Columba Catholic College is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

day and boarding school, located in

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It is a school of the

Diocese of Townsville The Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville is a suffragan diocese, suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, Archdiocese of Brisbane, erected in 1930, covering North Queensland, North Queensland, Australia. It was ...

. Established in 1998, the school currently caters for approximately 610 students from

pre-school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory educa ...

, including 200 boarders from

year 4 Year 4 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the fourth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between eight and nine however some kids wh ...

to 12. The college draws students from

and surrounding areas. Boarders come from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and Northern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, plus coastal and Gulf Regions of Queensland. The current principal of Columba Catholic College is Candi Dempster . Dempster takes over from Daniel McShea who took over from Michael Ashton. Althea Norton was the original founding principal of Columba who retired after 10 years of service.

History

Columba Catholic College was established in 1998 through the amalgamation of three local Catholic schools, St Columba's Primary School (established in 1876), St Mary's College (established in 1882) and Mount Carmel College (established by the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, ...

in 1902).

Campus

Columba Catholic College consists of two campuses, known as St Mary's for primary school in Charters Towers City and Mt Carmel for secondary school in Richmond Hill. The boarding program operates from the two campuses in order to provide single-sex facilities, the St Mary's campus caters for girls and the Mt Carmel Campus for boys. The Christian Brothers retain ownership of the Mt Carmal campus (the former site of Mt Carmal College) and continue to provide some Brothers to the staff. Each of the Boarding Campuses has its own Chapel, while the Primary Campus is situated in the grounds of the Parish Church. The school also operates "Marybank" a 40-hectare property with facilities for outdoor activities, situated on the banks of the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river located in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at ...

. Sporting facilities of the college include several ovals,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

courts, two 25 m swimming pools (one at each campus), and the recently constructed Multi-Purpose Outdoor Education Centre.

Curriculum

Primary

The Primary Curriculum at Columba Catholic College is designed to emphasise the basic skills of

numeracy Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and to apply simple numerical concepts. The charity National Numeracy states: "Numeracy means understanding how mathematics is used in the real world and being able to apply it to make the bes ...

and

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

, whilst integrating the Key Learning Areas (KLA's) of

Religious Education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to te ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Maths Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, Science, Studies of Society and Environment, Languages other than English (LOTE), Health and

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

, The Arts and Technology.

Secondary

In Queensland, the first year of high school is

year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

. During this year students continue with Key Learning Areas subjects in addition to experiencing new subjects. These include Religious Education, English, Mathematics, Science, Art, Study of Society and the Environment,

Home Economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

, Wood Technology, Metal Technology, Music, Computer Technology,

Graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

, Health & Physical Education, and Drama. In years 9 and 10 students receive some choice in the subjects they will study. There are also core subjects which all students must undertake for the complete school year. These are Religious Education, English, Mathematics, Science, Study of Society and the Environment (S.O.S.E), Health and Physical Education. Electives at this stage include Japanese,

Agricultural Science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...

, Home Economics, Computer Technology, Business Studies, Drama, Wood Technology, Junior

Visual Art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

, Metal Technology, Music and Graphics. Students in years 11 and 12 are prepared for the path they wish to take after high school (university,

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

or employment). Those deciding to leave open the option of direct entry to University or TAFE (Diploma Courses) after Year 12 are required to choose a minimum of five "Authority Subjects" (B). These subjects come under the headings of Authority(A), Authority Registered (AR), Subject Area Specifications (S), or are purely TAFE Based (T). Additionally, each Year 11 and 12 student is required to study Religious Education (T), one English subject, and one Mathematics Subject. Columba Catholic College performs well in statewide examinations, with ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, ...

'' reporting that the college was one of Queensland's top-performing schools with 89 per cent of students on

Overall Position The Overall Position (OP) was a tertiary entrance rank used in Queensland, Australia to guide selection into universities. Like similar systems used throughout the rest of Australia, the OP shows how well a student has performed in their senior ...

scores (OP's) 15 or above.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 20, 04, 28.84, S, 146, 15, 44.42, E, display=title, region:AU_type:edu_source:GNS-enwiki Catholic primary schools in Queensland Catholic secondary schools in Queensland Educational institutions established in 1998 Boarding schools in Queensland Schools in North Queensland 1998 establishments in Australia Charters Towers City, Queensland