Established in 1989, the inspiration for the foundation of the College came from the local Catholic community who wanted a Catholic Secondary College to be available for children in the Rockingham vicinity. The Foundation Principal was Br Patrick Carey, a Christian Brother. Br Carey developed a strong vertical system of pastoral care made up of six Houses with students from all year groups belonging to a House. Each House was named after people who had demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the Church and to society: Blessed Mary MacKillop, Caroline Chisholm, Mother Teresa, St Ignatius Loyola, Edmund Rice and St Francis Xavier. The House system of pastoral care had been established to assist in the pastoral care of individual students, the promotion of school spirit, the organisation of student activities and student leadership, within the college.
Mr Egmont Melton commenced his term of Principalship in 1991, and served the College for 12 years. During this time, the College grew, not only in student enrolments, but also in the building of many of the facilities that the College now enjoys. Mr Melton had a particular passion for music, drama and dance, the reason for naming the performing arts area the Egmont Melton Performing Arts Centre. The one facility that Mr Melton was truly proud of was the construction of the College Chapel. In its design, the College Patron Saint’s life in both Poland and Japan, have been taken into consideration, as was our connection to the Australian bush. Kolbe Catholic College had now become a full five stream College with 740 students and a strong reputation in the local region.
Principal, Mrs Caroline Payne, commenced in 2004 and embarked on a new Capital Development Plan that included the construction of a Year 7 Learning Centre, and planning for the construction of new specialist rooms including Design and Technology workshops, information technology laboratories, the refurbishment of the Art and Home Economics rooms, and the building of additional classrooms. Along with the growth of the College in becoming a six stream college with two sub-schools: Middle and Senior school, the College also embarked on an ambitious plan to become one of the leading Digital Schools in Western Australia.
In October 2009, Ms Robyn Miller, after 21 years of service within the Rockingham and Kwinana communities was appointed Kolbe Catholic College’s new Principal. Under her guidance the College’s focus on digital learning has continued to grow with the implementation of a 1 to 1 laptop program for its middle school students and other ICT initiatives. The development of a new strategic plan in 2010 with the focus of “striving for excellence in all we do” acts as a guide within the College.
Kolbe Catholic College is now a community of over 1000 students from Years 7 to 12 with educational programs and extra-curricular activities that provides opportunities for students to excel in a broad range of fields. It is blessed to have a staff who give generously of their time to support students as they aspire to achieve their best.
