As a 100% First Nations school within St Andrew’s Cathedral School, students learn in their own culturally responsive spaces and classrooms, while also learning alongside their Junior School peers across the full range of opportunities offered by a leading independent school.
Originally established for students from Kindergarten to Year 6, Gawura School’s successful approach to First Nations learning has ensured that opportunities for its graduates do not end with primary school.
Gawura First Nations Scholarships are available for students to transition to St Andrew’s Cathedral School’s Secondary School, enabling exciting pathways for First Nations students to complete their schooling.
First Nations students have a transformational impact on St Andrew’s Cathedral School, and the whole community learns and benefits from First Nations ways of knowing, being, and doing. Both Schools have been on a significant reconciliation journey, committing to a combined Restoration Action Plan (RAP), which has significantly impacted the way both Schools think and operate.
The Vision for Restoration was developed through significant stakeholder engagement and walks a very deliberate path towards Truth Telling, Recognition, Authentic Healing, Sacred Space, A Beacon of Hope and Our Faith. In 2024, Gawura School and St Andrew’s Cathedral School launched their joint RAP and First Nations K-12 Strategic Plan.
Message
Dr Julie McGonigle, Head of St Andrew’s Cathedral School
Bridging worlds and building futures is a story about growth, courage and vision. It’s about the important, paradoxical work of restoration that requires us to be ‘both/and’ people, a core value of both our Schools.
Truth telling and hope. Authentic recognition of the past and healing. Reflective faith and sacred space. Truth and grace, diversity and unity, pain and gain. It’s about faith, culture, and community.
It’s about wanting the best for First Nations young people; about making sure our students come to school and feel they can fully show up. It’s about them embracing their God-given gifts, as well as their cultural assets.
For a small school, Gawura School has had an outsized impact, leading the way towards a more just future.
It is through grace and truth that we can Bridge Worlds: building trust, listening deeply to each other, and weaving our cultural stories together to develop confident, hope-filled champions of a just tomorrow. One of my proudest moments was when Joshua Morgan, Gawura First Nations Scholarship and Year 12 student, was on Channel 7 News for his work with at-risk youth through Police and Community Youth Clubs NSW. That’s what a pathway of purpose looks like: Joshua’s volunteering – making a difference in the lives of others, bridging worlds – while also creating a career pathway.
In 2025, Gawura School students had the best academic outcomes in its history, with NAPLAN results for both Year 3 and Year 5 across all domains above the State average. 2025 also saw the best retention and attendance rates, and wellbeing scores, in many areas higher than our Junior School. The success of our offer is reflected in the extension of Gawura First Nations scholarships into the high school years.
We have almost 80 First Nations students, the highest number the two schools have seen. 2025 saw the first graduating class in Aboriginal Studies and three Year 12 First Nations graduates who have gone on to study Business, Law and Construction Management. They join alumni accepted into leading universities or running their own design businesses.
This isn’t wholly how we define success, but it does show that Gawura School’s approach to learning works. As we near our 20-year anniversary in 2027, we are grateful for the journey we’ve been on. We’ve had our challenges – making space for vulnerability, and building trust, takes time – but the conversations had and relationships developed have been crucial to Gawura School’s longevity, and its impact across St Andrew’s Cathedral School, reflected in the joint commitments made in the 2024 Restoration Action Plan and First Nations Strategic Plan.
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