# Nazareth College, Melbourne

Nazareth College is an independent Roman Catholic comprehensive co-educational secondary day school, located in Noble Park North, a south eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Established in 1986, the college currently caters for approximately 800 students in Year 7 through to Year 12.

## History

Nazareth was established in 1986 through the collaboration of four local parish primary-level schools: St Elizabeth's in Noble Park North, St Gerard's in Dandenong North, St Justin's in Wheelers Hill and St Simon's in Rowville. At the time, it was seen that there was a need for a local regional college following the Catholic tradition and hence, Nazareth College was formed to cater to students from the four parishes. A majority of the students at Nazareth College are graduates of one of the parish schools listed above.
Nazareth college has a day to celebrate the school called "Naz Day" in September. Each pastoral room hosts an activity and hires food trucks or a ride. For the whole school day, the school is transformed into a fun fair. Toward the end, around 1:00, founding members return to the school for a full assembly and give a speech. Then the school talent show, consisting mostly of musical performances, begins. After that, school is dismissed.
Nazareth College's past principals have been:
* Paul D'Astoli (1986–1996)
* Gregory Clarke (1997–2006)
* Anne McDonald (2007–2016)
* Sam Cosentino (2017–present)

## Structure

Nazareth College comprises a Middle School and Senior School. Middle School caters for the students in Years 7–9 and the Senior School caters for the students in 10–12.
In the Middle School, students must complete the core subjects (subjects compulsory to all students including English, Science, Mathematics, Arts, Technology, and a Language subject) such as English, Mathematics, etc. At Year 9, students are given the opportunity to select subjects including a language (either Italian or Japanese) and a variety of other subjects.
In the Senior School, focus is placed upon the completion of the primarily academic VCE, or the more trade orientated VCAL.

## Academics

Nazareth College senior students study for the Victorian Certificate of Education (Nazareth does not offer the International Baccalaureate), achieved after graduating from Year 12. While this is usually undertaken over a period of two years the school recently instituted an acceleration program that allows gifted students to do, at most, one Year 11 subject in Year 10. A Monash University bursary is also awarded to the top student in Year 11 at each campus to help pay for the cost of Year 12 studies.

## Sport

Nazareth College is a member of the Southern Independent Schools (SIS).

### SIS premierships

Nazareth College has won the following SIS premierships.
Boys:
* Cricket – 2000
* Soccer (5) – 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2017
Girls:
* Basketball (2) – 2001, 2010
* Football – 2010
* Netball – 2003
* Soccer (4) – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

## International students

Nazareth College has fostered a large international student program, with at least twenty international students studying in each of Years 11 & 12, these students come from primarily China, Japan and Vietnam. To continue to foster its international links the school regularly hosts students from overseas to study at Nazareth College.

## Student leadership

Students of every age have the opportunity to take up a position of leadership. Students may become a Class Captain or SRC (Years 7–11), a House Captain (Years 8, 10 and 12) and Middle School Captain (Year 9).
In Year 12, students have a variety of leadership opportunities: There are 12 positions on the Student Representative Council (SRC); 4 House Captain positions, 4 Arts Captain positions & 4 College Captain positions. These captain positions are broken up into:
* College Captain (2 people)
* College Vice-Captain (2 people)
* House Captains (12 people, 2 for each house)

## Notable alumni

* Joanne Accom, dance, pop singer-songwriter and ARIA award winner
* Jonathon Patton, AFL player for Greater Western Sydney and the number 1 draft pick in 2011