Principal’s Message
Mater Dei Catholic Primary School Blakehurst is a two stream school located in southern Sydney. We are an integral part of the Mater Dei parish and are guided on our faith journey by our parish priest, Father Isidore Anantharaj. Inspired by our school motto, ‘Growing together in Christ’ we strive to nourish the faith of each member of the school community and provide an individualised, contemporary education for all.
Our vision for learning, ‘Branch Out’, has been inspired by the property’s long standing willow trees, a symbol of balance and strength, demonstrating the importance of firm foundational skills and the ability to bend and adapt to our ever-changing 21st century environment. At Mater Dei, we ‘branch out’ through ‘active learning’ towards ‘bright futures’ with ‘curious minds’.
We encourage a high standard of achievement and enjoyment of learning incorporating the use of a range of technologies to meet the learning needs of all our students. We provide specialist teachers in sport and music, dance and drama and there are optional co-curricular activities including: languages, chess, coding, keyboard, instrument lessons and fun and fitness.
At Mater Dei Catholic Primary School we have a strong and supportive school community who work in partnership with parents to nurture our children.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Melanie Headley
Principal
History
Mater Dei Catholic Primary School Blakehurst is a primary school that caters to students from Kindergarten to Year 6. Father Michael Kennedy founded the school in 1960 and it was initially staffed by lay teachers until 1964 when the Sisters of St Joseph took over the administration of the school. The school is founded on the Josephite values of love, justice, dignity, faithfulness, courage, and compassion. And the Sisters maintained a strong presence in the school until 1979.
Charism
The charism of Saint Mary MacKillop has been revived in the school with the Mary MacKillop garden and library, the annual Mary MacKillop awards, and an increased focus on developing community awareness of her life and example. St Mary MacKillop is paid tribute to our school vision and mission. Each year, following the example of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop who said ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’, our children and parents become involved in a wide variety of social justice initiatives as a practical way to express and develop their faith.
Mission
- With Christ as our teacher, we work toward a just and caring world.
- With Mary our Mother we love and we serve.
- With the example of Mary MacKillop, we use our talents to learn and make a positive difference in our world.
Vision
With hope in our hearts and a strong faith, we grow together in Christ to make a positive difference in our world.
Josephite Values
Respect, justice, courage, dignity, love, faithfulness, compassion.
The Mater Dei Catholic Primary School Blakehurst and Mater Dei Catholic Parish, work closely together to create a strong and supportive faith community for families. The connection between school and parish is fostered by the school family educator who supports family faith formation and families attending Sunday Mass through regular children’s liturgy.
Parish priest, Father Thomas Alukka, the school religious education coordinator, family educator and church volunteers, work together to coordinate annual parish sacramental programs. The school principal and family educator are part of the Parish Pastoral Council and attend quarterly meetings to ensure regular communication and the fostering of a supportive parish/school partnership.
The two parish primary schools, Mater Dei and St Raphael’s celebrate the ‘One Parish, One Family’ event in October each year celebrating Mass together and a picnic day at Carr’s Park.
Parish priest
Father Thomas Alukka
Mass Times
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Mater Dei Catholic Parish
- A: 1008 King Georges Road, Blakehurst, NSW 2221
- P: (02) 9546 2605
- E: admin@materdei-straphael.org.au
- W: www.materdei-straphael.org.au