New Yarrabilba Catholic college named

San Damiano College, Yarrabilba

San Damiano College is the name for BCE's new Catholic secondary school at Yarrabilba

THE new Catholic secondary school at Yarrabilba, planned to open in 2021, will be called San Damiano College.

Brisbane Catholic Education has announced the name at the same time as advertising the job of Foundation Principal for the college, which will ultimately have an enrolment of around 1,100 students from Year 7 to Year 12.

San Damiano College will be located on a large block bounded by Yarrabilba Drive and Woodward Avenue and will be built in a number of stages.

Pending all government and funding approvals, the college is planned to open in January 2021 with students in Year 7, then will grow by one level per year until its first Year 12 students graduate in 2026.

Expressions of interest in enrolment are now open on the Brisbane Catholic School website and enrolment applications are expected to open early next year.

San Damiano College will offer both academic and vocational pathways and is also entering community partnerships with Griffith University and vocational education providers to allow it to offer a broad-based curriculum that addresses local needs.

The college will form part of a 32 hectare educational and sporting precinct as part of the masterplanned design of Yarrabilba.

The name San Damiano reflects the strong connection the college will have to the Franciscan tradition. Other schools within the local Catholic parish also have Franciscan names – St Clare’s Primary School at Yarrabilba and St Francis’ College at Crestmead. 

San Damiano originally was the name of a chapel, monastery and cross, all located in Assisi in Italy. St Francis was praying in the chapel, in front of what is now known as the San Damiano Cross, when God called him to repair the Church. Saint Clare founded her order of religious sisters in the adjacent San Damiano monastery.

The Franciscan charism will be reflected in the approach of the college to the environment, which will model the ‘integral ecology’ championed by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’

Brisbane Catholic Education has formed a Community Consultative Group to guide the development of the college and provide advice to the Foundation Principal. It is anticipated the Principal will commence work around Easter next year, at the same time an enrolment office will open and enrolment interviews will commence.

More information about San Damiano College will soon be available on the Brisbane Catholic Education website or by phoning BCE’s School Development Services on (07) 3033 7000. 

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