House Structure

Students and staff are allocated to a House when they become members of the College Community with the exception of the Principal, Deputy Principal and PRL (Sport).  The Houses are involved in sport, community service, theme days and general college life.  

Students, on entering the College, are allocated a House for the duration of their schooling at the College. Each House takes part in an Inter-House Championship competition which involves various sporting and other activities including cross country, swimming and athletics. Within each house group, students are placed into Pastoral Care groups, or PC's, consisting of students from all year levels. These PC's form the foundation of our pastoral care system and aim to provide a nurturing, inclusive and supportive environment that facilitates quality relationships between students and staff.

A "Mind Matters" programme is delivered in Pastoral Care classes. The programme aims to build resilience, develop social skills, enhance relationships, and promote mental health and well-being of staff and students. Senior students from each PC take responsibility to assist in the delivery of the program and provide peer mentoring as well as leading discussion and activities from a range of topics and themes. Topics such as cyber safety and bullying, study skills and time management, getting-to-know-you activities, mental health, culture and social issues are explored by the students and their teachers in an objective and non-threatening way.

The houses are:

DONOVAN HOUSE

Named after Sister Mary Vincent Donovan, foundation Principal of Assumption College.
Sister Mary Vincent Donovan was born 21 February, 1860 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, Ireland. She was known in Catholic teaching circles throughout Queensland as Sister Mary Vincent. She was well known for her outstanding capability as an educator. She had an amazing career of service in education working in Mercy schools in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Warwick.
It was in WARWICK that the name of Sister Mary Vincent Donovan has been engraved, never to be effaced, and it is in the memory of her Warwick pupils that her name is most fondly cherished. From 1903 to 1920, she gave of her wide wisdom to those passing through St Mary's School. In 1913, the growing demand for a secondary school education was evident. Sister Mary Vincent Donovan proved more than equal to this challenge, and having thoroughly prepared herself by study, undertook the work of the High school of Our Lady of the Assumption, where she established a high standard of scholarship.

In 1921, Sr Mary Vincent Donovan was appointed Supervisor of the Schools for the Brisbane Congregation directing the teacher training of generations of young women, both religious and lay. Sr Mary Vincent Donovan was also a talented artist, and compiled and illustrated a set of Art books to assist with the teaching of the Queensland Art Syllabus. Sadly, she never saw the All Hallows' Teacher College which was completed during the last year of her life. Her past pupils contributed to a collection of art works to be hung in the Sr Mary Vincent Donovan Memorial Gallery in the new College, as a fitting memorial to a wise and talented educator and an unselfish Sister of Mercy with a deep capacity for friendship.

MCAULEY HOUSE

Named after Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy.
Catherine McAuley was born near Dublin, Ireland on September 29, 1778.
Catherine built a house on Baggot Street in Dublin as a home for poor girls. This first Home of Mercy opened on September 24, 1827, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy. After the death of both her parents, Catherine went to live with relatives who embodied the strong anti-Catholic atmosphere of the times. This was a difficult trial for Catherine, but through it she developed a spirituality based on God's Mercy. She found "peace in the Cross, joy in suffering, prayer in action and action in prayer" (Bolster, "Catherine McAuley"). Catherine sought to provide solace to sick and needy families, to train young girls for employment and to instruct poor children.
Her work with the poor and destitute led Catherine to desire a life of total consecration to Our Lord. Encouraged by the Archbishop, Catherine and two other women professed vows on December 12, 1831, and began the Religious Institute of the Sisters of Mercy. Often seen walking the streets to serve the sick and the poor, the "walking nuns" inspired many women to dedicate themselves to Christ and to the service of the Church, causing the Institute to spread rapidly.

RICE HOUSE 

Named after Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers. Edmund Rice was born in 1762 in Callan, county Kilkenny, Ireland.
Following his early education he moved to Waterford where he was apprenticed to his uncle, Michael, who supplied the numerous shops visiting the expanded port. Edmund eventually succeeded his uncle and became a prosperous businessman. He married in 1785 and a daughter was born to the marriage but soon after his wife died in 1789. Edmund cared for his daughter with the support of his step-sister, Joan. After much discernment and seeing the lack of Christian education among the boys of Waterford, Edmund commenced his great work of Christian education, which over time spread across the globe. Edmund sold his business in 1802 and opened a school in New Street for poor boys. This school eventually relocated to Mount Sion. With this act, he was to eventually transform the life of the poor in Waterford.
Two religious congregations, the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers, developed from the foundation which he laid in 1802. Edmund led the Brothers for many years before dying in Waterford in 1844. In 1996, he was declared ―Blessed by the Church – the first step in the Catholic Church towards sainthood.

ROMERO HOUSE

Named after Archbishop Oscar Romero, former Archbishop of San Salvador.
Oscar Romero was born on August 15, 1917 in El Salvador. Oscar‘s parents could not afford to send him to school after the age of twelve, so he went to work as an apprentice carpenter. He quickly showed great skills, but Oscar was already determined to become a priest. He entered the seminary at the age of fourteen and was ordained a priest when he was 25 in 1942.
During his two years as Bishop of Santiago de Maria, Romero was horrified to find that children were dying because their parents could not pay for simple medicines. He began using the resources of the diocese and his own personal resources to help the poor, but he knew that simple charity was not enough. He wrote in his diary that people who are poor should not just receive handouts from the Church or the government but participate in changing their lives for the future.
In 1977, Romero became Archbishop of San Salvador, the capital city. The situation in El Salvador was becoming worse and he couldn‘t remain silent any longer. The military were killing the Salvadorian people - especially those demanding justice such as teachers, nuns and priests – including Romero‘s good friend, Fr Rutilio Grande. Thousands of people began to go missing. Romero demanded that the President of El Salvador thoroughly investigate the killings, but he failed to do so.
In his actions and words, Oscar demanded a peace that could only be found by ensuring people had access to basic needs and their rights upheld. He raised awareness globally about the people in his country who had been killed or disappeared. When he visited the Vatican in 1979, Oscar Romero presented the Pope with seven detailed reports of murder, torture, and kidnapping throughout El Salvador.
In 1979, the number of people being killed rose to more than 3000 per month. Oscar Romero had nothing left to offer his people except faith and hope. He continued to use the radio broadcast of his Sunday sermons to tell people what was happening throughout the country, to talk about the role of the Church and to offer his listeners hope that they would not suffer and die in vain.
On March 23, 1980, after reporting the previous week‘s deaths and disappearances, Oscar Romero began to speak directly to soldiers and policemen: ―I beg you, I implore you, I order you... in the name of God, stop the repression!‖ The following evening, while saying Mass in the chapel of Divine Providence Hospital, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot by a paid assassin.
Only moments before his death, Romero spoke these prophetic words: ―Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ will live like the grain of wheat that dies… The harvest comes because of the grain that dies. Like many great leaders who have fought for truth, Oscar Romero was killed and became a martyr, but his voice could not be silenced. He is a symbol of hope in a country that has suffered poverty, injustice and violence.