St. Columbanus' College is a Roman Catholicsecondary school situated on the Ballymaconnell Road, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Its main education board of choice is CCEA, but the school also uses AQA, Edexcel and OCR for certain subjects.
Motto
The school's motto is "Lex Dei in Corde Meo" which is Latin for "The Law of God in my Heart". This motto mirrors the importance of faith to St. Columbanus College, alongside its encouragement of every pupil to respect others and themselves, to do what is right and not what is easy, and to do nothing which may cause hurt to other people.
History
The foundation stone for St Columbanus' Secondary Intermediate School, as it was then known, was laid by Bishop Daniel Mageean on the Feast of the Assumption, 15 August 1959. The school was built to serve the parishes of Bangor, Holywood and Newtownards and opened within a week of the feast of St Columbanus on 29 November 1960. A wide curriculum was offered with an emphasis on the teaching of vocational and technical skills. Many pupils left at the age of fifteen to take up employment while a small GCE class remained to study for external examinations. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a significant growth in enrolment which required a major extension to the original building. The school has grown significantly, focusing on both academic and vocational skills. In 2001, the college established a Sixth Form, allowing post-GCSE pupils to remain and study at St. Columbanus. Numbers of students completing A Levels at the college are still on the rise, showing an approximate 4-fold increase in the past 3 years.
Subjects
The school offers a range of subjects including; Art & Design, Home Economics, English, Drama, French, Spanish, Geography, History, Mathematics, Science, Technology & Design, Music, Religion, Learning for Life and Work, ICT and P.E. Such subjects are compulsory to study at Key Stage 3 Level. At Key Stage 4, the college offers further study in the above subjects, as well as:
The school has partnered with the South Eastern Regional College in Bangor to give students the opportunity to study more Vocational and Practical subjects at the equivalent of GCSE level. At A Level, Sixth Form students have the opportunity to study:
Sixth Form students also have the opportunity to study other A Levels at neighbouring schools through the North Down and Ards Learning Community. Schools who have taken part in this partnership are: Glenlola Collegiate, Bangor Grammar, Glastry College, Priory College and Bangor Academy. Many A Level subjects offered to St. Columbanus students include,Chemistry, Drama, Psychology, Music Technology.
Facilities
St. Columbanus houses multiple, well-equipped ICT suites, a sports hall and assembly hall, a sports and athletic pitch, technology and design suites and science suites. The school's entrances are also fully accessible.
