St Columba's Catholic College


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.

Campus

Originally built as a seminary in 1909, it was closed in 1977 and reopened as a high school in 1979. 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.

Symbolism

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.

Houses

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:
OrderOfficeholderTerm beginTerm endTime in officeNotes
1Anne Henson19791985 years
2Jim McCartan19861992 years
3Geoff Hicks19921998 years
4Alan Moran19982001 years
5Anne Wenham20012005 years
6Delma Horan20052013 years
7Paul Ryan2014incumbent years