St Columba's Catholic College

St Columba's Catholic College
St Columba's Catholic College
	Looking towards the Main building (former Seminary) from the quadrangle.
Location
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
	Springwood, Blue Mountains, New South Wales; Australia
Coordinates	33°40′24″S 150°35′19″E / 33.67333°S 150.58861°ECoordinates: 33°40′24″S 150°35′19″E / 33.67333°S 150.58861°E
Information
Former name	St Columba's High School
Type	Independent co-educational secondary day school
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Established	1909-1977 (Seminary); 1979; 42 years ago; (as Catholic High School);
Principal	Paul Ryan
Slogan	"Act justly" (Short) Act Justly, Love Tenderly & Walk Humbly with Our God (Full)
Website	www.stcolumbasspringwood.catholic.edu.au
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap

St Columba's Catholic College, formerly the St Columba's High School, is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in the Blue Mountains region, on the border of Winmalee and Springwood, in New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1979, the school is set in the grounds of the St Columba's property, which has extensive bushland surrounding the school. The whole of the property is listed site on the Blue Mountains City Council local government heritage register.^[1]

Campus[]

Originally built as a seminary in 1909, it was closed in 1977 and reopened as a high school in 1979.^[2] The monastic influence is seen in the neogothic sandstone architecture and the grounds with scattered grottos and shrines overlooking the Blue Mountains World Heritage National Park.

The St Columbas property is one of the largest landholdings in the Blue Mountains Local Government Area. Much of the property consists of natural bushland and is habitat for some threatened and endangered species. The site is also rich in Aboriginal history, including over 80 archaeological sites.^{[citation needed]}

Symbolism[]

'Columba' is a Latinization of 'colum', which means dove. A dove is featured in the school emblem.
'Iona Chapel' derives its name from the Island of Iona where Columba founded the monastery Iona Abbey.
Much of the architecture features the Celtic Cross.

Telescope[]

A feature of note is a radio telescope dish salvaged from the Paul Wild Observatory at , west of Narrabri in 1997. This is one of a heliograph array of 96 13.7-m dishes that circled the present location of the Compact Array. The heliograph array imaged the Sun at 80 and 160 MHz with several discoveries to its credit before decommission.^[3]

Houses[]

Mackillop (purple)
Lawrence (blue)
Henson (red)
Gilroy (yellow)
Bradman (black & white)
Chisholm (green)

These houses are split into two or three groups for classes. Each house has 2 sub-classes called homerooms. They are only used until Year 9, when a house combines as one homeroom. This was the case up until 2015.

Principals[]

The following individuals have served as Principal:

Order	Officeholder	Term begin	Term end	Time in office
1	Anne Henson	1979	1985	5–6 years
2	Jim McCartan	1986	1992	5–6 years
3	Geoff Hicks	1992	1998	5–6 years
4	Alan Moran	1998	2001	2–3 years
5	Anne Wenham	2001	2005	3–4 years
6	Delma Horan	2005	2013	7–8 years
7	Paul Ryan	2014	incumbent	6–7 years

References[]

^ "Wl001: St Columba's College (Buildings; Grounds; Gates; Elmhurst)". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ Our Story St Columba's High School Retrieved 5 February 2007
^ Compact Array and Mopra report Australian Telescope National Facility Retrieved 5 February 2007

External links[]

[1] "Wl001: St Columba's College (Buildings; Grounds; Gates; Elmhurst)". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[2] Our Story St Columba's High School Retrieved 5 February 2007

[3] Compact Array and Mopra report Australian Telescope National Facility Retrieved 5 February 2007

[1]

[2]

[3]