St Aloysius' College, Glasgow
St Aloysius' College is a selective fee-paying, independent, Jesuit school in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1859 by the Jesuits, who previously staffed the college, and named after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Its strong Jesuit ethos emphasises practice of the Roman Catholic faith both in the church and in the community, with many charitable and community-based groups in the school although there are no Jesuits now in the school.
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Motto | Ad majora natus sum (Latin) |
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Motto in English | I am born for greater things |
Type | Independent selective fee-paying coeducational day school |
Established | 12 September 1859 |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic (Jesuit) |
Chairman | Joseph Hughes |
Headmaster | Matthew Bartlett |
Students | 640 (Junior School) 990 (Senior School) 1630 Total |
Address | 45 Hill Street , , United Kingdom G3 6RJ 55.8667°N 4.2635°W |
Alma Mater song | "Carmen Aloisianum" |
Publication | The Gonzaga Eagle |
Colours | Myrtle and gold 9 |
Nickname | Aloysians |
Website | www |
St Aloysius' College is a co-educational school with a kindergarten, junior school, and senior school. There are four houses: Aloysius Gonzaga, Ignatius of Loyola, John Ogilvie and Francis Xavier, named after Jesuit saints.
The College motto is Ad majora natus sum, which means "I am born for greater things". As in many Jesuit schools, pupils are instructed to inscribe AMDG (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam – "To the greater glory of God") on all work. The school emblem is an eagle, and the College hymn is the Carmen Aloisianum.
History
Foundation
The school was established on 12 September 1859 at Charlotte Street, near Glasgow Green, in the East End of Glasgow. Here lived the city's largely migrant Catholic community from Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, both of which groups the school was intended to serve. Since 1866 the College's main campus has been situated in Garnethill on the north side of Glasgow city centre, adjacent to the Glasgow School of Art. Originally, the school was for boys only. In 1979 the admission policy was changed by the Governors during the tenure of Headmaster Fr. Henry Anthony Richmond SJ and girls were admitted.[1] Girls now make up half of the school population.
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Buildings
Buildings include the original category-B listed Italianate Chandlery Building, including the administration block, library, and refectory. Its 1908 and 1926 extensions are known collectively as The Hanson Building, which accommodates classrooms for languages and the humanities as well as the school chapel and gymnasium.
The Mount Building, which originally housed the city's first Royal Hospital for Sick Children from 1882, and until recently housed the junior school (whose patron is St John Ogilvie), today houses music, art and drama, and the kindergarten.
More modern additions include the Clavius Building housing the Mathematics, Science, and Technology faculty and the Junior School Building, both of which have won RIBA architectural awards,[2] and have been identified as amongst the best modern Scottish buildings.
In 2011, the number of buildings and the size of the campus increased with the acquisition of the Mercy Convent site and buildings. The building is used for additional support lessons, as well as a gym for students, offices and a staff room.[1]
The school has a close relationship with the Jesuit parish church of St Aloysius next door. The church is regularly used by the college and Masses offered for both the junior and senior schools.[3] The building is listed category A, designed by C. J. Menart in the baroque revival style and modelled on the Church of the Gesú, original Jesuit headquarters in Rome.[4]
A new Sports Hall was recently constructed on the College campus, and open for use from August 2017.[5] The school's main sports grounds are on the north-eastern outskirts of the city at Millerston.
Headmasters
- Father William Forrester, SJ - ( -1977)
- Father Henry Anthony Richmond, SJ - (1977-1991)
Father Hanvey (1991 - ??)
- Father Adrian Porter, SJ - (1995-2004)
- Mr John E Stoer - (2004-2013)
- Mr John Browne - (2013-2016)
- Mr Matthew Bartlett - (2016–Present)
Junior School and Kindergarten
St Aloysius' College Kindergarten and Junior School in Glasgow support children from the ages of 3 to 12 years old. The kindergarten is situated in the Mount Building, while the Junior school is in a modern building along Hill Street. As well as attending lessons in the Junior school, the pupils will also receive preparation for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Holy Communion as part of the school's three-fold tuition for their academic, social and spiritual lives.[6] [7]
Houses
A house system was established by headmaster Fr. Adrian J Porter SJ in 1997. The four houses, named after notable Jesuit saints, compete against each other in events including rugby, hockey, athletics, inter-house debating and a quiz. Each house also has a housemaster and colour:
- Aloysius Gonzaga: Blue
- Ignatius Loyola : Red
- John Ogilvie: Green
- Francis Xavier: Gold
Under headmaster John E. Stoer, the house system was replaced with the year system, except for sports and chess. This meant that instead of each house having its own housemaster, each year would have a Head of Year and a Deputy Head of Year.
Previously pupils were divided into 'Romans' and 'Carthaginians' with 'victories' being awarded to pupils for good work. These were totalled at the end of the academic year and overall awarded to the house with the most victories.
As of 2016, there is no longer a Campion House, and instead Gonzaga, named after the patron saint of the school.
Athletics
Aloysius' rugby team won the Scottish Rugby U16 Schools' Cup Final in 2016.[8]
Notable former pupils (Old Aloysians or O.A.)
- A. J. Cronin (1896 - 1981) - author
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- Canon Sydney MacEwan (1908 - 1991) - singer
- Ian Bannen (1928 - 1999) actor
- James Loughran (b. 1931) conductor
- Tom Conti (b. 1941) - actor
- Sean Scanlan (1948 - 2017) - actor
- Christopher Whyte (b. 1952) - novelist
- Paul Coia (b. 1960) - broadcaster
- Fred Morrison (b. 1963) - musician
- John Cummings, musician
- Armando Iannucci (b. 1963) - comedian
- Hardeep Singh Kohli (b. 1969) - broadcaster
- Brendan O'Hare (b. 1970) - musician
- Sanjeev Kohli (b. 1971) - comedian
Academia and medicine
- Owen Hannaway (1939-2006) - historian
- Patrick J. O'Donnell (1948-2016) - university lecturer
- Prof Sir Harry Burns (b. 1951) - Ex-Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, now professor of global public health at the University of Strathclyde
- Prof John Joseph Haldane (b. 1954) - professor of philosophy
- Prof Paul Dourish (b. 1966) - professor of computer science
Politics and law
- James Marley (1893-1954) - politician
- John Thomas Wheatley (1908 - 1988) - Baron Wheatley, politician and judge
- Patrick Kavanagh CBE (1923-2013), senior police officer
- Joseph Beltrami (1932 - 2015) - Glasgow defence lawyer
- James Stuart Gordon (b. 1936) - Lord Gordon of Strathblane, CBE
- The Rt Hon Lord Gill (b. 1942) - former Lord President of the Court of Session
- Michael Scanlan (1946 - 2015) - Former President of the Law Society of Scotland[9]
- Gerald Malone (b. 1950) - former MP
- Paul McBride (1964 - 2012) - QC, lawyer
- Austin Lafferty, (b. 1959) former President of the Law Society of Scotland[10]
- Polly Higgins (1968 - 2019) - barrister, author and international environmental lawyer, founder of the ECOCIDE initiative, advocate for the recognition of Ecocide as a criminal offence
Religious
- John Maguire (1851-1920) - Archbishop of Glasgow
- Rt Rev James Black (1894 - 1968) - first Bishop of Paisley
- Most Rev James Donald Scanlan (1899 - 1976) - former Archbishop of Glasgow
- Rt Rev Stephen McGill (1912 - 2005) - former Bishop of Argyll and the Isles and second Bishop of Paisley
- Rev James J. Quinn (1919 - 2010) - priest, hymnwriter and ecumenist.
- Maurice Taylor (b. 1926), Bishop of the Diocese of Galloway
- Rt Rev Peter Antony Moran (b. 1935) - emeritus Bishop of Aberdeen
Sports
- Charlie Church (1929 - 2010) - footballer[11]
- David Ralph (b. 1972) - hockey player, GB & England hockey coaching team
- Carlo di Ciacca (b. 1977) - former rugby union player
- Simon Lynch (b. 1982) - footballer
- Ryan O'Leary (b. 1987) - footballer
- Joe Coffey (b. 1988) - professional wrestler
- Dan York - rugby union player
Gallery
- St Aloysius' College Crest - The Gonzaga Eagle
- St Aloysius' College, Glasgow
- Scott Street building
- Hill Street building
- The date stone on the Hill Street building
References
- "Our History". www.staloysius.org. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- "St Aloysius Maths Building, Glasgow, Elder & Cannon Architects", glasgowarchitecture.co.uk, URL Retrieved 27 September 2006
- Religious Life, St Aloysius College site Retrieved 24 January 2013
- British Listed Buildings Retrieved 24 January 2013
- "Our New Sports Facility - St Aloysius' College". community.staloysius.org. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- Junior School, St Aloysius College Junior School Glasgow Retrieved 24 January 2013
- Kindergarten, St Aloysius College Kindergarten Glasgow Retrieved 21 February 2019
- "St Aloysius' overcome Strathallan in U16 Cup Final showcase | Scottish Rugby Union". www.scottishrugby.org. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- "Michael Scanlan". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- McCabe, John V. (2000). A History of St Aloysius' College 1859–1999. St Aloysius' College. p. 215. ISBN 0-9538287-0-0.
- "Obituary: Charlie Church". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
External links
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