Xaverian College

Xaverian College is a Roman Catholic sixth form college in the English city of Manchester. It lies in the inner city suburb of Rusholme close to Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road. The College's location means that its intake is extremely diverse with many students coming from ethnic minorities as well as from various socio-economic classes. As well as running conventional AS-Level and A-Level courses, the college also provides facilities for the resitting of core GCSE subjects and various vocational courses. The college also caters to a group of around 50 students from the University of Manchester taking a foundation degree in dentistry and medicine. The college principal has been Mary Hunter since 2007. Evidence of the colleges success can be seen in the fact that so many past students have gained places at Oxford University and the University of Cambridge amongst other Russel Group Universities and Colleges

As well as catering for Roman Catholic students primarily, the College also caters for any students from any faith that comply and adher to the colleges policy of Peace and Harmony.

The College was attended by the author Anthony Burgess, record producer and Factory Records co-founder Martin Hannett, the musician Mark Collins of The Charlatans, Gary Mounfield of The Stone Roses, the artist Chris Ofili, the actor Bernard Hill, writers Billy Hopkins and Bill Keeth, theoretical physicist Benjamin Oakley,and the footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips.

History

The College was founded by the Xaverian Brothers in 1872 on open parklands. It was originally comprised of just a single building known as Firwood but over time through new building projects and acquisition, the Campus has grown. For this reason, buildings date from 1840 onwards.

The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier (CFX) are a religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The order is dedicated to Catholic education in the Britain, The United States and many other countries around the world. The existing Xaverian brothers are , to this day, travelling around the world inplacing Xaverian institutes where they are needed most.

Firwood was home to the brothers up until 1993 when the last of them left. It has been rumoured that the first Irish Prime Minister, Eamon de Valera, was hidden within the building while fleeing the British authorities. Fact|date=August 2007 Another former house which has now become part of the college, Ward Hall, was used as a camp for American servicemen during the Second World War. Fact|date=August 2007

The College operated as a Roman Catholic grammar school for boys until 1977, when it became a mixed sixth-form college. This allowed a significant expansion.

The College is very well known in the City of Manchester where it is one of the most successful and renowned colleges in the city. This is because of the colleges outstanding Ofsted report which rates the college as outstanding: grade 1, the highest grade of the scheme. also , the college has a very strong Academic reputation in Manchester and indeed the rest of the country with many subjects having 100% pass rates.

More recently, additions and renovations have been ongoing. The Ryken Centre and Mayfield buildings have been added within the last decade and provide students with high-tech information technology equipment.The Ryken building was suitably named after one of the institutions founders, Theodore James Ryken of the Xaverian brothers.

Xaverian college was also attended by new manchester band The JATS. Jamie McGarva, Aaron De-valda, Tom Roche and Sam Graham. They are currently working hard in the studio and are soon to be releasing their first single "36 years old." They are also working on other projects such as the riff. (www.myspace.com/thejats16)

Buildings

Xaverian College consists of many buildings situated on two sides of Lower Park Road. in total there are 8 buildings that make up the campus. They are; Ward Hall, Redcliffe, Marlylands, Firwood, Xavier, Sunbury, Ryken and Mayfield. The buildings on campus date back from 1840 onwards. The college buildings revolve around a central green where sports and social activities take place.

Ward Hall caters for; Modern Languages, Geography, History, Anchient history and classical Civilisation.

Redcliffe for; Sport Studies, Drama and Music.

Marylands for; English Language and English Literature.

Firwood houses the main student common room, Catering Facilities, student services, learning support suite, additional learning support and tutorial rooms, college chapel and RE rooms, administration offices and The main Reception.

Xavier is home to the university of Manchester foundation courses in; Medicine and Dentistry and also houses Mathematics and Sciences.

The Sunbury building houses; RE classes, Art Foundation students and a computer network laboratory.

Ryken holds the careers service. It also provides a seminar room for visiting speakers and a large drop centre where students are able to make use of college ICT facilities. The ground floor of the building plays host the the College Art Department and Photographic Studio.

Mayfield holds; Business Studies, Economics, Film studies, health and social care, ICT, Computing, Media Studies, Psychology and Sociology.

External links

* [http://www.xaverian.ac.uk/ Xaverian College website]