As St John Vianney’s Primary, Doonside, celebrates 40 years of educating and nurturing young people, the school reflects on the year it all began – 1986 and the remarkable events unfolding around the world, while a new Catholic school was quietly taking root in the heart of Western Sydney.
Kindergarten teacher Ann Boutros shares a reflection on 40 years of the ‘best in the west!’ and how the school marked the special occasion.
In 1986 Pope John Paul II made a historic pastoral visit to Australia. Mother Teresa headed the Missionaries of Charity and hosted John Paul II at her Home for the Dying in Calcutta. Scott Hahn entered the Catholic Church, later becoming a prominent author and apologist.
Meanwhile in the little corner of Western Sydney, in the suburb of Doonside, something spectacular was being written in the history of Catholic Education. Whilst it marked the birthday of the Diocese of Parramatta, it was also the genesis of St. John Vianney’s Primary School, Doonside. Envisioned by then parish priest, Fr. John O’Neill, this school was to be the ‘best in the west’, and forty years on, it still lives up to its title.
The school’s motto, ‘I will show you the way to Heaven’, was inspired by its patron saint, St John Vianney, and the little shepherd boy who guided him to the town of Ars. For more than 40 years, the students, staff and families who make up the fabric of St John Vianney’s have embraced this call to support one another in faith. With prayerful minds, fervent hearts and giving hands, generations of the school community have journeyed together in faith, living out their Catholic identity and supporting one another along the way.
To mark the special forty years anniversary, Most Rev Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv alongside Rev Robert Riedling, Dean and Administrator of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Fr. Father Eugene Szondi led the community in a Liturgy of the Word. Bishop Vincent blessed the new prayer garden, a space envisioned by current Religious Education Co-Ordinator (REC), Caroline Bayada.
Students singing their new school song led by the choir and the FIAT representatives. Image: Joyce Bautista
The students were very keen to sing to their special guests their new school song, written by Andrew Chinn with vocals supplied by current staff and students.
This little corner of Western Sydney is written on the hearts of those who walked and continue to walk through it. When people come to visit, they recognise that not only this place works like a well oiled machine, but has heart. It is characterised by “its sense of family and close-knit community, inclusion, and the belief that everyone belongs”.
Denise O’Reilly has been at the school since its foundation and continues to teach at St John Vianney’s. Her tenure at the school is a testament to that sense of belonging.
“I have been here since 1986 when the school opened and have witnessed the immense growth of it as a community. Father John O’Neill predicted it would be ‘The best in the West’,” she said. “It has always had high expectations of its students and has shown that pupils will excel when provided with dedicated teachers and positive learning environments.”
She also highlighted the strong connection with St. Mary MacKillop noting the school’s foundational Principal, Sr. Ursula Smith was her cousin.
For many staff and students, this school community is their second home. REC Caroline Bayada is not only a teacher at the school but also sent her children there. “My children had the most amazing foundations at the school with the best of the best teachers and were so cared for,” she said. “It’s such a warm place where everyone is accepted and acts of kindness are everyday occurrences”.
With St. John Vianney as our patron, we go forward into the next forty years with faith that the message of Christ will continue to be taught and nurtured by all those who encounter this pocket of Western Sydney.
St. John Vianney, pray for us.
