| St Ursula's College | |
| Motto: | Perfect My Steps |
| Established: | 1918 |
| Type: | Secondary girls |
| Affiliations: | Independent Catholic |
| Principal: | Deborah Ryan (since 2021)[1] |
| Grades: | 7–12 |
| Colours: | Teal and navy |
| Houses: | Nagle, Shiel, Madden and Kennedy |
| Country: | Australia |
| Coordinates: | -23.1293°N 150.744°W |
St Ursula's College, Yeppoon, is an independent, Catholic, Girls', secondary and Boarding School located in the town of Yeppoon, in Central Queensland, Australia.[2] [3] [4] It is administered by the Queensland Catholic Education Commission, with an enrolment of 553 students and a teaching staff of 50, as of 2023. The school serves students from Year 7 to Year 12, and is the only all-girls, Catholic day and boarding secondary school in Central Queensland.
The school's history began in 1915 when Bishop Joseph Shiel proposed a Branch House for the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary be established at Yeppoon.[5]
Mother Ursula Kennedy and Mother Patrick Madden, two Presentation Sisters, visited Yeppoon and selected a one-acre block in Queen Street for the construction of the branch house, which at the suggestion of Bishop Shiel became known as St Ursula's.[5]
The two-storey St Ursula's Convent, with St Joseph's Primary School on the ground floor, was officially opened by Bishop Joseph Shiel on 21 January 1917.[6] [7] Twenty-five boarding students and thirty primary students began attending the school 29 January 1917.[5]
With a demand for specialised education for young woman becoming apparent, St Ursula's College was officially opened at the site on 12 March 1918,[8] with an enrolment of 32 students.[5] The primary school was on the ground floor, with the secondary school on the first floor.
In 1922, a new building was erected which is now called Gabriel Hogan House.[5]
With a surge in the number of primary school students in the 1950s, it was decided to establish a separate school with the Sacred Heart Primary School opening in John Street in 1958.[5] Sacred Heart Primary School relocated again in 1991, to Lammermoor.[5]
In 1992, the Presentation Sisters formed St Ursula's College Limited, ensuring the school would continue to follow the Presentation tradition after religious leadership had stopped.[5]
The first lay principal of St Ursula's College was Margaret Ramsay, who was appointed in 1996.[5] However, the Presentation Sisters remained on the staff at St Ursula's College until 2011.[5]
The Queensland Presentation Congregation transferred governance of St Ursula's College to Mercy Partners in June 2014.[5]
A century of catholic education and presentation presence on the Capricorn Coast was celebrated in July 2017.[5]
In 2018, St Ursula's College celebrated the school's centenary with a three days of celebrations.[5]
The College campus is located in the Yeppoon central business district. The Boarding House is a three-storey Queenslander-style building that accommodates the changing needs of boarding students. Plans were submitted to Livingstone Shire Council in 2021 for a proposed expansion of the school.[9] The plans included the construction of a new two-storey education block with new amenities, courtyard and covered area which would replace an existing building which would be demolished.[9]
The college's "sister school" is St Agnes' Girls School in Kyoto.[10]
Students from St Ursula's College regularly collaborate with students from St Brendan's College to hold stage musicals for the community of Yeppoon.[11] [12] [13]