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Striving for excellence at St Columba

Schools

The new principal of St Columba College, Darren Pitt, is no stranger to the northern suburbs school, having been deputy principal for the past three years.

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Nor is he lacking experience as a principal, having led the Springfield Anglican College in Brisbane previously. In Adelaide, he has been deputy principal of Seymour College in Adelaide and director of Teaching and Learning at St Peter’s College.

St Columba College, an R-12 school, is the first joint venture, co-educational school in Australia. It was established in 1996 as an ecumenical initiative of the Anglican and Catholic Archbishops of Adelaide.

Darren said his aim was to “be better tomorrow than we are today” and he was looking forward to implementing some changes for the school this year as part of the 2024 theme of Striving for Excellence.

“I feel very passionate about this community and the important role that St Columba plays in it,” he said.

“We take very seriously the responsibility parents and caregivers have given us, for helping to raise their children.

“What I’m looking forward to most is delivering on that commitment – to provide the absolute best learning environment in the north, catering for all learning needs and providing all students with avenues and the correct environment to fulfil their potential.”

Darren said the school was “off to a great start” with quality learning going on in every classroom in the school.

A lot of planning was put in by senior leaders in early January and he said it was “a lot of fun building those professional teams and establishing goals”.

“But there is no feeling like the return of students who bring all of the energy and dynamism to a school,” he added.

“The first day of term, with all staff on deck, and the return all of the smiling faces and inquisitive minds of the students back on our campus, was when the school really came alive.”

Darren said he would be building on the “excellent work” of his predecessor Leanne Carr to find new ways the school could excel.

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