Principal’s Message
St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School and St Gabriel’s church was blessed and opened on 29th January 1939. The school consisted of three large classrooms with folding doors that were opened on Sunday or when Mass was celebrated. This meant that each Friday, the classroom doors opened and the classrooms were transformed into the Church. This continued until 1940 when St Gabriel’s Parish Church was opened on the current site on Stoney Creek Road.
A large gold coloured statue of St Gabriel, our patron saint, was situated on the façade facing Highgate Street. It remained here overlooking and giving the feeling of protection to the community until it deteriorated and had to be removed for safety reasons.
The school was originally run by the Sisters of Charity who travelled daily from St Michael’s church. After five years, this was no longer viable the Sisters of St Joseph from Rockdale took over the running of the school until 1982, when John Fitzgerald, the first lay principal, was appointed.
Today at St Gabriel’s we follow the charisms of both of our founding orders.
- The Sisters of Charity – to bring to each person the love, the tenderness and concern of Christ for the poor, seeing Christ in everyone we serve.
- The Sisters of Saint Joseph – to love God and to love our neighbour, to be one with God, among ourselves and with all others.
Mission
As partners in Catholic education, we commit ourselves to our students by:
- celebrating being Catholic in Australia
- ensuring high quality teaching and learning
- making a difference in our world
- serving the Church and the community through acts of justice.
We ‘Proclaim the Word of God’ through word and action, inspired by the charism of the Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of St Joseph.
Vision
At St Gabriel’s we commit ourselves to developing and sustaining an authentic Catholic primary school which is:
- founded on the person of Jesus Christ and enlivened by the Gospel
- dedicated to providing a balanced and challenging curriculum which addresses the diverse needs of our students
- relevant to our faith and contemporary culture as we follow the model of St Mary MacKillop
- embedded within the community of believers and shares the evangelising mission of the Church
- committed to the development of the whole person.
At St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School Bexley, we are very fortunate to have a strong partnership with our parish.
At the beginning of each year students and their families come together to welcome new members of our community through the celebration of Mass. A sausage sizzle usually follows the Mass and is a great opportunity for members of the school and parish communities to come together and extend their friendships.
Each term, we celebrate with a joint family/parish Commitment Mass to show our support to the students and families involved in the sacramental program.
St Gabriel’s Parish
A: 18 Salisbury Avenue, Bexley, NSW 2207
P: (02) 9567 1558
E: pp@mmrc.org.au
W: mmrc.org.au
Mass Times
| Day | Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 9.00am |
| Thursday | 9.30am |
| Saturday | 9.00am |
| Sunday | 9.00am and 5.00pm |
St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School Bexley includes the wider community in its day-to-day activities. The link between the school and parish is particularly strong. The school works in partnership with the St Vincent de Paul Society and other charities.