St Columba's College, St Albans
St Columba's College is a 4–18 independent, Catholic day school and sixth form in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in 1939 by Phillip O’Neil and taken over by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1955. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Facing St Albans Cathedral across the River Ver, the college is built around two historic houses, Watling House and Iona House. History. The school originally opened in 1939, on Beaconsfield Road before moving to its current site in 1948. In 1955, it was taken over  by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart (New England Province) who also purchased the neighbouring Watling House and undertook major construction across the school site. St Columba's College also expanded to include a primary school, first named 'Sacred Heart Junior School' before being renamed to 'St Columba's College Preparatory School'. Since then they have continued to expand the facilities; building separate Sixth Form, English and Science & DT blocks. In 2013, the college completed its latest major building project, refurbishing the main school hall as-well as introducing new classrooms, meeting and seminar rooms, offices and a Fitness Suite . Houses. Prior to 2005, both the college and the prep had the same four houses, named after four English Catholic martyrs: At the start or the 2005–6 academic year, a new house system was introduced in the senior school, to provide smaller tutor groups for greater personal development of students, as well as to cater for an increase in numbers of students entering. The prep school kept the original houses. The new houses are named after other Brothers of the Sacred Heart schools in North America (given in brackets): Current students were assigned to the new houses by drawing balls  from a hat. New students entering the college that year were assigned randomly and this practice continued for all new students afterwards, however students related to others already enrolled in the college are usually placed in the same house. Students' houses are represented in the school uniform by the colour of their tie (taking the respective colours as given above). Prep and sixth form students have their own school tie, as do prefects. Curriculum. St Columba's College provides a broad curriculum linked to the national curriculum and also to Diocese of Westminster rules – mandating the teaching of Religious Studies  for a set period every week. At GCSE, core subjects include English (Literature and Language), Mathematics, Science and Religious Studies. Since September 2012, the college introduced a new timetable of 7x 50-minute lessons, designed to give students more teaching time during the week. This was a change from the previous 7x 45-minute lessons, plus a 20-minute tutor period. This change resulted in the school day ending at 3.45 pm, instead of 3.40 pm. Notable alumni. Former pupils of the school are called .