St Bede's College is a private Catholic secondary school for boys in the Melbourne suburb of Mentone. The College was founded in 1938 by the De La Salle Brothers, a religious order based on the teachings of Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, and is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges, the Council of International Schools and the International Boys' School Coalition.
The College has two campuses: one in Mentone on 16 acres that accommodates students from Years 7 to 12, and a middle years campus in Bentleigh East on 7 acres, tailored to students in Years 7 to 9.
St Bede's College attracts students from Mentone and surrounding suburbs, and Bentleigh East and surrounds.
History
thumb|School photo, (boarder's matron in white, seated)
The College was founded in 1938 at Mentone Beach, by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or De La Salle Order of Brothers, also known as The French Christian Brothers. The Brothers built the college overlooking Mentone Beach which opened in February, 1938. The Order had purchased a property which included a Victorian homestead, "the McCristal Estate", that had been used by Mentone Girls Grammar School since the early 1920s. From its inception, St Bede's was a day and boarding school until 1998. It remains an independent school in the Lasallian and Catholic tradition.
The school was named after St. Bede the Venerable, a 7th-century Benedictine monk and priest, who spent his life teaching and writing at Jarrow Abbey, and who was the first English historian, famous for his publication of Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
As a boarding school its bailiwick was statewide and encompassed southern New South Wales, and internationally from South East Asia, the South Pacific and the expat community. Its ethos is that of an essentially middle class institution, with an emphasis on athleticism, religion, and discipline. It now comprises approximately 1950 day students.
In 2021, the former St James Catholic Regional College in Bentleigh East amalgamated with St Bede's, under the overall operation of St Bede's College.
Curriculum
thumb|St Bede's Mentone
Years 7 and 8 students of the College study a variety of core subjects:
- Arts (art, drama and music)
- English
- Digital Technology (STEM)
- Health and Physical Education
- Humanities (Geography and History)
- Languages (Indonesian, Italian and Minionese)
- Materials Technology
- Mathematics
- Science
- Religious Education
Years 9 and 10 students also complete the subjects listed above, some of which are elective subjects. This framework is designed to comply with the Australian Curriculum.
St Bede's College offers its senior students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and VCE Vocational Major.
{| class="wikitable"
|+VCE results 2012–2025
!Year
!Rank
!Median study score
!Scores of 40+ (%)
!Cohort size
|-
|2012
|143
|31
|6.9
|352
|-
|2013
|105
|32
|9.5
|345
|-
|2014
|138
|31
|7.9
|329
|-
|2015
|143
|31
|7.6
|372
|-
|2016
|118
|31
|9.9
|347
|-
|2017
|141
|31
|7.9
|349
|-
|2018
|170
|30
|7.8
|333
|-
|2019
|178
|30
|6.3
|326
|-
|2020
|183
|30
|5.9
|358
|-
|2021
|190
|30
|6.4
|347
|-
|2022
|261
|29
|4.2
|338
|-
|2023
|123
|31
|8.3
|343
|-
|2024
|177
|30
|6.9
|374
|-
|2025
|176
|30
|7
|397
|}
Technology
In 2016, the College's F1 in Schools team, Infinitude, set the World Record at the World Finals in Austin, Texas, in collaboration with Brighton Secondary School, Adelaide.
In this same year, a team of students successfully won the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge in the Year 9–12 Gamemaker/Gamestar Mechanic category with their game Spectrum.
Principals
- Br Simon Staunton: 1937–1938
- Br Julian Lennon: 1939–1947
- Br Colman Molloy: 1948–1952 and 1959–1965
- Br Finian Allman: 1953–1957
- Br William Firman: 1974–1987
- Br Garry Coyte: 2007–2017
- John Finn: 2018–2021
- Deborah Frizza: 2022–current
Sport
St Bede's is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC).
ACC premierships & championships
St Bede's has won the following ACC first division senior premierships and first division aggregate championships:
- Aggregate (3) – 2003, 2022, 2023
- Athletics (8) – 1958, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1986, 1987
- Basketball (10) – 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2015
- Cricket (32) – 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023
- Cross Country (24) – 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
- Football (16) – 1953, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2011, 2019
- Handball (4) – 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947
- Hockey (16) – 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2016, 2022
- Soccer (6) – 1987, 1993, 1996, 2011, 2012, 2023
- Swimming (15) – 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
- Table Tennis (1) – 2023
- Tennis (13) – 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2023
- Triathlon (4) – 2016, 2017, 2019, 2023
- Golf (23) – 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012
Alumni
Business
- Michael Hirstformer CEO Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and current member of the board of directors AMP Limited
- Hon. Justice Shane Marshall (Dux of Humanities 1973) judge of the Federal Court of Australia
- Hon. Marcus Stephenweightlifter and President of Nauru
- Senator David Van – elected in 2019.
- Hon. Justice Neil Young QCjudge of the Federal Court of Australia
- Chris Cestermember of the band Jet
- Greg Evansradio & television presenter
- Carl and Mark Fennessy (1979 and 1985)founders of Crackerjack Productions, joint CEOs of Endemol Shine Australia
- Eddie Perfectactor/comedian
- Scott Bolandcricket player