St Ursula’s College, Yeppoon, is a Girl’s Catholic boarding and day school situated by the sea, 40 kilometres from Rockhampton and, like every school, has a number of distinctive characteristics.
The Atmosphere
A very friendly atmosphere pervades the St Ursula’s community and there is a sense of belonging that lasts well beyond graduation day. Students develop close friendships in a genuine partnership between parents and staff.
St Ursula’s is a place where friendship and learning are celebrated and where singing, laughter and dancing are a part of life; it is a community which promotes and embodies positive attitude to life.
A Girls School
St Ursula’s College is one of the few colleges in Queensland that is able to offer education designed to specifically meet the needs of girls.
This is important in developing the potential of each girl, especially in the early adolescent years.
The freedom that results from single sex education manifests itself in the confident manner with which girls express themselves and assume leadership roles.
Supervised socials for all year levels and mixed classes in some subjects in Years 11 and 12, provide appropriate interaction with the boys at the College.
St Ursula’s College enjoys a close liaison with St Brendan’s College, as we share subjects and have many families in common.
A Catholic School
As a Catholic College, St Ursula’s is committed to the development of the whole person.
Knowledge is illuminated with faith and our community strives to be permeated by gospel values.
The faith of students is nurtured in a caring environment that fosters an awareness of God’s unconditional love, a sense of gratitude about life and a hope for the future.
Opportunities are provided for students to grow in understanding of the Catholic tradition and develop the confidence and commitment to exercise a leadership role within the church.
A School by the Sea
St Ursula’s College, with its classic Queensland architecture featuring gabled roofing and wide verandahs, is situated in tropical gardens in the heart of Yeppoon.
It is just a short walk from the beach so students enjoy the climatic advantage as well as many opportunities that the location offers.
Our girls are involved in surf lifesaving, outrigging and sailing and also use the beach for recreation and leisure.
Girls are encouraged to participate in early morning and afternoon exercise sessions along the beach and to keep fit through swimming training.
The beach provides a cost free recreational place for the girls, and barbeques along the coastline are a popular Sunday afternoon activity.
The air conditioned library and technology rooms provide students with a comfortable environment in which they can access up-to-date information and resources, including CD-Roms and the Internet.
Modern facilities including the art block, commercial kitchen, music academy and performing arts hall provide excellent learning centres for practical and performing arts.
Classrooms are cool and comfortable and are surrounded by tropical palms and foliage.
The new Boarding complex, which was opened in 1998, provides excellent accommodation for students.
New projects are underway for a future upgrade of facilities to provide a comfortable and challenging learning environment for students.
Students come to St Ursula’s from properties in the west, mining towns, Torres Strait Islands, Aboriginal settlements, local farming and coastal areas from Yeppoon as well as overseas.
Exposure to such diverse backgrounds provides a rich educational environment and encourages genuine acceptance and appreciation of all people, regardless of social status, ethnic origin or financial means.
A strong bond is developed between country and local students through weekend and holiday visits.
Our Mission
We declare that the mission of St Ursula’s College is to continue the mission of Jesus, living and proclaiming the Gospel values to all people, especially in our school community, with fidelity, joy and enthusiasm
Our mission demands that we create an environment where the Gospel values – both in daily living and in the learning situation – can be critically examined, clearly understood and responsibly acted upon.
This demands serious and courageous involvement in the field of education and in the practice of justice in our efforts to transform the world.
Our Values
In striving to live out the College motto, ‘Perfice Gressus Meos’ (Perfect My Steps), St Ursula’s College values:
Faith
We seek to make students aware of the rich Catholic heritage, nurturing this as the source of Catholic identity and living.
Tradition
We value the living tradition inherent in the Catholic story. We appreciate our identity and we strive to further build upon the faith and commitment of the Presentation Sisters.
Development of the Whole Person
We believe in the nurturing of the individual as a whole person. This entails spiritual, physical, psychological, social, aesthetical and emotional within a caring environment.
Dignity of the Human Person
We strive to uphold the worth of each person – encourage awareness of the needs of others and foster respect, fairness and care in all relationships.
Integrity
We seek to act in accordance with principles of moral and ethical conduct, ensuring consistency between words and deeds.
Respect
We encourage all to treat others with consideration and regards, respecting another’s point of view.
Excellence
We seek to promote an environment whereby students and staff are able to develop themselves to their fullest potential. We seek to provide a curriculum and structure whereby students can experience success according to their unique personal capabilities.
Justice
We strive to ensure that all members of the College community are treated with fairness, integrity and equality – nurturing as well the values of courage, compassion and reconciliation.
Therefore, in carrying on the tradition and values of the Presentation Sisters, St Ursula’s College has a particular commitment to:
religious education,
the promotion of, and education for, justice,
the development of leadership,
encouraging students to strive towards reaching their full potential, and
preparing students to participate responsibly in society.
Facilities
St Ursula's College is surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens and has a variety of modern facilities within the school.
These include:
An air-conditioned Library (fully equipped with research computers and referencing materials, TV's, video machines and study desks).
A dynamic art facility. The "Art House" is well equipped to cater for all facets of creative art production.
A performing arts hall which provides excellent facilities for practical and performing arts.
Technology facilities within the College
St Ursula's College has chosen not to hand out laptops or netbooks to individual students or year groups but instead to purchase computers of a higher standard and install them throughout the College. Our network has also been upgraded to prepare for future trends in technology.
The reasons we have made this decision are:
Management: Software and hardware can be more easily kept up to date and virus protection can be closely monitored, enabling more efficient use of our technology, if computers are based at the College.
Reliability: Computers at the College can be more easily identified if they have a fault. This can often be rectified before the machine stops working completely. Students are not then without computers for extended periods of them.
Quality: If netbooks or laptops were given to students these could not have all the specifications to enable them to run the specialist software packages used for different subjects. It would be difficult to ensure the wellbeing of these expensive laptops if given to all students. Computers within the College all have these specifications to enable more access to these programs.
St Ursula's College has three large computer labs with 30 desktop computers in each. Additionally, there are three rooms with fifteen desktop computers in each and a pod of twelve laptops. Three of these areas are within the Library and are primarily used as research areas where classes can access computers as well as books.
Laptops are located in other areas and are shared between rooms. There are 24 laptops in each pod and there are seven pods around the College.
There is also a number of laptops that are available for loan to students if they are needed. These can be borrowed overnight from the Library. These laptops are popular with students who are studying Technology and other subjects that require specialised software.
St Ursula's College aims to provide students with the best opportunities in their future workplaces by teaching with the latest Industry Standard software for subjects such as Technology and Graphics.
Desktops and laptops are all networked and provide secure storage of students' files which can be accessed around the College. All of the laptops are also connected the the network by Wireless technology allowing flexibility of access in all locations.
In the Boarding College, rooms have a data connection to enable all students to access the Internet on their own laptop, at allocated times, for study and email.
Computer labs are open for students' use before school Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 8.25am; at lunch time Monday to Friday; after school Monday to Thursday from 3pm to 6pm; on Friday afternoon from 3pm to 4pm; and on weekends by demand.
A Music Academy catering for the practical and theory components of music tuition.
Home Economics Room with a fully equipped kitchen which is used for Food and Hospitality classes.
Sewing room with sewing machines and over-lockers.
A Vocational Educational Centre with facilities for Hospitality training.
Hospitality Kitchen
A Hairdressing and Beauty House is well equipped to cater for the practical components of these subjects.
Classrooms are cool and comfortable and surrounded by tropical palms and foliage.
Construction Activities
Construction will soon commence at the College in the form of our
covered PE space; and
Music Dance and Drama facility.
A covered Physical Education space comprising a covered court with amenities and storage facilities will be constructed. The old bitumen courts will be removed and replaced by a new competition standard court with lighting suitable for night practise use.
The Music, Dance and Drama facility will result in major modifications, including some demolition, to our existing Hall. This facility will incorporate a new stage, music tuition rooms, dance space, band practise area and new amenities.
The successful building contractor should be known during October 2011 and it is expected that construction will commence soon after.
Both projects will be undertaken by the one building contractor with completion anticipated for July 2012.
St Ursula's College, in partnership with Government, has funded these two projects providing significant improvement to our College facilities.
Other projects are underway for future upgrade of facilities to present a comfortable and challenging environment for students.
Tuition per year(Years 8-10) $19,880
Tuition per year(Years 11-12) $20,570
# Boarding per year $13,340
Administration Fee per year $1,500
Homestay fees for term breaks and long weekend $3,805
Transport fees for return trips to airport/homestay locations $550
