Chisholm Catholic College is a single campus co-educational Catholic high school in
Cornubia, south-east of
Brisbane, Australia. The school has an enrolment of 988 year 7−12 students and a teaching staff of 71 as of 2022.
Established in 1992,
it is administered by
Brisbane Catholic Education.
Background
Situated on an site in Cornubia, Chisholm Catholic College opened in 1992, with an initial enrolment of 60 Year 8 students and eleven staff housed in three buildings, and become one of the first private schools in the district. The school now caters for over 950 students.
Chisholm Catholic College's founding principal was Mike Ashton. Christopher Leadbetter was Principal in 2014. Martina Millard was Principal from 2015 to 2018. The college's current principal is Damian Bottaccio.
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm (born Caroline Jones; 30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her support of immigrant female and family welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the calendar of s ...
inspired many people through her charity work and her kind nature. Her focus was on the education and employment of female immigrants. It is because of her efforts that she was selected to become the patron of the college.
Houses
Chisholm Catholic College students are allocated to one of six houses, each named after a notable Australian. Originally, there were only four houses, but Oodgeroo became the fifth House voted by students and beating Dunlop (Australian war hero
Edward Dunlop). Mitchell House was added in 2018. The houses are:
* Flynn, named after
John Flynn, founder of Australia's
Royal Flying Doctor Service. The house colour is blue. John Flynn is also depicted on the $20 Australian bill.
* Mackillop, named after
Mary MacKillop
Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known fo ...
, founder of the
Sisters of Saint Joseph
The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for S ...
who has been named as Australia's first
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
. The house colour is yellow.
* Namatjira, named after
Albert Namatjira, renowned landscape artist. The house colour is red.
* Oodgeroo, named after
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (aka
Kath Walker
Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( ; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, later Kath Walker (3 November 192016 September 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, artist and educator, who campaigned for Aboriginal rights. Noonuccal was best known for ...
), poet. The house colour is purple.
* Parer, named after
Damien Parer
Damien Peter Parer (1 August 1912 – 17 September 1944) was an Australian war photographer. He became famous for his war photography of the Second World War, and was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire at Peleliu, Palau. He was cinematographer ...
,
wartime correspondent and photographer. The house colour is green.
* Mitchell, named after Roma Mitchell, the first female judge in Australia, the house colour is orange.
Buildings
Chisholm Catholic College has 14 buildings, most named after Australian native flora.
*
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
was one of the school's original buildings prior to renovation. It is now the school's administration block.
*
Banksia is a general use block with four classrooms and toilets.
*
Cassia was the second of Chisholm's original buildings and originally housed four science labs. A fifth lab has since been added.
*
Caroline Chisholm Centre is a multipurpose air-conditioned building complete with kitchen. It is used for hospitality functions, form meetings and liturgies. The board room forms part of the building.
*
Dianella is a recent addition, better known as the 'Dining Room' and is a restaurant style kitchen which is used for hospitality-based events and functions, plus a dining room where students often present and serve food.
*
Eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
was the third of Chisholm's original buildings. It now houses two art rooms and a computer lab, with a hospitality kitchen, dining room and textiles room. It also contains toilets.
*
Flindersia
''Flindersia'' is a genus of 17 species of small to large trees in the family Rutaceae. They have simple or pinnate leaves, flowers arranged in panicles at or near the ends of branchlets and fruit that is a woody capsule containing winged seeds. ...
is a new building encompassing the latest in learning tools. Almost all surfaces in the room are able to be used to draw or write on. There are eight classrooms in this building.
*
Grevillea is a general use block. There are eight classrooms.
*
Hakea
''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the Family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are sometimes d ...
contains three computer laboratories, the business room and the Behaviour Support Centre, or BSC for short.
*
Ixora is the school's library and resource centre. It has a large collection of fiction and non-fiction books for student borrowing, and a non-fiction library in the upstairs section for reference.
*
Jasminium
Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiv ...
is a general use block, containing the school counsellor's office and learning ennrichment room. There are six general use classrooms and toilets.
*
Canteen
{{Primary sources, date=February 2007
Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...
is a stand-alone building with a self-select area and two cash registers.
*
Melaleuca
''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...
is a large undercover area. It is used for PE classes and sporting activities. Recent building works have expanded this building considerable, and it now houses two PE classrooms, two full-size courts, a stage area, change rooms and a gymnasium.
*
Father Gary Russell Centre, another new building, houses music and drama classrooms equipped with the latest technology, including a music recording studio and a drama stage with lighting and sound equipment.
*
Westringia
''Westringia'' is a genus of Australian shrubs. As with other members of the mint family their upper petal (or lip) is divided into two lobes. There are four stamens - the upper two are fertile while the lower two are reduced to staminodes. The l ...
is the school's manual arts block, featuring two manual arts rooms and a graphics room.
References
External links
Official websiteReview Site
{{Authority control
Catholic secondary schools in Brisbane
Schools in Logan City
Educational institutions established in 1992
1992 establishments in Australia