St Columba's RC High School is a six-year comprehensive

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

secondary school, located in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland.

History

The original St Columba's High School was opened in 1922 in Cowdenbeath as a combined Catholic senior secondary for all Fife pupils and a junior secondary for pupils from the immediate Cowdenbeath area. In 1959, the new St Andrew's High School in Kirkcaldy took on the role of the Catholic senior secondary and St Columba's became a junior high school with a catchment area covering Dunfermline and west Fife. The present school buildings were constructed in 1969, at which point the old junior high school in Cowdenbeath was closed. St Columba's celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009. Under Local Government reorganisation in 1973, authority for the running of St Columba's was transferred from the County Council to the newly formed Fife Regional Council. The school then developed into a six-year Catholic co-educational comprehensive school in line with the Education Authority policy. The school tie with its Latin motto "Tenui Nec Dimittam", which means, "I will hold and not let go".

Facilities

The subjects taught are split into different facilities each led by a principal teacher, most of which are taught through first and second year. Some subjects are only taught as National 5 or Higher and above. Subjects include: * Mathematics (Maths, Numeracy) * Languages (English, Literacy, Media, French, Spanish) * Expressive & Performing Arts (Art, Music, Music Technology, and Drama) * Social Subjects (Modern Studies, History, Geography, Childcare, Philosophy) * Sciences (Chemistry, Biology, Physics) * Religious Education * Business & Hospitality Industry (Business & IT, Health and Food Technology) * Health & Wellbeing (Physical Education, Dance) * Technologies (Computing Science, Computing Games Development, Engineering, Practical Woodwork, Graphic Communication)

Head teachers

* Jim Mooney: August 2009 - June 2016 * Kevin O'Connor: August 2016 - December 2020 * Michael McGee: January 2021 - Present

Associated Primary Schools

* Holy Name RC Primary School, Oakley. * St Bride's RC Primary School,

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

. * St John's RC Primary School,

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

. * St Joseph's RC Primary School,

Kelty Kelty (Scottish Gaelic: Cailtidh) is a former coal mining village located in Fife, Scotland. Lying in the heart of the old mining heartlands of Fife, it is situated on the Fife/ Kinross-shire boundary and has a population of around 6,000 re ...

. * St Kenneth's RC Primary School, Ballingry. (Can also attend St Andrew's RC High School,

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

) * St Margaret's RC Primary School,

. * St Serf's RC Primary School, High Valleyfield. * St Patrick's RC Primary School,

Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; , IPA: �ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of Lumphinnans. According to the ...

. (Most pupils attend St Andrew's RC High School, Kirkcaldy)

New Campus

A new Dunfermline Learning Campus which would accommodate St Columba's RC High School, Woodmill High School and Fife College's Halbeath Campus opened in August 2024. Each school obtains their own identity and headteacher and shares certain facilities such as Dinning Space, Sport Halls, Assembly Hall and Social Spaces. Fife College will have their own building within the site with security between the college and schools to ensure safety due to open in August 2025.

Notable pupils

* Richard Jobson (b. 1960) - Singer-songwriter and filmmaker *

Alex Rowley Alexander Andrew Penman Rowley (born 30 November 1963) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017 and acting leader of the party from August to November 2017. He has been a Member of the ...

(b. 1963) – Scottish Labour politician * Gregory Burke (b. 1968) – playwright * Natalie McGarry (b. 1981) – SNP Politician and former Member of Parliament for

Glasgow East Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Jordan Patrick Smith Jordan Patrick Smith (born 18 June 1989) is a Scottish-Australian actor. He gained prominence through his role as Andrew Robinson in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' (2009–2013, 2022). He has since appeared in the film '' Unbroken'' (2014), and ...

(b. 1989) – Actor

External links

School info pageSt Columba's R C High School profile
on Education Scotland Parentzone

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Columba's R.C. High School, Dunfermline Catholic secondary schools in Fife Secondary schools in Fife 1922 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1922 Buildings and structures in Dunfermline