St Columba's School (Kilmacolm)

Infobox Secondary school
name =St Columba's School
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rector = David Girdwood
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city =Kilmacolm
state =Scotland
country =UK
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type =Independent school
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students = 730
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free_label_1 = Religion
free_1 = Non-denominational Christian
free_label_2 = Address
free_2 = Duchal Road
Kilmacolm
PA13 4AU
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website = [http://www.st-columbas.org/ www.st-columbas.org]
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St Columba's School is an independent day school in the village of Kilmacolm, Inverclyde, founded in 1897.

St Columba's is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and has a roll of some 730 pupils, many travelling from outside the village from other nearby settlements and areas in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire. The school was named The Sunday Times' "School of the Year" in 2004/05 after attaining the best examination results of any school in Scotland (see below). St Columba's was previously a girls' school until it became co-educational in 1982.

The present Rector is Mr David Girdwood.

Sites

The senior school is located on Duchal Road to the north of Kilmacolm's village centre. The junior school and new sports facilities are located on Birkmyre Park.

The main buildings of the senior school are to be radically renovated in the near future, pending planning permission. The first stage of these renovations involves the demolition of two adjacent houses in Gryffe Road and the construction of a long two storey high building consisting of new classrooms, administrative offices and staff facilities. The school has already purchased two adjacent buildings to be used to this end. The second stage of these renovations involves the demolition of the school's ageing science block to make way for a two storey high circular auditorium to be joined to the new building constructed during stage one of the renovations.

There is also an astroturf playing field nearby to the senior school

Sports and academic achievements

St Columba's fields a number of teams to complete competitively against other schools in the area, most notably rugby union and hockey. In the summer months, athletics and cricket are also played. The school also has a very active debating society, which over the last few years has done exceptionally in a number of competitions across Scotland.

The school's academic results in 2005 were considered the best in Scotland on the basis of Higher passes [ [http://www.st-columbas.org/Home_AboutUs_Senior_school.aspx St.Columba's Senior School ] ] . Other measures for example those including Standard Grade performance also saw the school performing exceptionally.

External links

* [http://www.st-columbas.org/ The School's official website.]
* [http://www.scottishschoolsonline.gov.uk/schools/stcolumbasschoolinverclyde.asp St Columba's School page on Scottish Schools Online]

References