Saint John Bosco

Founder of the Salesian Community

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Saint John Bosco

Saint John Bosco

John Bosco was born in August, 1815, to the east of Turin. From a very early age he decided that he would dedicate his life to helping young people. He wanted to become a priest to help them morally and he wanted to help them educationally by assisting them to cope with the world around them.

He was ordained in June, 1841, and began his work for the poor youth of the city of Turin. He met the viciousness of their lives with a strong gentleness and he eventually founded a religious order to do this work for young people.

He gave his order the patronage of St Francis of Sales, the saint of gentleness. The men of this order became known as Salesians. Don Bosco died in 1888 and by that time he had established his Order all over the world.

Don Bosco used his preventive system to contrast his method with what he called the ‘repressive system’. He saw the latter as the system of how to deal with those who broke rules; he saw his own as the system of how to prevent rules being broken. The system prevents trouble from getting off the ground, dries it up at source and puts the child on his guard against it.

Our system of education involves far more than merely imparting knowledge to the pupils, who need to become aware of their potential in any field - literary, artistic, sporting, etc. The aim of the College is that each person should become the person he can become with the help of those who care enough to work beyond the bounds of duty.

Don Bosco created the spirit of the family in his schools, and believed that the spirit of goodwill in a school, and the dedication of the staff, would encourage the pupils to meet one another and the staff in an atmosphere of trust and understanding.

The students are encouraged to develop a strong sense of responsibility and caring attitudes towards one another and the community at large. We consider the parents and families of students in the College to be important members of our extended Salesian community. We would not be able to achieve the outstanding all-round results without the partnership and cooperation of staff, students and parents.