Loyola College
This co-educational regional secondary college was established in 1980 and now serves the needs of seven parishes in the Diamond Valley region. It is located on part of the site of the former Jesuit seminary and operates under the Ignatian education tradition. It usually has an enrolment of around 1300 students with about 165 staff members.
Several links between LCW and SPOCA are noteworthy: both SPJC and the original Loyola College were Catholic seminaries run by Jesuits for the Archdiocese of Melbourne; and the main LCW building is very familiar to Old Patricians from annual retreats as students held here at the seminary as it was in the mid-twentieth century.
SPOCA Annual Award for an LCW student
SPOCA has been pleased to work with the Loyola Principal when establishing an ongoing relationship with us to reflect our common Jesuit background. The result of that connection was the settting up of an annual 'SPOCA Alumni Award' to be presented to one student each year. The award is now well established. The intention was that it was to be given to the student who best demonstrated the College motto and the Jesuit ethos of 'Justice, Faith and Mercy' in their school life. The LCW Awards Night booklet outlines the background for the award as shown below:
LCW Award Explanation.pdfWinners of the award have been:
2016 – Antonia Gazzana (LCW Co-Captain 2017)
2017 – Maria Quadrino (LCW Co-Captain 2018)
2018 – Laura Spiby (LCW Mackillop House Co-Captain)
2019 – Neisha Bernal (LCW Christian Service Vice-Captain)
2020 – Ms Eleanor Glover (The introduction to the presentation included the following recognition: Eleanor has been involved in the Loyola Young Vinnies Conference for most of her time at Loyola. She is the current Christian Service Vice Co-Captain and is next year’s Christian Service Co-Captain. Last year she attended the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Perth).
2021 – Matthew Stanton (LCW College Co-Captain; 2021 Dux and College Co-Captain, represented the College in numerous sports and debating, initiated and supported a number of social justice events, excellent ambassador for the College and a role model for younger students)
2022 – Leewa Wilfred was the successful recipient in 2022
2023 – Christiana Sison, a Year 11 student, received the Award in 2023
The 2023 LCW Awards Night was an impressive event, with many students being recognized for their achievements in all areas of school life: academic, sporting, community, and spiritual. Despite the large number of students being given their awards individually on-stage, the organization of the whole proceedings was completed most professionally, and all within a two hour time-frame. A commendable achievement on the part of Alison Leutchford (Acting Principal), Matthew Luczek (Deputy Principal), and their large team of assistants.
The photo at right is of Christiana who was given our 2023 award ...
Refer to the following weblink for further background on Loyola – http://loyola.vic.edu.au/