St Joseph’s Nudgee College has a rich history that dates more than 125 years, with a grand reputation built by successive generations of students, staff, parents and community members.
Located only 16 kilometres from Brisbane, the college’s campus sits on 136 hectares of sprawling bushland and ovals.
The founder of the college, Ambrose Treacy, recognised the need for a Catholic boarding school for rural Queensland in the 1880s, as boys from the region were sent to boarding schools located far away in NSW.
To achieve his vision, Treacy raised money for the college and gathered boarding enrolments while travelling on horseback around regional Queensland.
“We say that Nudgee College was originally built by funds from the bush, for boys of the bush,” principal Peter Fullagar said.
Since those early, humble beginnings, the college has continued to grow from strength to strength throughout the years. Today, Nudgee College has 1300 day-school enrolments and 280 boarders.
At Nudgee College, students are taught, cared for and challenged by teachers who want the best for each student. A focus on the holistic education, personal development and wellbeing of each student remains important for the college.
Offering some of the best facilities in the country, Nudgee College has everything available to students on one footprint – modern, technologically-advanced classrooms, an exceptional agricultural centre that includes cattle yards, a state-of-the-art science labs and a trade centre designed for vocational education learning areas.
“In any one day, boys can move from one of our many Google classrooms, to the agricultural centre to tend to the on-site cattle, take a PE class on our Olympic-grade athletics track, or perform on stage in our purpose-built 400-seat auditorium,” Mr Fullagar said.
The most outstanding facility the college has to offer however – and one of their proudest achievements – is the newly redeveloped boarding village that was completed in 2015.
“The boarding community has been at the heart of the college since its founding, and is a valued and thriving facet of Nudgee College, with plenty of fantastic opportunities to further all aspects of a student’s development,” Mr Fullagar said.
The Bathersby Boarding Village features spacious individual rooms, shared common areas for study and recreation and a large communal courtyard with eco-friendly design. It also offers a health centre staffed with skilled nurses, doctors and physiotherapists that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and a kitchen staffed with chefs that prepare nutritious, well-balanced meals.