St Columba's Catholic College, formerly 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 property is a listed site on the Blue Mountains City Council local government heritage register.
Campus Originally built as a Seminary in 1909, it was closed in 1977 and reopened as a high school in 1979.Our Story St Columba's High School Retrieved 5 February 2007 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 of Australia NSW.
The St Columba's 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.
Symbolism 'Columba' is a Latinisation of 'colum', which means dove. A dove is featured in the college crest. '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. The Feast Day of Columba on June 9 is celebrated annually by the college. Notable events include the teachers vs Year 12 basket/volleyball game. Students are organised into six houses: Henson (red), Chisholm (green), Gilroy (gold), MacKillop (purple), Lawrence (blue), Bradman (black and white).
Telescope A feature of note is a radio telescope dish salvaged from the Paul Wild Observatory at Culgoora, 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.Compact Array and Mopra report Australian Telescope National Facility Retrieved 5 February 2007 The telescope, as of late 2023, has been dismantled and removed from the grounds.
Principals The following individuals have served as Principal: Order Officeholder Term begin Term end Time in office Notes Anne Henson 1979 1985 years Has a sporting house group named after her Jim McCartan 1986 1992 years Geoff Hicks 1992 1998 years Alan Moran 1998 2001 years Has a room named after him Anne Wenham 2001 2005 years Delma Horan 2005 2013 years Paul Ryan 2014 2021 years Served as principal during the 2013 Bushfires. Phillip Scollard 2022 2025 4 years
Notable alumni Tom Eisenhuth, rugby league player Jenna Jones, Paralympian Emma Koster, netball player Claire Zorn, writer
See also
List of Catholic schools in New South Wales Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta Catholic education in Australia
References
External links St. Columba's Catholic College Website