St Columba’s School have celebrated 90 years of Catholic education in Bayswater with a range of events to mark the occasion.
15 Jun 2026
St Columba’s school mark 90 years of Catholic education Bayswater
The school community were joined by CEWA’s Executive Director, Annette Morey, former Principals Art Lombardi and Greg Martin, representatives of the Sisters of Mercy, and local MP, Dan Bull MLA as they celebrated a special mass to mark the occasion.
Following the mass, each year level was assigned a different decade as inspiration for a dress-up day, reflecting the many years the school has provided a quality Catholic education.
The week ended with Mercy Mission Day, where classes across the school set up stalls and games to raise money. The money supports both Mercy Works to help those in need and St Columba’s Parish.
Principal, Gina Burns said:
“The school remains deeply grounded in the Mercy tradition, with core values such as compassion, peace, and respect explicitly taught and consistently modelled across all areas of the curriculum.
“A strong emphasis on service is evident through initiatives such as Mercy Mission Day, held annually at this time, where the students devise stalls to actively support Mercy Works Australia. This provides students with meaningful opportunities to respond to the needs of others, particularly those most vulnerable.
“In addition, the school maintains strong connections with St Columba’s Parish through regular participation in parish liturgies and celebrations, opportunities for students to engage in sacramental life, and the presence and involvement of parish clergy in school events.”
Speaking at the mass, Mrs Morey said:
“When St Columba’s opened in 1936, life looked very different from the way it does today. There were no computers, no mobile phones, no internet, and certainly no artificial intelligence. Communication was slower, travel was simpler, and daily life was centred much more closely around home, parish and local community. In schools, lessons were taught with chalkboards, books and handwritten work, and much of what we now take for granted in modern classrooms simply did not exist.
“Over the past 90 years, the world has been transformed. Technology has changed the way we learn, communicate and live. Today’s students are growing up in a digital age, with instant access to information, new tools for learning, and opportunities that would have been unimaginable to the founders of this school.
“And yet, while the world has changed dramatically, the heart of Catholic education has remained constant.
“Today, St Columba’s has grown to almost 500 students and more than 40 staff. It has gone from strength to strength, becoming a double-stream primary school in 2011 and opening a new block for Year 5 and Year 6 students in 2016.”
Mrs Morey concluded by congratulating the school on 90 years of Catholic education in Bayswater, and wishing them well for the years ahead.