St. Bernard's College, Melbourne


St Bernard's College is an independent Catholic secondary school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon West, Victoria, Australia. The college is named after its patron saint, Bernard of Clairvaux, and is a member of the Catholic Colleges. It is also part of Edmund Rice Education Australia, a series of schools that focus on teaching the pupils in the tradition of Edmund Rice. As of 2025, the school's principal is Michael Davies and the vice-principal is Therese Wilson.
WWW sbc.vic.edu.au

History

St Bernard's College traces its origins to the establishment of St Monica's at Moonee Ponds in 1917, by Brothers C. O'Keefe and T. Quinn. Students at this school were taken from Grade III to Intermediate.
In 1940, during the war period, not only were the students sent away to help in Ireland, the school was also extended to take the Leaving Certificate, and this necessitated the building of the first St Bernard's on The Strand, Moonee Ponds, with Brother Cregan as the first headmaster.
In the mid-1950s, Brother Brendan Murphy organised the purchase of the West Essendon property. While initially used as sporting grounds, building work began at this site in the mid-1960s. Since then, the site has developed with all classes being located at West Essendon by 1995, at which time the Moonee Ponds site was sold. In 2001, the college set up its Santa Monica campus on the Great Ocean Road near Lorne. This campus is most notably used by Year 9 students where they live, study, and undertake outdoor education for four-week periods as part of the standard curriculum. Since 2023, the college has had its Year 9 students at a dedicated campus in Aberfeldie, known as Resurrection House. Resurrection House was formerly a Catholic primary school established in 1952, until it was closed and sold to St Bernard's College.

Curriculum

St Bernard's College offers its senior students the Victorian Certificate of Education.
YearRankMedian study scoreScores of 40+ Cohort size
2012953210.4284
2013983211297
2014109328.7304
2015953210.5384
2016973210.2367
2017139318314
2018130318.8327
2019172307.5339
2020181306320
2021201305.3299
2022146316.3302
2023198305.6347
2024130318363
2025132318.4312

Term dates

For the 2025 Victorian school year, the current term dates are as below.Term 1 - Monday, 3 February /Tuesday 4 February - Friday, 4 AprilTerm 2 - Tuesday, 22 April - Friday, 4 JulyTerm 3 - Tuesday, 22 July - Friday, 19 SeptemberTerm 4 - Monday, 6 October - Friday, 5 December

Activities

Sports

St Bernard's is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges and competes against twelve other schools in sporting fixtures and carnivals. Students play week-end sport with the Old Collegians. St Bernards is particularly successful in Australian Rules Football, winning the Herald Sun Shield in 2017 and 2018. A number of boys from these sides have been drafted into the AFL like Noah Balta to Richmond, Xavier O'Halloran to Greater Western Sydney, and Lachlan Sholl to Adelaide.
St Bernards had a record twelve straight Athletic championship wins from 2003 to 2014, under the coaching of Gerard Brown, a teacher with years of experience in the role as head coach of the Athletics squad and Cross Country team.
The St Bernard's Football Club, which competes in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, plays its home matches at the St Bernard's College Oval.

ACC premierships

St Bernard's has won the following ACC premierships.
  • Athletics – 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • Basketball – 1991, 2016
  • Cricket – 1979, 1997, 2005, 2018, 2021, 2024
  • Cross Country – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
  • Australian Rules Football – 1961, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2021
  • Golf – 2014, 2015, 2016
  • Handball – 1956
  • Hockey – 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2018
  • Lawn Bowls – 2021, 2024
  • Football – 1995, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2021, 2024
  • Swimming – 1995, 1998, 2012
  • Table Tennis – 2001, 2002, 2010, 2013
  • Tennis – 1952, 1954, 1991, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2024
  • Triathlon – 2018
  • Volleyball – 1995, 1996, 1997, 2013

Performing arts

The college has musical productions and music programs. It has combined with St Columba's College, to stage shows annually. St Bernard's College productions in conjunction with St Columba's College have been recognised by the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria.
2024 – "Chicago"
  • Commendation for Junior Production of the Year
  • Linda Henderson, Nominee for Direction of a Junior Performance
  • Linda Henderson, Kira Neilson & Monique Zammit, Nominees for Choreography
  • Ed Chan, commended for Musical Direction of a Junior Production
  • Cooper Marin, Recipient of Best Lead Performer in a Male Presenting Role as Billy Flynn
  • Sienna Alexander, commended for Minor/Cameo Role as ''Emcee''

Notable alumni

Notable staff