Name of new Catholic secondary school revealed

THE name of Geelong’s newest Catholic secondary school has been announced, with the Archbishop of Melbourne and the head of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria visiting the site yesterday (Wednesday) to reveal it will be known as Iona College Geelong.

The $60 million co-education college, on the corner of Horseshoe Bend and Boundary roads in Charlemont, is expected to start construction in September and will be open in 2020.

CECV executive director Stephen Elder said with Geelong’s Catholic colleges at or near capacity and the region’s primary schools growing, Iona College would ensure the CECV could cater to the families of Geelong and the Surf Coast that wanted a Catholic education.

“I would like to pay tribute to the principals of Geelong’s secondary colleges who have joined forces in planning for this school to ensure the future students of Iona College benefit from the combined wisdom attached to Geelong’s existing four secondary colleges.

“The fact there is such high demand for Catholic education is testament to Geelong’s Catholic schools and teachers who are providing an affordable, high quality education that shapes happy, resilient, students who are filled with a love of learning and life. It’s a credit to them.

The Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart said opening a secondary college was a momentous occasion, with the last new Catholic secondary college, Kolbe College, opening in Craigieburn in 2008.

“Iona represents one of the earliest and most significant Catholic sites in the British Isles, the Monastery of Iona, founded in the fifth century.

“Like Iona College, the Monastery of Iona was a centre of learning by the sea. Just as Iona College will serve and underpin a growing community, Iona was literally a rock of faith, an island monastery rich in knowledge, a centre of tranquillity in turbulent times and a force for spreading the Gospel in parts then considered the edges of the world.”