St Columba's School is a 3–18

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 ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and Civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Renfrewshire (historic), Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on th ...

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

, Scotland. It is split across two sites and is a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

. The school provides both

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 Work ...

and

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

between its Junior and Senior Schools. In 2016, the School built a new building called the Girdwood Building which is home to Transitus, English, Guidance and Modern and Ancient Languages

History

St Columba's was founded in 1897 at Duchal Road where the red sandstone building is still located. The preparatory school at St Columba's was formerly located at Shieldhall on Bridge of Weir Road.

Boarders ''Boarders'' is a British teen comedy-drama television series created by Daniel Lawrence Taylor, centred around the lives of five young Black teens who earn scholarships into the prestigious boarding school of St. Gilbert's. The series is develop ...

were once accepted and accommodated in Shallott, the current junior school building. The junior school was then located at Shieldhall on the Bridge of Weir Road. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Shieldhall was used as dormitories for evacuees from other schools, particularly those also owned by the Girls' Schools Company. The Knockbuckle Road site, which now houses the Junior School, was once occupied by boarders. When boarding ceased in 1970 it was developed and has been the site of the Junior School ever since. St Columba's first admitted boys around 1978, and became fully

in 1982.

Sites

The senior school is on Duchal Road to the north of

's village centre. The junior school and new sports facilities, including rugby pitches are located on Birkmyre Park, with the hockey ground being a 3G artificial pitch.

Notable staff

Margaret Paulin Young Margaret Paulin Young (4 December 1864 – 15 January 1953) was a Scottish educator. She attended and was later headmistress of the Park School for Girls in Glasgow, where she introduced classes on art and science. Early life Young was born in ...

, Founding Head 1897-1900 *

Norah Neilson Gray Norah Neilson Gray (16 June 1882 – 27 May 1931) was a Scottish artist of the Glasgow School. She first exhibited at the Royal Academy while still a student and then showed works regularly at the Paris Salon and with the Royal Academy of Scotl ...

taught art here, where she was nicknamed "Purple Patch".Norah Neilson Gray
Helensburgh Heroes, accessed July 2010 *Sandra McGruther, author of the Detective Lorimer novels, writing as Alex Gray was an English teacher here

Notable alumni

Ruth M. Arthur Ruth Mabel Arthur Huggins, sometimes misspelt as Higgins (26 May 1905 – 6 March 1979) was a Scottish teacher and writer whose books were published under her maiden name as Ruth M. Arthur. She mainly wrote for children and young adults in E ...

, author *

Winifred Drinkwater Winifred Joyce "Winnie" Drinkwater (11 April 1913 – 6 October 1996) was a pioneering Scottish aviator and aeroplane engineer. She was the first woman in the world to hold a commercial pilot's licence. Biography Drinkwater was born on 11 Apr ...

, aviator and aeroplane engineer * Mairi Hedderwick, illustrator and author *

Eleanor Laing Eleanor Fulton Laing, Baroness Laing of Elderslie, (; born 1 February 1958), is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Epping Forest ( ...

, MP * Helen M. Laird, leader within the Girl Guide movement * Rona Morison, actress *

Myrtle Simpson Myrtle Lillias Simpson (née Emslie; born around 1930) is a Scottish skier and the thirteenth woman to receive the Polar Medal. She has been called the "mother of Scottish skiing". She was the first woman to ski across Greenland on an unsupporte ...

, skier

References

The Times Independent School of the Year entry

External links

*
Profile
on the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 private schools in the United Kingdom. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the business interests of its ...

website *

HMIE Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for the inspection of public and private, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community learning, L ...

Inspectio
Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Columba's School, Kilmacolm

St Columba's School, Kilmacolm St Columba's School is a 3–18 co-educational private day school in Kilmacolm, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is split across two sites and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school provides both primary and second ...

Private schools in Inverclyde Educational institutions established in 1897 1897 establishments in Scotland