Our College

Downlands College is a Prep to Year 12, independent, Catholic, coeducational, day and boarding school with a long tradition of heart-centred and values-based education. Owned and conducted by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) with the assistance of a deeply committed group of teachers and support staff, Downlands has a long history of academic, sporting and cultural achievement.


Situated in the regional city of Toowoomba at the centre of a prosperous rural community, Downlands provides a full range of facilities often found only in large cities. The College is nestled in 38 hectares of landscaped grounds, with historic buildings and modern facilities, including a performing arts centre; dance, drama and film studios; indoor sports centre; flourishing Rural Centre; seven ovals; and a heated 50m outdoor pool.


With a concern for both the academic and pastoral well-being of students, Downlands College encourages all to do their best and strive for excellence. The College respects and celebrates the diverse abilities of all young people. A substantial curriculum, characterised by both breadth and depth, supports strong academic endeavour. This is demonstrated through our student achievements in our student’s post-high school pathways, with high ATAR results, university admissions and post-school employment. Students also perform very highly on national numeracy and literacy testing programs.


Boarding at Downlands is also an integral aspect to our community, and our boarders are the heart and soul of the College, with boarding offered for students in Years 7 to 12. Downlands is the boarding school of choice for many rural families in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory, and international students are also welcomed. Up to 300 students and eight residential staff call Downlands home during school terms, with three families live on campus full time.


Downlands is a place where one’s heart can find a home - where students can grow and flourish as they develop a sense of truth, goodness and beauty and so be ready to go out and to make a difference in the world.



Community

As a Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) College, our pastoral care activities engage Downlanders in a wide range of social justice activities beyond the classroom. Many schools talk about it, but at Downlands, we live our commitment to a strong and vibrant, faith-based community every day.

Two students are making a heart shape with their hands.
A boy and a girl are working on a school project in a lab

EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE

With a diverse range of subjects to choose from, students have a pathway to their life beyond school and have available to them both academic (ATAR focused) and vocational training choices.

CULTURAL, AGRICULTURE & SPORT

With teams in more than 14 local and regional sports competitions, a thriving Cattle Show Team and extensive student involvement in arts, music and drama activities, there truly is something for everyone at Downlands.

A boy and a girl are playing school volleyball on a sunny day

Our Values

At Downlands, you are part of a family built on strong traditions. Strong values and Senior role models encourage students to make wise choices.


At Downlands, we want our students to do well at school, and also in life, by being good people - strong in mind, spirit and faith. With a history reaching back to the mid 19th century in France, the MSC Ethos at Downlands distinctively focuses on the “Spirituality of the Heart” which offers a listening and compassionate heart through relationships in the community rather than fixed answers and dogmatic solutions.


Our Pastoral Care program is based on the teachings of Jules Chevalier, and every member of staff is considered part of the Pastoral Care team. Using clear, direct and open communication, staff model and teach the skills needed to be part of a vibrant community.


We are guided by MSC Constitution #32: Ours is a spirit of family and true friendship formed by kindness and understanding, by compassion and mutual forgiveness, by gentleness, humility and simplicity, by hospitality and a sense of humour.


Downlands students are involved in fundraising and serving the community through the Jules Social Justice Group and by volunteering at Rosies, the Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Service and providing breakfast at a local state primary school. Monthly liturgical celebrations are celebrated at the College. Boarders attend a weekly Sunday mass and early morning mass on a Friday is offered to staff and students.

At Downlands College, we strive to enhance every student's life in all aspects of our college. We categorise student behaviour into different levels to ensure equity in managing it. Students on Levels 1-3 show continued positive growth, while students on Levels 4-7 show an inability to meet the college's rules and expectations. To support such students, a Support Group will devise an intervention program to assist their growth and development. The student's response to the intervention program will determine any changes made to their allocated level. To learn more about the Student Level System, contact us. 

OUR COLLEGE CREST

A shield with a griffin on it and the words fortes in fide

The Downlands Crest consists of a horizontally-divided field in College colours: royal blue and cardinal red.


The upper of the shield carries a gold gryphon, and the lower half bears the Maltese Cross of the state of Queensland. The shield is surmounted by the heart crest with the letters SHC (Sacred Heart College) supported by rams' horns and ears of wheat, to symbolise the College's setting in the Darling Downs.


The gryphon emblem (half eagle, half lion) embraces the strength of the bird and animal kingdom and, together with the Cross, proclaims in simple design, the motto of Sacred Heart Colleges: Fortes in Fide - Strong in Faith.

DOWNLANDS DAY HOUSES


As a Catholic school situated in the charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, we have a “story to enter; a language to speak; a group to belong to; a way to pray; a work to undertake; and a face of God to see.“ Fr Claude Maréchal, Assumptionist Superior General, 2001


Our Day Houses honour the memory of the men recognised as important co-founders, with Jules Chevalier, of the MSC, and of the ‘Father’ of the Australian Province of the MSC – Fr Pierre Marie Treand MSC. All belong to a particular time in MSC history; all were people of great virtue and were Fr Chevalier’s most faithful and constructive collaborators during the vital years of the founding of the MSC. They were also his oldest and most trusted friends.


The naming of the Day Houses after these MSC offers an opportunity for us to deepen our knowledge of our Founder and our identity, values and distinctiveness as an MSC School; to learn more about these co-founders, and to emulate their virtues.