Blue     Year 12-13 Black & Blue
Publication	SFX Extra and Prospectus
Website	www.sfx.liverpool.sch.uk

St Francis Xavier's College is a Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in Woolton, Liverpool, England. Year 7 to Year 11 are male only, whereas the Sixth Form (years 12 and 13) are coeducational.

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".

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.

Origins and history[]

The college was founded in 1842 in association with Stonyhurst College, Lancashire by the Society of Jesus which is a Roman Catholic religious order.^[3]

1842–1843: Soho Street[]

The college had a rector from 1842 to 1844. It had two pupils.^[4]

1843–1845: St. Anne Street[]

A year later, it had a dozen pupils. Father Francis Lythgoe moved the college to St. Anne Street where it stayed until 1845.^[4]

1846–1877: Salisbury Street[]

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.^[5]

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.^[5]

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.

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.^[6]

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.^[7]

Head Teachers[]

Notable alumni[]

• James Clement Baxter – Liberal politician and former chairman of Everton FC^[8]
• Charles Brabin – American film director^[9]
• Elvis Costello – musician, singer, and songwriter^[10]
• Denis Cosgrove – former professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles
• Gabriel George Coury – recipient of the Victoria Cross^[11]
• Chris Crookall – actor^[12]
• 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
• Sammy Lee – former footballer and assistant manager of Liverpool FC^[13]
• George Lynskey – High Court judge on the former King's Bench
• Vincent Malone – bishop
• Jimmy McGovern – screenwriter^[14]
• Mike Newell – footballer^[15]
• 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^[16]
• Paul Raymond – publisher of pornographic magazines
• Peter Serafinowicz – actor, writer, comedian^[17]
• Leslie Stuart – composer of Edwardian musical comedies^[18]
• Tony Warner – footballer
• Michael Xavier – musical theatre actor

See also[]

• St Francis Xavier
• St Francis Xavier Church, Liverpool
• Secondary school
• Foundation school
• List of Jesuit sites

References[]

Notes

Bibliography

External links[]

• Official website
• St. Francis Xavier's College Ofsted Reports
• EduBase