St. Catherine's College, Westminster

St. Catherine's College
McBride Hall, a building of the school
Address
24 Victoria St Westminster, Anningdon, Septentria 3400 SR, Insulamia
Information
Former name	St. Catherine's Catholic College for Girls
Type	Semi-independent day school and boarding school
Motto	Latin: Sapientia aurum praeferat (Wisdom over gold)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	5 April 1897 (1897-04-05)
Founder	Sister Mary-Anne McBride, RSM
Head	Sarika Luthra
Staff	119 (January 2022)
Grades	1–12
Number of students	1,226 (January 2022)
Colour(s)	Crimson and gold
Publication	Alexandria
Affiliations	Septentrian Catholic Schools Association, Sporting Schools Septentria, Anningdon Union of Schools
Website	stcatherinescollege.edu.ia

St. Catherine's College, often simply referred to as St. Catherine's, St. C's, or SCC, is a semi-independent Catholic day and boarding school in Westminster, a central district of Anningdon, Septentria, Insulamia. As of 2022, it caters for 1,226 students from grade 1 to grade 12.

The Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic religious institute, founded the school in 1897 as St. Catherine's Catholic College for Girls. It was initially a girls' boarding school, and its first headmaster was Sister Mary-Anne McBride, a member of Sisters of Mercy. It opened up to day students in 1925. Under the Act Against Educational Discrimination of 1974, the school started accepting males and became a semi-independent school—substantially government-funded and tuition-free.

Although it does not charge tuition, St. Catherine's still has a selective enrolment policy, contributing to its reputation as one of the top-performing schools by academics in Septentria. It is a partner school with the International Baccalaureate, and is also associated with the Septentrian Catholic Schools Association, Sporting Schools Septentria, and the Anningdon Union of Schools. Some of its notable alumni include Elizabeth Cartright, the first and only female primeminister of Insulamia, and Aisling McKeown, the current captain of the Insulamia women's national football team. In 2007, the Heritage Registry of Septentria listed McBride Hall and the Emilia Walsh Tower in the school as provincial heritage sites.

History

Sister Mary-Anne McBride, the founder of the school

St. Catherine's Catholic College for Girls was founded in 1897 with support from the Sisters of Mercy, a religious congregation of the Catholic Church originating in Dublin, Ireland. It was the first Catholic school for girls in Septentria. Sister Mary-Anne McBride, a member of the Sisters of Mercy, was the main proponent for establishing the school and became its first head. Initially, McBride had planned on constructing the school on an estate in Lambeth, but later settled on the current site in Westminster, across the Finavon. In 1925, the school opened up to day students, adding two new day houses to complement the two existing boarding houses. Two more day houses were established in 1964.

School Hall (now McBride Hall) in 1916

Following the passing of the Act Against Educational Discrimination (AAED) through the Parliament of Septentria in 1974, St. Catherine's was mandated to allow all sexes to attend. Thus, it removed the phrase for Girls in its name, and removed the word Catholic with the name change too (though the school would remain Catholic). The AAED also had St. Catherine's transition into a semi-independent school, becoming heavily funded by the state (while keeping donations as a source of income) and waiving its tuition fees. The school's board, along with the Septentrian Catholic Schools Association, protested the act, even after its passing and codification.

In 1976, St. Catherine's built an off-campus sports facility in Tacuja, an outer suburb of Anningdon. After the 1988 Finavon floods, several school buildings were damaged and one building, Dalton-Adams, was completely demolished and rebuilt. The school underwent a major expansion in 1990, gaining two new buildings and new land purchased from neighbouring properties. For its centenary in 1997, the school's chapel was renovated and expanded. In 2012, a new boarding facility was constructed to accomodate the steadily growing number of boarders. Between 2015 and 2017, many school buildings were upgraded alongside facilities at the sporting centre in Tacuja.

List of heads

Period as head	Name	Image	Notes
1897–1920	Sister Mary-Anne McBride RSM		Founder of the school and a Catholic nun in the Sisters of Mercy. Resigned in 1920 due to ill health and died two years later.
1920–1946	Sister Jane O'Neill RSM		Also a nun in the Sisters of Mercy. Namesake of the O'Neill building and the O'Neill day house of the school. Longest-serving head in the history of the school.
1946–1950	Mother Elisabeth Heath	-	Died in an accident during tenure.
1950–1951	No head	-	The school had no head between November 1950 and January 1951.
1951–1963	John James Goodson FRISE		Jean-Jacques Beaufils in French. First male head and first French-Insulamian head of the school. The school's Goodson Hall and Goodson House are named after him.
1963–1974	Quentin Blanchfield		Resigned in protest of the Act Against Educational Discrimination in 1974.
1974	No head	-	The school went without a head again between February 1974 and December 1974.
1974–1992	Sister Hilda Murray		Also a nun in the Catholic Church.
1992–2005	Laura Jones	-	-
2005–2021	Thomas Darcy		Resigned in 2021 due to allegations of sexual abuse. See #Thomas Darcy scandal for further information.
2021–present	Sarika Luthra	-	Second-generation Indian immigrant and first non-White head of the school.

Symbols

Saint Catherine, the patron saint of the school. This depiction was painted by Caravaggio in 1598.

Colours

The colours of St. Catherine's College are crimson and gold. They feature on the school's logo and uniform.

Motto

Sapientia aurum praeferat is the Latin-language motto of St. Catherine's College. It roughly translates to "Wisdom over gold" or "Wisdom is better than gold" in English. This references the biblical verse Proverbs 16:16.

Patron saint

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint and namesake of the school, was a Christian martyr who lived in the late 3rd century and the early 4th century. She was chosen by Sister Mary-Anne McBride for her associations with schoolchildren and girls. Saint Catherine's hometown, Alexandria, is used as the name of the school's yearbook.

Logo

The logo or the coat of arms of St. Catherine's College is a shield featuring a depiction of Saint Catherine holding a sword and a book. The shield has a crimson background and a golden cross, representing the school's Christian faith. Above the shield is a book with radiating rays, representing education. The motto of the school is inscribed on a scroll below the shield; it is in all capitals with the letter "U" being replaced with "V", and the digraph "AE" is replaced with the ligature "Æ". The whole logo uses a gold and crimson colour scheme, which are the colours of the school. It is officially blazoned:

Sanguine, a cross voided, a depiction of Saint Catherine holding in her dexter hand a sword and in her sinister hand a book, all Or; for a Crest, upon a torse of the field and the cross, an open book of the field irradiated of the cross; for a Motto, "SAPIENTIA AVRVM PRÆFERAT".

The wordmark of the school features the logo besides text reading "ST. CATHERINE'S COLLEGE" and "WESTMINSTER" a line below, in a serif typeface.

Campus

The grounds of SCC, with the school's chapel in the foreground and the Elisabeth Heath Library in the background

SCC's main campus is located at 24 Victoria St, Westminster 3400 SR, Insulamia. It consists of 13 buildings, one grass field, two tennis courts, and one aquatic centre. There are 82 classrooms in total, located within the buildings of Alba, Dalton-Adams, the Martorell Science Centre, O'Neill, and Tuesley. SCC's three boarding houses, May, McAuley and Tachacat, have selfnamed dormitories.

The Elisabeth Heath Library is the current library of St. Catherine's, having replaced the old library in 2016. The Rachel Tett Sporting Centre was built in 1979 and consists of two indoor fields and a gym. Prior to 1990, the school's assemblies had been held in the Daphne Russell Theatre, but since the construction of Goodson Hall, they have been held there instead. The school's chapel was built in 1902, and its interior was extensively renovated in 1997. It is relatively small, and most religious services that require more accommodation are held in Goodson Hall or the nearby St. Andrew's Cathedral. McBride Hall (formerly School Hall until 1923) was once the main building of the school, however, it has transitioned into its current state as a museum and an office space for staff.

In 2007, McBride Hall and the Emilia Walsh Tower became provincial heritage sites under the Heritage Registry of Septentria. Following its construction in 1990, Goodson Hall was awarded the Collins Award for the Best Educational Structure by the Royal Architectural Society of Insulamia.

Tacuja Sporting Grounds

The St. Catherine's College Tacuja Sporting Grounds, sometimes referred to as SCC Tacuja, is located in the district of Tacuja on the outskirts of Anningdon. It is 9.2 km (5.7 mi) away from the main campus. There are four multi-purpose fields on the site, all of which are used for football, déto, cricket, and rugby union. There are also facilities for track and field at SCC Tacuja, including a running track and a long jump pit.

Academics

St. Catherine's College educates students between grades 1 to 12. It is affiliated with the International Baccalaureate and offers the IB Primary Years Programme, the IB Middle Years Programme, and the IB Diploma Programme. It also offers a curriculum based on the one of Septentria Curriculum Authority. The school has a selective enrolment policy, with various criteria and an examination to assess prospective students.

In the years 2009 and 2018, St. Catherine's achieved the highest results in the country on the INEE national standardised academic assessment. It was ranked the best school academically in Septentria by The Dorchester Mail in 2010.

Extracurricular

St. Catherine's College has an extensive extracurricular programme. It offers basketball, chess, cricket, debating, déto, football, netball, rugby union, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The school competes mainly in tournaments run by the Anningdon Union of Schools and Sporting Schools Septentria, but also partakes in various other sport-specific competitions.

Extracurricular programmes in music and the arts are also available to students at St. Catherine's. Additionally, the school organises community service activities, and is an authorised operator of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Student exchange programmes with schools in Auria, Germany, Spain, Japan, and Algeria are also offered at the school.

House system

St. Catherine's College has a house system like many other schools in Insulamia. There are nine houses in total, with three boarding houses and six day houses. Houses are compared in areas such as academic grades and behaviour, and they compete in interhouse contests in chess, cross country running, general knowledge, spelling, and swimming. At the end of each school year, points earned throughout the year are tallied, and the house with the most points wins the L. L. Smith House Cup.

Boarding houses

The two boarding houses of McAuley and Tachacat were the first houses of the school and, subsequently, the oldest houses of the school. They both take their names from actual buildings of the school—their respective dormitories. The house system was officially established in 1912, though students of the two buildings had fostered a friendly rivalry before that. In 2012, May House was created with the inauguration of the May building.

House name	Colours	Motto	Founding year
May	Yellow and black	For Excellence	2012
McAuley	White and red	Compassion and Courage	1897
Tachacat	Green and white	Faber Est Suae Quisque Fortunae	1897

May

May House is the youngest boarding house, having been founded in 2012 with the opening of its dormitory building of the same name. Its namesake is Leroy May, an alumnus of the school. Yellow and black are its colours, and For Excellence is its motto.

McAuley

McAuley was one of the original two houses of the school. It was named after Catherine McAuley. She was the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic religious institute that created the school. The house's colours are white and red, and its motto is Compassion and Courage.

Tachacat

A founding house of St. Catherine's, Tachacat is a boarding house that occupies the dormitory complex of the same name. The name "Tachacat" originated from the name of the estate that previously occupied the land where St. Catherine's College lies today. Though it is almost certain that "Tachacat" comes from a Kukin word, it is unclear which. A popular theory amongst the house is that the name was derived from the word tacazatak (pronounced ta-CHA-tsa-tak), meaning "rainbow", but this is not confirmed.

The colours of Tachacat House are green and white, which represent the land and purity respectively. Its motto is Faber Est Suae Quisque Fortunae, a Latin phrase often translated as "Every man is the artisan of his own fortune". The colours and the motto feature on the house's coat of arms, which is blazoned: "Vert, a chevron Argent between by three suns Proper."

Day houses

The first two day houses, Lucia and McBride, were created in 1925 when the school started accepting day students. For many years, these day houses were growing much bigger than the boarding houses. However, the school was adamant on maintaining the symmetry of two boarding houses and two day houses. The problem soon became too great to ignore, and in 1964, under Quentin Blanchfield's headship, St. Catherine's established two more day houses—Auchmuty and Goodson. In 2012, another day house, Cartright, was established along with the boarding house May.

House name	Colours	Motto	Founding year
Auchmuty	Turquoise and brown	In Caritate et Humilitate Servire	1964
Cartright	Navy blue, yellow, and red	Forwards Together	2012
Goodson	Red and yellow	Fortitudo in Unitate	1964
Lucia	Light blue and gold	Deus Lucet in Tenebris	1925
McBride	Blue	Fide Progredimur	1925

Auchmuty

Auchmuty House was established with Goodson House in 1964. It is named for Lindsay Auchmuty, a former Judge of the Septentria Supreme Court and a significant supporter of the school. Its colours are turquoise and brown, based on the colours of Auchmuty's personal arms which are also used as the arms of the house. The motto of the house is In Caritate et Humilitate Servire, meaning "Serve With Love and Humility", a reference to Galatians 5:13.

Cartright

Cartright is the youngest day house in the school. Established in 2012 alongside the boarding house May, it is named after Elizabeth Cartright, the 14th primeminister of Insulamia and the only woman ever to hold that position. Elizabeth Cartright, a graduate of the school, visited St. Catherine's at the start of the 2012 school year to to officially christen the house. The coat of arms of the house features a cart on the dexter and a star on the sinister. The colours of the house are navy blue, yellow, and red, representing Elizabeth Cartright's service to Insulamia and socialism. The house's motto is Forwards Together.

Goodson

Goodson House is named after former headmaster John James Goodson and was one of the two day houses founded in 1964. Its colours are red and yellow, and its motto is Fortitudo in Unitate, meaning "Strong in Unity". The emblem of the house is borrowed from the personal arms of John James Goodson.

Lucia

Lucia House was founded in 1925, alongside O'Neill House, as the first day houses of the school. It is named for Saint Lucia of Syracuse, a 4th-century Christian martyr who Sister Mary-Anne McBride had said was one of the "prime candidates for the patron saint [of the school]". Its colours are turquoise and gold, and its motto is Deus Lucet in Tenebris ("God Shines in the Darkess"), alluding to Saint Lucia's blindness. There is a dove on the house's coat of arms.

McBride

McBride was one of the first day houses of the school, founded in 1925. It is named after the school's founder and first headmaster, Mary-Anne McBride. Its motto is Fide Progredimur, roughly meaning "Faith Guides us Forth" in Latin. McBride House's colour is officially just blue, though it often used in conjunction with the colour white in designs.

Controversies

Harassment following the AAED

The Act Against Educational Discrimination (AAED) was bill passed in the Parliament of Septentria in 1974, under the Socialist majority in the Legislative Assembly at the time. One of its requirements was that all single-sex schools had to become mixed-sex. The executives at St. Catherine's, along with many other single-sex schools, heavily protested this bill; the head at the time, Quentin Blanchfield, even resigned in protest of it.

After the bill's passing and implementation, there were reportedly high numbers of reports of male students harassing and bullying female students at the school (and, to a lesser extent, vice versa). This became a major example used by critics of the AAED to show its flaws. Premier William Cartier responded to these criticisms by claiming that "[i]t is to be expected that we see incidents like these during the early stages of the policy" and that "soon the students will acclimatise".

The Anningdon Post reported in 1976 that the harassment had largely died down at the school since the implementation of the AAED two years prior.

Thomas Darcy scandal

Thomas Darcy

Main articles: Thomas Darcy and Bella Hopkins

In January 2021, Bella Hopkins, a former student at St. Catherine's College, sued Thomas Darcy, who held the role of Head of St. Catherine's at the time, for various counts of sexual abuse and sexual assault committed to her when she was a teenager. Darcy stood down from his position almost immediately, ambiguously citing "serious allegations made against [him]".

In July 2022, Darcy pleaded guilty to several sex crimes, receiving a sentence of 7 years in prison with limited rehabilitation. The Septentria Mail described the situation as "an utter disgrace" that will "leave the prestigious school's reputation in the gutter". Sarika Luthra, Darcy's successor in the office of Head, called it a "dark chapter in [the school's] history" and said that "[the school] will have to work harder to restore the community's trust", though maintained that the scandal "reflects not the standards of [the] school".

Notable alumni

Academia, education, and research

• Lisa Martorell FRSI – physical chemist
• Veronica Dalton – former Chancellor of the University of Anningdon
• Freya Harriet Adams FRISE – academic, former president of the Royal Insulamian Society of Education
• Grace Wu – lecturer at the University of Anningdon
• Emilia Walsh – academic, former board member of St. Catherine's College
• Rachel Tett MCB – anthropologist
• Céline Léglise – historian of medicine at Éteaux University
• Cecil Smith – professor of economics at the University of Exeter Business School
• Keira O'Connor MCB – linguist, author, and lecturer
• Dia Patel FSIDP – philosopher, author, sister of Raj Patel
• Penelope Taylor-Smith – professor at the Septentria University of Arts

Arts, entertainment, and music

• Daphne Russell MCB – thespian
• Evangeline Myers – violinist in the Orchestra Insulamic
• Fionn Gallagher – actress
• Lea Bernard MEG – journalist, author, and activist
• Miles Rodrickson – television presenter, comedian
• Charlotte Johns – lead singer of The Lavenders
• Beatrice Caron – fantasy writer
• Lucyanne Raitt – artist
• Yu Xiaoyan – ballet dancer, activist

Business

• Georgia Armstrong – Chairperson of Air Insulamia and former chairperson of Aviatry
• Tessa O'Neil – businesswoman, philantropist, and former CEO of Tinsley Corporation
• Waldo Peterow – chairperson of Bank of Henria and former chairperson of the Insulamian Oil and Gas Corporation
• Helen-Mary Askey – businesswoman, former head of National Rail
• Harry P. Moore – businessman and property developer
• Aiden Haraway – founder of tech startup Haraway Innovations
• Leroy May – property developer, former board member of St. Catherine's College and the Septentrian Catholic Schools Association

Military

• Air Marshall Mason James Carter MI COC SC MME
• Major General Maeve O'Brien CI
• Private Charles Andrew Percivals MMM

Elizabeth Cartright

Law, politics, and civil service

• Dame Elizabeth Cartright MP OBE MI MOC MCB CEG MOS – member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Insulamia for Coxingham and former primeminister of Insulamia
• Dame Emilia Walsh QC CI – former Judge of the Supreme Court of Insulamia
• Annelise Bauer MP – member of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Insulamia
• Amelia Greenhalgh – union leader
• Eva Ruvalcaba Santos – former leader of the Communist Party of Insulamia, activist
• Soren Gustavson MOS – lawyer
• Virginia Campbell-Fitzgerald MP MCB – former member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Insulamia for Calithew
• Astrid Westhouse MCB – civil servant and activist
• Lindsay Auchmuty SC MCB – former Judge of the Septentria Supreme Court
• Luca Molinaro – lawyer
• Raj Patel KC – Judge of the Supreme Court of Insulamia

Sports

• Aisling McKeown MI CCB – professional footballer, former captain of the Insulamia women's national football team
• Xavier Roy – professional basketballer
• Adrian Elliot – professional déto player
• Nicholas Kirkpatrick – professional rugby union player
• Imogen Wallace – professional netballer
• Pamela of the Cross MCB – chess grandmaster
• Zachary Liu – chess grandmaster
• Elodie Collier – former professional cricketer
• Tristan Eades – manager of Anningdon Football Club and retired footballer
• Sebastian Hepworth – déto player

Other

• Perry Rawlings – mass shooter and perpertrator of the 1999 Cabot Pride shooting
• Bella Hopkins – victim of sexual abuse by former Head of St. Catherine's Thomas Darcy
• Liam Crichton-Halys – hacktivist
• Jean-Alphonse Lemaire – former Archbishop of Nouville

See also

• List of Roman Catholic schools in Septentria
• Septentrian Catholic Schools Association
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anningdon
• Catholic Church in Insulamia
• Sisters of Mercy

External links

• Official website
• St. Catherine's College on the page of the Archdiocese of Anningdon
• McBride Hall (heritage site) on the Heritage Registry of Septentria