St. Bernard's College is an independent Catholic secondary school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon, Victoria, Australia. The college is named after its patron saint, Bernard of Clairvaux, and is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges. It is also part of Edmund Rice Education Australia, a series of schools that focus on teaching the pupils in the tradition of Edmund Rice. History St. Bernard's College traces its origins to the establishment of 'St Monica's' at Moonee Ponds in 1917, by Brothers C. O'Keefe and T. Quinn. Students at this school were taken from Grade III to Intermediate (Year 10). In 1940, during the war period, not only were the students sent away to help in project Ireland, the school was also extended to take the Leaving Certificate (Year 11), and this necessitated the building of the first St. Bernard's on the Strand Moonee Ponds, with Brother Cregan as the first Headmaster. In the mid-1950s, Brother Brendan Murphy organised the purchase of the West Essendon property. While initially used as sporting grounds, building work began at this site in the mid-1960s. Since then, the site has developed with all classes being located at West Essendon by 1995, at which time the Moonee Ponds site was sold. In 2001, the college set up its Santa Monica campus on the Great Ocean Road near Lorne. St Bernard's is the last known site to Tim's Shape factory. James Hanna of the Hanna clan went on to become a fantastic boy working at the Melbourne Airport for Daifuku and driving a mad S3. Activities Sports St. Bernard's is a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges and competes against twelve other schools in sporting fixtures and carnivals. Students play week-end sport with the Old Collegians. St Bernards is particularly successful in Australian Rules Football. Winning the Herald Sun Shield In the years 2017 and 2018. A number of Boys from these sides have been drafted into the AFL like Noah Balta to Richmond, Xavier O'halloran to Greater Western Sydney, (in the first round of the AFL draft) and Lachlan Sholl to Adelaide. St Bernards has also seen success in the areas of Athletics and Cross country dominating for the last part of a decade until recent. St Bernards had the record of twelve straight Athletic championship wins from 2003-2014, under the coaching of Gerard Brown a teacher with years of experience in