As of 2019, 93 teachers and 36 non-teaching staff were working at the College with over 1250 students enrolled over years 7 to 12[2][3]. Across these enrollments, 45% were male and 55% were female, with 3% of the total student population being of Indigenous background. In 2019, the College received an average of 91% attendance across the school year, with over 67% of students receiving an attendance rate of over 90%. In addition to this, 172 Year 12 students received a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) in 2019. [3]
Carmel College's current administrative team consists of College Principal Mr. Stephen Adair, Deputy Principal Mrs. Bree Brockenshire, Assistant Principal Religious Education Mrs. Krystyna Baldwin, Assistant Principal Students Ms. Sian Burke and Assistant Principal Administration Ms. Nadia Galetto.[4]
The College logo consists of a crimson oval with the image of a lighthouse on the inside. This oval represents the security of family and faith. The lighthouse is located on a green hill representing Mount Carmel, showing that students should be a beacon for others through leading by example in faith. In the top left corner, the glowing yellow cross represents Jesus, the focus of Catholic life. The stars on either side of oval represent the light the shines upon us, with the College motto "Let Your Light Shine" inscribed upon the bottom. [6]
The College's entire culture and community are built upon the ideals outlined in the College's Four Pillars. The students' embodiment of these ideals provides them with the qualities and skills in order to become well-rounded, thoughtful and productive members of both the College and the wider communities. The four pillars are Respect, Resilience, Diligence and Positive Relationships.[7]
As Carmel College observes a proud Catholic history, the College holds many annual masses and liturgies in celebration of certain events.
At the beginning of each year, the College holds its annual Opening School Mass and Commissioning of College Leaders at the Chandler Theatre in the Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler. During this ceremony, the College is opened for the year, followed by the Year 12 cohort receiving their senior ties and the College Leaders receiving their special senior blazers.
On the last day of the second term (the same day as the cross-country carnival), there is an Easter Liturgy and art performance recounting the Easter story and the final days of Jesus.
On the week of ANZAC Day, there is an ANZAC Day Liturgy held, paying great reverence to the eternal ANZAC tradition and commemorating all fallen in combat. Veterans, service personnel of the Defence Force and RSL representitives attend the ceremony as well as cadets from local areas. Speeches are observed from those close to the cause.
In the first week of the third term, the annual Foundation Day celebration takes place. This is followed by a market stalls event in the noon and the "Carmel's Got Talent" talent contest in the afternoon.
On the 23rd of January 1993, Carmel Catholic College began operations for the school year with an enrollment of 80 students.[8] This was the first time that those seeking a Catholic secondary education would not have to leave the Redlands, of which, had enormous support from the community.[9] Foundation Principal Mrs. Faye Conley was responsible for the establishment of the school as well as scouting the location and construction of the initial five buildings. A small ceremony was held in the front carpark of the school with staff, students and parents in attendance to inaugurate the College.In mid-2003, the College received its first website under the current domain name http://www.carmelcollege.qld.edu.au/. [10]
In 2006, Foundation Principal Mrs. Faye Conley retired after over a decade at the College. She saw the school grow from its earliest stages to a respected name in local education.[11] She was succeeded by Ms. Berenice McLellan.[12]
In 2010, a major expansion to many of the school's facilities was made. This included major extensions to the administration building and science building, as well as the construction of new teaching facilities, a new tuck-shop, and state-of-the-art drama rooms.
At the end of the 2011 school year, Ms. Berenice McLellan left the College. She was succeeded by Mr. Brian Eastaughffe the following year. [12]
On the 20th of December 2011, the College library was burnt down in a suspected arson attack from gasoline spillage in a nearby locker.[13] This took a great loss to the College's library, learning support facilities and counseling rooms as well as the entire book collection, two-thirds of the textbooks needed for the next year and, five computers housed in the library.[14] All four library staff spent the remainder of the Christmas holidays replacing lost items and were able to replenish around 90% of the textbooks for 2012.[13]
In early 2012, the student population was around 830.[14]
On the 20th of July 2012, Carmel College celebrated its 20th Foundation Day, celebrating the College's 20th anniversary. The large-scale ceremony and mass hosted at the school was lead by Archbishop Mark Coleridge and attended by guests from the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Redland City Council, and Brisbane Catholic Education as well as former staff, parents and current and former students. Actor Lincoln Lewis and Doctor Amy Heales, both former students, spoke at the ceremony about their time at the College.[12]
At the beginning of the 2015 school year, the student population was 1125 students.[15]
In July 2015, Carmel College hosted the 2015 Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN) Carnival. The carnival was held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall, as the scale of the event was unable to be held at the school. Over 48 teams from across Queensland took part with more than 700 people attending the opening ceremony which included an artistic performance and addresses from Queensland Firebirds netball players Gretel Tippett and Kim Ravaillion.[16]
On the 25th of August 2015, the College opened the brand new $3.1 million library. A ceremony was held and attended by students, staff, parents, and guests from Brisbane Catholic Education. In addition to this, a new home economics building, science building extension and renovations to the former cooking rooms to make way for a renovated visual art facility were also built and opened. This $5.7 million expansion of the school's facilities were made to help cater to the new Year 7 students, bringing an influx of new enrollments to the College.[15]
In September 2017, the construction of stage one of the new H Block Senior Learning Facilities began.[17]
On the 13th of October 2017, an evening soiree was held at the College. It was hailed as the largest Arts Showcase Evening in the school's history with over 600 people turning-out to attend several musicals, dance, and drama performances across two stages over two hours. In the library, an art gallery was specially built downstairs, showcasing the student-artists' work in visual arts that year. In addition, a special museum hosting an archive of old photographs and artifacts from the bygone days of the College was set-up upstairs.[18]
In 2018, Mr. Stephen Adair, former head of secondary at Emmaus College, Jimboomba[19], became the principal of the College after Mr. Brian Eastaughffe was moved to the role of principal at Clairvaux MacKillop College.[20]
In October 2019, the new H Block Senior Learning Facilities stage two was completed. This included the demolition of the tuck-shop building and construction of a new one, as well as the construction of a new staff car park. This marked the completion of the 2-year-running construction of the New H Block complex.
In October 2019, the College had its first official school video produced as a summary of College life. The video was aired at the 2019 Academic Awards, hosted at the Sleeman Sports Complex Theatre, Chandler, and is now presented on the home page of the website. [21]
In late 2019 to early 2020, the 27-year-old administration building was demolished in order to make way for the new, double-storey building to be completed in early 2021.[22] During the construction, the staff members have been moved into temporary cubicles within the classrooms of the library building (L7, 8 and 19), with the reception being housed in the IT services office.
Carmel College offers many co-curricular activities to students during their time at school, of which, are divided into sport, arts and social justice categories.
Arts Co-Curricular is the centralised arts program at Carmel College. It contains all areas of music, drama, dance, visual art, public speaking and debating.
The Arts contains many special school and inter-school events, such as:
The Biennial College Musical
Arts Showcase Evening
Musical and dance Eisteddfods
The Positive Mindset Festival
Queensland Colleges' Music Festival
Concerts and performances at assemblies
Drama Extension Workshops
Improvisation and Comedy Competitions
Theatre Sports
Dance Extension Workshops
Creative Competition Workshops
Variety Nights
There are many ensembles and groups offered under the Arts Co-Curricular program, provided free of charge to all students. All of these ensembles perform at a high level, both on-campus at masses, liturgies and assemblies, but also representing the College at off campus events, with weekly rehearsals and meetings observed. These ensembles include:
Liturgical Choir
Junior Choir
Carmel Chorum
Concert Band
Jazz Band
Strings Ensemble
Flute Ensemble
Production Ensemble (Stage Production, Sound and Lighting)
Biennially, the College presents a large scale stage performance of a musical of choice.[29] These are hosted in what are years that end in even numbers, known as musical years. These musicals are hosted at the Redlands Performing Arts Centre in Cleveland with some of the previously hosted musicals including "Annie" (2018)[30], "Peter Pan" (2016)[31], "Oliver" (2012)[32], "Sherwoodstock" (2008)[33] and "Little Shop of Horrors" (2004).[34] These shows are labeled as as "astonishing", "exceptionally professional" and "thoroughly enjoyable" by the audience.[31]
As a Catholic community, Carmel College engages in various Social Justice initiatives that enrich and better the lives of the members of the wider community. Through this, social justice events that promote the Gospel and the values of compassion, hope, justice, peace, charity and service are organised, including:
Mini Vinnies
Annual School sleepout
Winter blanket appeal
St Vincent de Paul Society's Christmas Appeal
Caritas' Project Compassion
Catholic Mission
Carmivale
Immersions to Samoa and Cherbourg
Visits to the Cleveland Gardens retirement village
Carmel College's pastoral care system is based on the value and individualism of each student. This is based upon the Colleges mission, ensuring that all students are encouraged in their spiritual, intellectual, emotional and social development. [38]
Carmel College has five distinctive house groups, of which, students become part of for their time at the College. These houses compete against each other during inter-house athletics, swimming and cross country events, as well as supplying a powerful community for all students to be a member of. Each group is represented by a colour, symbol, house motto and slogan and a house patron, who usually align with the College's mission and vision and those who have made a contribution to social justice. [39]
All students are allocated to pastoral care group, consisting of students from each year level.[42] For 20 minutes every morning, they spend time with this group, similar to a homeroom class. Students remain in this class for the entirety of their time at the College, however, the pastoral care teacher may change during this time. At the beginning of the school year 2021, the College changed its pastoral care structure to vertical classes. Pastoral care classes now contain students from all year levels with 12 separate classes per house.
↑"Carmel College eNewsletter"(PDF). Carmel College Newsletter 29 May 2020. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
↑Carmel College Student Planner. Carmel College. 2020. pp. College Logo. Search this book on
↑Carmel College (2017). "Four Pillars". Carmel College. Retrieved 18 December 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
↑Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN978-1-921171-26-0Search this book on.
↑"Extra Curicular". Carmel College. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 19 December 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
↑"Cultural". Carmel College. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-15. Retrieved 19 December 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
↑"Cultural". Carmel College. 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. Retrieved 19 December 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
↑"Jemma Mi Mi - Queensland Firebirds". Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
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