Salesian College, Farnborough

Salesian College, is an independent Roman Catholic school in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. It admits boys from the age of 11 to 18, and girls in the Sixth Form. The College was founded in 1901 as a small preparatory school for boys, but soon expanded to provide boarding secondary education owing to its increasing popularity.

Salesian College
Location
Farnborough
,
Hampshire
,
GU14 6PA

England
Information
TypeIndependent day school
MottoVirtus Sola Nobilitas
(Latin: "Virtue is the only nobility")
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic (Salesian)
Established1901
Department for Education URN116543 Tables
HeadmasterMr Gerard Owens
GenderBoys
Coeducational (Sixth Form)
Age11 to 18
Enrolment640~
Colour(s)Blue and yellow
Patron SaintSt John Bosco
Websitehttp://www.salesiancollege.com

For the 2007–08 academic year, the College announced that it would admit girls into the Sixth Form for the first time. The college has a strong record of academic achievement, with a 100% pass rate at GCSE in 2015, and 99.5% at A Level.

History

In 1901, Bishop Cahill of the Diocese of Portsmouth invited the Salesians of Battersea to take over the orphanage, a former tin factory, in Queen's Road, Farnborough. This marked the beginning of the Salesians' work in education in the local area and as a parish.[1]

By 1902 a reporter in Sheldrakes Military Gazette noted that the thirty 'poor Catholic waifs and those sons of sore stricken Roman Catholic parents' had a home 'comfortable in every respect',[2] and were learning trades to prepare them for life's struggles.

Under previous Headmaster, Mr Wilson, the College witnessed substantial structural growth, the most significant being the erection of the Sean Devereux Sixth Form Centre providing facilities for girls, and with new classrooms built equipped with improved technology. Upon the announcement that girls were to be admitted for the first time in the Sixth Form, Mr Wilson was quoted as saying, "At this time more and more boys’ schools are finding that the advantages of single sex schooling up to the age of 16 are best followed by having ladies in the sixth form environment as a preparation for higher education." The College maintains links with the nearby Alton Convent School and often organises joint activities and events together, such as the yearly Lower Sixth trip to Tregoyd and the Senior College Prom.

The most recent addition to the college is the renovation of the old music school. The process began during the 2012–2013 academic year and the new Father Brendan McGuinness Music Building was completed and officially opened in September 2013. It is named in honour of the college's former chaplain who has a long-standing affiliation with the college, lasting over half a century.

HCPT's Annual Pilgrimage to Lourdes

Every Easter, boys and girls from the Lower Sixth go on the HCPT Pilgrimage to Lourdes. In the past, students from Poland and Romania have joined the students from Salesian College. However not in 2020 as the trip got terminated due to Covid-19[3]

Notable former pupils

Among the College's alumni are the host of Britain's first-ever Prime Ministerial Debate (in April 2010), ITV News journalist and presenter Alastair Stewart,as well as the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Richard and Salesian missionary and aid-worker Sean Devereux, assassinated in Kismayu, Somalia in 1993 while working for UNICEF. There is a stained-glass window to commemorate Devereux's life and work in the College Chapel. Racing driver and Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack contestant[4] Jeremy Metcalfe also attended the College.

England international rugby player Phil Taylor and musical theatre actor Daniel Boys also attended the college.[5] Naturalist, writer and television presenter Steve Backshall attended for a few years in the 1980s. More recently 2012 - 2019 World Champion Paraclimber Matthew Phillips attended the college.[6]

Farnborough Old Salesians Association

The Farnborough Old Salesians Association (OSA) is a society for former pupils who wish to contact other Old Boys. It has its foundations in the 1920s, with its first formal meeting held in 1927.[7] The association has organised whole-year reunions.[8] The association aims to provide all of its Old Boys around the world with information on other Old Boys, on events at the College, and on the OSA's activities.

For those Old Boys who live locally, the OSA organises activities throughout the year, such as a Remembrance Mass in November, OSA soccer matches and the soccer tour, OSA golf days and the golf tour, the Annual Reunion and AGM (two weeks after Easter), a presence at the College's Garden Fete, as well as funding OSA Prizes at Prizegiving. The OSA regularly assists the Salesian family in various local undertaking and around the world by activity or financial aid. The OSA maintains links with the wider Salesian family by means of the Salesian Past Pupils UK and Ex Allievi di Don Bosco.[9]

In the 1970s the OSA donated a marble tablet in commemoration of the Old Boys who gave their lives in the Second World War. The tablet shows the OSA (at that time the Salesian Old Boys Association Farnborough) badge and the motto "Salesian Old Boys Let not the glory fade away Keep bright the flame of memory and honour them 1939–1945." The new President of the OSA is Greg Sudell (a pupil from 1988 to 1995), who succeeds John Clenshaw (a pupil from 1937 to 1944).[10]

Headmaster
1997–2014: Mr Patrick A. Wilson
2014–present: Mr Gerard Owens (Ged the head)
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gollark: It's probably terrafied.

See also

References
  1. "Many Lives through Many Eyes..." A Hundred Years of the Salesians in Farnborough, 2001, p. 8. Compiled by Rev. Francis Sutherland, SDB
  2. Sheldrakes Military Gazette as cited in "Many Lives through Many Eyes..." A Hundred Years of the Salesians in Farnborough, 2001, p. 8
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Dyke, Peter (3 January 2008). "Big Brother:Meet The Contestants". Daily Star. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  5. Wakefield Express 5 September 1959
  6. "Salesian College Autumn Term Newsletter Jan 2019" (PDF). Salesian College. January 2019.
  7. "Many Lives through Many Eyes..." A Hundred Years of the Salesians in Farnborough, 2001, p. 113
  8. Farnborough Old Salesians Association webpage Archived 12 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Many Lives through Many Eyes..." A Hundred Years of the Salesians in Farnborough, 2001, p.114
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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