Established: 1986
Named for: St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Colours: White / Black
Flag: Composed of quarters of white and black and eighths of gold and red. The black and white segments signify the Dominican Order and the red and gold, the colours of the Aquino family crest, which features two lions rampant.
Patron: St Thomas Aquinas (Feast Day: 28 January)
2023 House Captain: Adrian D’Angelo / Deputy: Massimo Gazzola
2023 Head of House: Mr Corey Leditschke
2023 Home Group Teachers: Mrs Linda Harvey, Ms Dina Hasaneen, Mr Matthew Wallace
House Awards
Fr John Neill Athletics Cup (est.1987)
- Winner: 1993, 1994, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010
- Runner-up: 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008, 2014
Annual Swimming Carnival (est. 1987)
- Winner: 1990, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
- Runner-up: 1998, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2022
St Albert’s Shield for Academic Excellence (est. 1993)
- Winner: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005
- Runner-up: 2000, 2001
House Spirit Shield (est. 2004)
- Winner: 2005
- Runner-up: 2006
House Captains
- 1987 – Andrew Harris
- 1988 – Michael Hogan
- 1989 – Gerard Maung
- 1990 – Dean Page
- 1991 – Simon Clark
- 1992 – Mohammed Hussein, Tom Snelling (Deputy)
- 1993 – Sam Bridgwood
- 1994 – Glen Varona
- 1995 – Matthew Hope
- 1996 – Michael Luppino, Simon Marafioti (Deputy)
- 1997 – Matthew Belton, Leo Varona (Deputy)
- 1998 – Daniel Roocke, Damien Brown (Deputy)
- 1999 – Rhys Peters, Huy Dinh (Deputy)
- 2000 – David Johnston, Daniel Luppino (Deputy)
- 2001 – Jonathan Cini, Michael Meier (Deputy)
- 2002 – David Tassone
- 2003 – Michael Weldon, Christian Martino (Deputy)
- 2004 – Craig Steiner, Luke McEntee (Deputy)
- 2005 – Matthew Sloan, Patrick Harmer (Deputy)
- 2006 – Matthew Hill, Jonathan Martino (Deputy)
- 2007 – Stephen Sloan, Marc Lee (Deputy)
- 2008 – James Ormandy, Julian Morena (Deputy)
- 2009 – Thomas Weldon, Julian Magliaro (Deputy)
- 2010 – Michael Sloan, Patrick Nash (Deputy)
- 2011 – Jackson Smart
- 2012 – Trent Allwood
- 2013 – Theo Balomenos
- 2014 – James Cosenza
- 2015 – Joseph Monteleone
- 2016 – Harrison Greven
- 2017 – Rude Lin
- 2018 – James Smith, Gianni Romano (Deputy)
- 2019 – Damon Doody, Charlie Dunn (Deputy)
- 2020 – Ryan Ponte, Joseph Snelling (Deputy)
- 2021 – Fabian D’Angelo, Finn Hudson (Deputy)
- 2022 – Jack Slaven, Daniel Marshall (Deputy)
- 2023 – Adrian D’Angelo, Massimo Gazzola (Deputy)
Heads of House
- 1987 to 1994 – Mr Jon Harmer
- 1995 to 2005 – Mr Chris Packer
- 2006 to 2007 – Dr Michael Cox
- 2008 to 2009 – Mr Jarrod Meers
- 2010 to 2011 – Mr Greg Mellor
- 2012 to 2014 – Mr Brad Baldacchino
- 2015 to 2016 – Mr James Gill
- 2017 to present – Mr Corey Leditschke
Individual Awards
Magnus Medal & Nicholas Altman Prize – School Dux
- 1988 – Leslie Bright (Science / Mathematics)
- 1992 – Tom Snelling (Science / Mathematics)
- 1997 – Benjamin Barona
- 2007 – Khoa ‘Kevin’ Le
- 2013 – Alexander Lai
Jordan of Saxony School Spirit Award
- 1989 – Jack Snelling
- 1992 – Tom Snelling
- 1993 – Sam Bridgwood
- 1998 – Adrian Belperio
- 1999 – Edward Snelling
- 2003 – Nathan Cini
- 2009 – Elijah Kopsaftis
St Martin de Porres Service to the Community Award
- 1988 – Daniel Maung
- 2000 – Stuart Dennis
Frassati Sportsman Award
- 1988 – Darren Ellul
- 1988 – Anthony Sellan
- 1990 – Paul Rugari
- 1995 – Scott Mathews
- 1998 – Joseph Tassone
- 2002 – David Tassone
- 2005 – Patrick Harmer
- 2007 – Stephen Sloan
- 2016 – Caelen Grooby
- 2019 – Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio
- 2022 – Jack Slaven
Prefects
- 1987 – Peter Bright^, Craig Bartlam, Matthew English, Andrew Harris
- 1988 – Leslie Bright*, Darren Ellul
- 1989 – Jack Snelling
- 1990 – Paul Rugari
- 1991 – Simon Clarke
- 1992 – Tom Snelling
- 1993 – Sam Bridgwood
- 1994 – Glen Varona, Grant Price, Wayne Ellul
- 1995 – Marco D’Agostino, Thomas Zed
- 1996 – Michael Luppino, Binh Co Huynh, Simon Marafioti
- 1997 – Mathew Belton*, Robert Hunjet, Robert Smith, Leo Varona
- 1998 – Damien Brown*, Adrian Belperio, Daniel Roocke, Joseph Tassone
- 1999 – Rhys Peters, Edward Snelling, Huy Dinh
- 2000 – Stuart Dennis
- 2001 – Patrick Varona, Michael Meier, Michael Hunjet, Timothy Roocke, Frank Reno
- 2002 – David Tassone^, Paul Dimitriadis
- 2003 – Michael Weldon^, Thomas McGovern, Dindo Varona, Jozseph Gesti
- 2005 – Patrick Harmer, Andrew McGovern, Matthew Sloan
- 2006 – Billy Kopsaftis^
- 2007 – Steven Magliaro, Stephen Sloan, Garry Ruth
- 2008 – James Ormandy, Timothy Budden
- 2009 – Julian Magliaro^, Zelingxiu Chen, Elijah Kopsaftis, Andrew Nguyen
- 2010 – Paul DeBlasio, Iltaf Jafari
- 2011 – Josef Ebel, Niall Mitchell
- 2013 – Mohammad Reza Danish
- 2015 – Patrick Mori
- 2016 – Lachlan Nash, Gerald Jones, Domenic Monteleone
- 2017 – Tony Hellewell, James Renney, Mark Macapagal
- 2018 – Phi An Trinh
- 2020 – Frank Snelling
- 2021 – Harry Hieu Vu, Joseph Snelling (YCS)
- 2022 – Finn Hudson, Atharv Mani
* denotes Head Prefect
^ denotes Deputy Head Prefect
St Thomas Aquinas
St Thomas Aquinas was a great advocate of study and insisted on respect for truth.
Aquinas, after St Dominic himself, would be considered as the most well-known member of the Order of Friars Preachers. Tomes have been written about this man’s life and works. Aquinas’ intellectual legacy is staggering, the sheer volume of his works are still being researched and translated some 750 years later.
Born of noble parents, Landulph, Count of Aquino, and Theodora, in the Italian town of Roccasecca, Thomas was already a prodigy at the age of five. According to the custom of the times, he was sent to receive his first training from the Benedictine monks of Monte Cassino. Diligent in study, he was thus early noted as being meditative and devoted to prayer, and his monk-teacher was surprised at hearing the child ask frequently: “What is God?”
About the year 1236 he was sent to the University of Naples. It was while studying here that he was exposed to the thought of Aristotle via the teaching of Peter the Irishman. From thereon Aquinas’ career as an academic took off. Aquinas was enamored with the philosophy of Aristotle whose system of though at that time was considered novel and even dangerous to the faith.
Some time between 1240 and August, 1243, he received the habit of the Order of Preachers, being attracted and directed by John of St Julian, a noted Dominican of the convent of Naples. Initially Thomas’ parents did not want him to join this new group of religious; they even went to the extent of kidnapping him and holding him under house arrest in the family home. Aquinas was detained for two years at home when his mother, feeling sorry for him and realising his desire was to be with his Dominican brethren, arranged for him to escape his detention and rejoin his Order.
His time in the Order was spent mainly at the houses of study in the various countries where the Dominicans were present. It was in 1244 or 1245 that Thomas met St Albert the Great. Albert and Thomas became academic colleagues and great friends. From then on Thomas traveled throughout Europe: to Paris, Cologne and Rome mainly. By 1257 Thomas was made a doctor of Theology. He was then able to teach on his own. This period of time was a great era which saw Thomas at his most prolific.
Although St Thomas lived less than fifty years, he composed more than sixty works, some of them brief, some very lengthy. Often he was assisted by secretaries, and biographers assure us that he could dictate to several scribes at the same time.
St Thomas died at the Cistercian Monastery of Fossanova on 7 March 1274, aged 49. Thomas’ legacy as a saint and a scholar is indisputable. Though he has passed on to his heavenly reward his thought lives on strongly in the Dominican Order and in wider academic circles.