Student mobile phone use will be banned across 80 Western Sydney Catholic schools from the beginning of the 2026 school year. The restriction presents a positive opportunity to enhance student outcomes, both in academic excellence and wellbeing.
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese Chief Executive Officer Jack de Groot feels that consistent restrictions with clear parameters are necessary to support both students and staff.
“Though the majority of our schools already have a phones-off-and-away approach, it’s important to make clear that this is the right approach for all our students,” Jack said. “Of course, there is a place for mobile phones in our lives, but that’s not at school.”
Parent representative George Giovas agrees that school is not the place for mobile phones.
”It is important to have a consistent, proactive and collaborative approach to the issue of mobile phones,” George said.
The safety and wellbeing of all our children and teachers during school is paramount. This is something that needs to be understood, respected and adhered to.
With the social media ban for children and young people under 16 coming into effect in December, the move to restrict phone use feels particularly timely. It also provides an opportunity to encourage students to prioritise real-world interactions and build social skills accordingly. School staff will receive support in implementing this policy throughout the school day, including guidance on appropriate consequences for breaches.
Of course, a small number of carefully considered exceptions to these rules will be allowed. For example, some students with diabetes use mobile phone apps to monitor their blood sugar levels and require access to a phone for safety reasons. Digital literacy will continue to be valued, but the ban certainly supports boundary-setting and perspective.
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
-
10 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🎭 Year 5 Drama in Religion Our Year 5 students brought our Religion inquiry to life by creating powerful freeze frames to explore the concepts of suffering and hope. Working in groups, they used body position, facial expression, levels, and space to dynamically represent their assigned words through dramatic poses. Students drew on real-life experiences to thoughtfully connect their ideas to the meaning of suffering and hope. Their creativity, teamwork, and confidence as actors and speakers were truly exceptional. We are so proud of the depth of thinking and imagination they showed in this learning experience! Check out the montage of photos showcasing their: amazing & dramatic, team freeze-frames. ✨
10 Mar 2026
From Facebook
😍 Year 1 Time Travel Through Communication! 🤓 📰 On Monday, our Year 1 students stepped back in time during a special walk through the St Andrew’s Communication Museum. They explored a fascinating range of communication devices from different eras and discovered how people shared messages long before smartphones existed. Inspired by their museum visit, students will now use their observations and ideas to write an imaginative story about discovering a communication device. We can’t wait to read the creative adventures they come up with! ✨📜
Latest News More news
10 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🎭 Year 5 Drama in Religion Our Year 5 students brought our Religion inquiry to life by creating powerful freeze frames to explore the concepts of suffering and hope. Working in groups, they used body position, facial expression, levels, and space to dynamically represent their assigned words through dramatic poses. Students drew on real-life experiences to thoughtfully connect their ideas to the meaning of suffering and hope. Their creativity, teamwork, and confidence as actors and speakers were truly exceptional. We are so proud of the depth of thinking and imagination they showed in this learning experience! Check out the montage of photos showcasing their: amazing & dramatic, team freeze-frames. ✨
10 Mar 2026
From Facebook
😍 Year 1 Time Travel Through Communication! 🤓 📰 On Monday, our Year 1 students stepped back in time during a special walk through the St Andrew’s Communication Museum. They explored a fascinating range of communication devices from different eras and discovered how people shared messages long before smartphones existed. Inspired by their museum visit, students will now use their observations and ideas to write an imaginative story about discovering a communication device. We can’t wait to read the creative adventures they come up with! ✨📜
10 Mar 2026
NAPLAN: What Parents Really Need to Know
Each March, families across Australia hear a lot about NAPLAN. The National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. But what does it really mean for your child in 2026?
07 Mar 2026
From Facebook
Celebrating the things that make us who we are at St Andrew's ⭐️ Our Year 6 students have been diving deep into what makes them unique during Visual Arts. For the past few weeks, they’ve been working on their "Two Sides of Me" portraits, a creative project where one half of the canvas is a realistic self-portrait and the other is a vibrant map of their personality, hobbies, and dreams. This connects closely with our unit in Religion, where we've been exploring the Book of Genesis, teaching us that we are made in the image and likeness of God. We've loved learning about the individual traits, strengths and passions of our leaders 🖐️🎨 Check out some of their work here!
06 Mar 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to this week’s Students of the Week and to the classes awarded the Best Class Award. It is always wonderful to celebrate the effort, perseverance and positive attitude our students bring to their learning each day. 👏🌟📚 A special congratulations also to the recipients of the St Andrew’s Awards presented at this afternoon’s assembly. We are very proud of the way these students lead by example and make St Andrew’s such a wonderful place to learn. 🌟👏😊
06 Mar 2026
From Facebook
Our 3D Print Club is always looking for something to CAD design so they can showcase their creativity and solve problems. A few weeks ago ten students designed mini awards to be handed out along with the ‘Class of the Week’ trophies, so each class has something to keep. Take a look at what Annabelle, Aya, Ava and Corey collaboratively designed for the Term 1 awards using Tinkercad!
05 Mar 2026
From Facebook
Our week of 60th celebrations continued today with a Fun Day for our beautiful students that brought smiles, laughter, and plenty of excitement! Even with the warm weather, everyone had a great day celebrating our amazing school 🤩 From the monster inflatable obstacle course to a range of fun and engaging games, there was no shortage of energy or teamwork on display 🙌 Even the teachers got in on the action and braved the heat to race around the inflatable obstacle course! 🥳 And of course, the well‑earned iceblock treat at the end of the Zing Active session was the perfect way to cool down and celebrate a fantastic day together. What a joyful way to honour 60 years of community, spirit, and learning at St Andrew’s! 💙💛
03 Mar 2026
From Facebook
⭐️⭐️⭐️Congratulations to these amazing superstars who are our Week 5 Students of the Week! They had a big week of learning and showing how hard working they are. Plus a huge congrats to our classes of the week as well! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
28 Feb 2026
From Facebook
We’ve had a colourful start to the new school year at St Andrew’s ❤️💛💙💚 This week, we set a fun fashion challenge to see how many of our teachers and staff could wear our class colours all week, and they did a great job! 👏 A fun way to begin the year together 🥳
27 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Look at us play Robot Race! Kindergarten students have been learning to use ten frames to strengthen their understanding of numbers to 10. They have been practising recognising numbers, counting accurately, and seeing how many more are needed to make 10.
26 Feb 2026
From Facebook
In Science & Technology, Year 5 has been busy learning how electrical circuits work ⚡️ To put this learning into action, students have begun exploring how they could solve a real-world problem using an electrical circuit. In small groups, they are investigating the problem and beginning to design a solution. It has been wonderful watching their teamwork, creativity and problem‑solving spark to life 🌟
25 Feb 2026
From Facebook
🏓🌟 We are proud to share that Chloe from Year 3 was crowned Winner of the Under 9 NSW Junior Closed Championships in Table Tennis last week! 🏆👏 What an outstanding achievement! Congratulations Chloe 🏓🌟