| St Columba's Catholic College | |||||||||||
| Former Name: | St Columba's High School | ||||||||||
| Slogan: | "Act justly" (Short) Act Justly, Love Tenderly & Walk Humbly with Our God (Full) | ||||||||||
| Principal: | Phillip Scollard | ||||||||||
| Country: | Australia | ||||||||||
| Coordinates: | -33.6733°N 150.5886°W | ||||||||||
| Pushpin Map: | Australia New South Wales | ||||||||||
| Pushpin Image: | Australia New South Wales relief location map.png | ||||||||||
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 | ||||||||||
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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.[1]
Originally built as a Seminary in 1909, it was closed in 1977 and reopened as a high school in 1979.[2] 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.
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.[3] The telescope, as of late 2023, has been dismantled and removed from the grounds.
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 | Ongoing | years |