Vision & Mission
The St Andrews Primary vision is expressed in our motto – ‘Growth in Christ’
Our mission is to:
- value each child as an individual and a respected member of our school community
- work in partnership with parents and parish to achieve a Catholic faith community
- strive for excellence in all aspects of the curriculum
- create an environment where positive attitudes towards self and others are nurtured
School profile
St Andrews Primary is a four-stream primary school with a student population of approximately 700 students. Located in Marayong, the student population is multicultural, with the Philippines and Malta being the major cultures represented. Students are drawn from Marayong, Woodcroft, Kings Park, Plumpton, Blacktown, Glendenning and Quakers Hill. The parish we serve is St Andrew the Apostle, Marayong.
History of the school
St Andrews Primary school owes its existence to the dedicated efforts of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth and St Andrews first parish priest, Fr Kenneth Byrne. The magnificent contribution of the Sisters has spanned more than 37 years in the Marayong region, which in the early days was rural. For much of this period, the Sisters administered and completely staffed the school.
In 1957, the sisters first established a primary school, known as Holy Family, on Quakers Road, Marayong. In 1961, Fr Byrne was appointed parish priest of Marayong and it was decided to relocate the school to the new parish site. Construction began in 1964 and in 1965 infants classes began at the new site. 1966 saw the primary classes transfer, and in that year the new school was formally opened by Sr Mary Leonette, SCFN – the school’s Founding Principal.
Over the years, the district’s growing population led to a major rebuilding program. In 1983, extensions included a new kindergarten block, classroom block, administration building and an amphitheatre. Since 1965, the school’s population has more than doubled to its present size of more than 800 students.
1988 marked the appointment of Fr Ron McFarlane as parish priest. Two years later, St Andrews Primary celebrated its 25th Jubilee Year of Education (1965–1990).
In 1993, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth relinquished leadership of St Andrews Primary, with Sr Valerie Powidski as the last religious Principal. Richard McGuiness was appointed as the first lay Principal of St Andrews Primary, in 1994.
Since then, we have seen many changes in our school with increased enrolments. We have two new learning spaces for Years 1 and 2, which were completed in January 2009. New buildings were constructed for Years 3 and 4 and were completed in 2010.
The last building work was our fantastic school hall which was completed in 2011. It is a wonderful space for assemblies, presentations and of course, learning.
In 2014, Michael Tonnet was appointed Principal after the retirement of Richard McGuiness.