Siena Catholic College

Infobox Aust school
name = Siena Catholic College


motto =
established = 1997
type = Co-educational
principal = Graeme Hight
captains =
city = Sippy Downs
state = Queensland
country = Australia
campus = Suburban
enrolment = ~750
colours =
homepage = [http://www.siena.qld.edu.au www.siena.qld.edu.au]

Siena Catholic College, Queensland, Australia is a co-educational Catholic day college situated at Sippy Downs on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Opened in 1997, it caters for students in Years 8-12 and has an enrolment of approximately 750 students.Fact|fact August 2007|date=August 2007 The college shares its campus with Siena Primary School, a Prep -Year 7 school.

The College is an Archdiocesan College administered by [http://www.bne.catholic.edu.au Brisbane Catholic Education] and has close links with the [http://www.saintsonwaves.com Stella Maris Parish] , having "S. Catherine's" Catholic Church situated on campus.

Bryan Baker was the foundation principal of the College. He held the position from 1996 until three weeks before his death in 2004. One thousand people attended a speech in honour of his service. The Brisbane Courier-Mail described the college as the "most acclaimed institutions in the region and a jewel in the crown of Catholic colleges throughout the Archdiocese of Brisbane" [cite news | author = Tom Cranitch | work = Courier-Mail | title = Principal built school from the ground up| date = 26 April 2004 ] .

On December 7, 2003 a 13-year-old student at the school, Daniel Morcombe, was abducted as he waited for a bus. That year and for years afterward, the school repeatedly organised various memorial events to allow students to pray together for Morcombe and to express their concern. [cite news | url = http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?/news/australia/qld/sunshine/monthly/regsun-12dec2003-3.htm | title = College prays for missing teenager | work = ABC News | date = December 12, 2003 | accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] [cite news | url = http://abc.net.au/sunshne/news/200401/s1032426.htm | title = School to show support for missing teen's family | work = ABC News | date = January 27, 2003 | accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] Australian news organisations covered the case extensively "in a massive media appeal that [...] lasted three years" until at least November 2006. The boy was never found. "Daniel's chair", a special timber bench at the school, was dedicated to him. [cite news | url = http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20774387-1248,00.html | title = School marks missing boy's graduation | author = AAP | work = The Courier | date = November 17, 2006 | accessdate = 2007-09-23 ]

In the 2004-2005 school year, a group of teachers led by Paul Baker devised a 90-minute learning project for students in ancient and modern history classes. In the project (titled, "Are you going to be my Tyrant?") students used Web sites to read about Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and other dictators, examining their childhoods for similarities that might help explain their characters. The school was one of 12 that won grants from the Queensland state government for history projects in that school year. The state Department of Education, Training and the Arts featured a description of the project as a "good practice" section of the department's Web site. [cite web | url = http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/history/commonwealth/fin_rep_siena.html | title = Siena Catholic College / Are you going to be my Tyrant? | work = Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts | accessdate = 2007-09-22 ]

In the 2007 Queensland "Tournament of Minds" problem-solving competition, the Siena Catholic College team took both first place and second place honours for the Maths/Engineering section and first place in the Language/Literature section. [cite web | url = http://portals.studentnet.edu.au/TOM/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=6&tabid=110 | title = Queensland State Final Awards 2007 | work = Tournament of Minds | accessdate = 2007-09-23 ]

The college is involved in an exchange programme with the Fijian schools St Thomas High School in Suva, Mount St Mary's in Nadi and St Thomas in Lautoka. In 2007, the college donated teaching equipment totalling about $5,000 [cite news | title = Local school benefits from exchange | work = The Fiji Times | date = July 11, 2007 ] .

Notes

External links

* [http://www.siena.qld.edu.au Siena Catholic College Official Website]
* [http://www.siena.qld.edu.au/alumni Siena Catholic College Alumni Website]