Newman Catholic College is a co-educational Catholic secondary college co-located with James Cook University at Smithfield, opening in 2022.
It is the 30th Catholic school in the Diocese of Cairns, the newest secondary college in the Far North Queensland region and the first Catholic school in Australia located within a university precinct.
Newman Catholic College will welcome its first intake of Year 7 students in 2022 and progressively add a year level until Year 12 is reached in 2027. It is a master planned college that will be built progressively in four stages, over a ten-year period.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with JCU provides exciting extension and mentoring opportunities for students and transition programs. The benefits of the partnership will extend to all Catholic secondary colleges in the Cairns Diocese.
It is an exciting and challenging opportunity for both JCU and Cairns Catholic Education to develop partnership programs which are successful, sustainable and mutually beneficial. The College will function separately from the university as a fully functional Catholic college in the Diocese of Cairns, with the College mindful of its responsibility to provide a safe educational environment for its students.
The partnership between Cairns Catholic Education and JCU also has beneficial implications for the recruitment of graduate teachers, staff professional development, and education research.
Current expressions of interest suggest target total enrolments of 750 to 800 students will be easily achieved when the school is complete in 2027.