Padua College is an independent Roman Catholic boys' primary and high school located in the Brisbane suburb of Kedron, Queensland, Australia. The College is the only school owned and operated by the Franciscan Friars in Australia and only the second in the Southern Hemisphere along with St Francis of Assisi College in Timor-Leste. Students of the College are known in the community as "Paduans". History Padua College derives its name from Franciscan friar Saint Anthony of Padua, appointed by St Francis as the first professor of theology for the friars. Padua is the university city of Northern Italy where St Anthony died. Padua began in 1956 when the Franciscan Sisters, who cared for the parish primary school of St Anthony, were no longer able to cater for the large number of boys at their school. At the request of Sister Mary Bernadette O’Callaghan OSF, the friars, who had taken charge of the Kedron parish since 1929, agreed to begin a separate school for boys. Damian Nolan OFM was appointed nominal rector of the new school, which began with two lay teachers, Eileen Cameron and John Fox, and 89 boys in Years 4, 5 and 6. The friars began teaching at the school in 1957 with the arrival of Alban Mitchell OFM, Angelo O’Hagan OFM and, a little later, Odoric (Hugh) Fathers OFM. Since that time, Padua has developed with many extensions and facilities. At present there are over 1360 students enrolled at the college. Sport The college is a member of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC). Padua rugby league alumni include Paul McCabe, Paul Vautin, Shane Perry, David Stagg, David Shillington, David Bouveng and Dane Carlaw. AIC premierships Padua College's Associated Independent Colleges premierships since its inception in 1999 include: Confraternity Shield results The Confraternity Shield is a statewide schoolboy rugby league competition in Queensland that started in 1980. These State of Origin players include Paul Vautin, David Shillington, David Stagg, Dane Carlaw, Paul McCabe and Lindsay Collins. Co-curricular activities The College offers debating and public speaking events, chess competitions and music and drama programs. In addition, the College also enters teams into the AIC competition for the following sports: Swimming, Water Polo, Cricket, Volleyball, Rugby, AFL, Football (soccer), Tennis, Basketball, Golf, Athletics, Chess and Cross Country. Every alternate year the boys and girls from Mt Alvernia and Padua College produce a stage musical. Recent productions have included Joseph and