Mother Ursula Kennedy and Mother Patrick Madden, two Presentation Sisters, visited Yeppoon and selected a one-acre block in Queen Street for the construction of the branch house, which at the suggestion of Bishop Shiel became known as St Ursula's.[5]
The two-storey St Ursula's Convent, with St Joseph's Primary School on the ground floor, was officially opened by Bishop Joseph Shiel on 21 January 1917.[6][7] Twenty-five boarding students and thirty primary students began attending the school 29 January 1917.[5]
With a demand for specialised education for young woman becoming apparent,[5] St Ursula's College was officially opened at the site on 12 March 1918,[8] with an enrolment of 32 students.[5] The primary school was on the ground floor, with the secondary school on the first floor.
In 1922, a new building was erected which is now called Gabriel Hogan House.[5]
With a surge in the number of primary school students in the 1950s, it was decided to establish a separate school with the Sacred Heart Primary School opening in John Street in 1958.[5] Sacred Heart Primary School relocated again in 1991, to Lammermoor.[5]
In 1992, the Presentation Sisters formed St Ursula's College Limited, ensuring the school would continue to follow the Presentation tradition after religious leadership had stopped.[5]
The first lay principal of St Ursula's College was Margaret Ramsay, who was appointed in 1996.[5] However, the Presentation Sisters remained on the staff at St Ursula's College until 2011.[5]
The Queensland Presentation Congregation transferred governance of St Ursula's College to Mercy Partners in June 2014.[5]
A century of catholic education and presentation presence on the Capricorn Coast was celebrated in July 2017.[5]
In 2018, St Ursula's College celebrated the school's centenary with a three days of celebrations.[5]
School
St Ursula's College, 2022
The College campus is located in the Yeppoon central business district. The Boarding House is a three-storey Queenslander-style building that accommodates the changing needs of boarding students. Plans were submitted to Livingstone Shire Council in 2021 for a proposed expansion of the school.[9] The plans included the construction of a new two-storey education block with new amenities, courtyard and covered area which would replace an existing building which would be demolished.[9]
The view of St Ursula's College from Cliff Street, 2022
The college's "sister school" is St Agnes' Girls School in Kyoto.[10]
Students from St Ursula's College regularly collaborate with students from St Brendan's College to hold stage musicals for the community of Yeppoon.[11][12][13]
Notable staff
Chris Dawson, a former rugby league player, began working at the school as a physical education teacher in 1998.[14] In 2003, he was put on light duties and had his contact with students revoked during the 2003 coronial inquest into the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Lynette Dawson.[15]
Rosa MacGinley, a presentation sister and academic was the head of the school from 1954 to 1967.[16]
Courtney Winfield-Hill, cricketer and rugby league player, was working as a physical education teacher in 2010.[17]
^"The charming devil and his missing wife". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 March 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2022. Chris Dawson has been put on "light duties" and removed from contact with pupils in his teaching job at St Ursula's College, a private girls' school in Yeppoon, Queensland
