Our Story

Come to Learn, Live, and Love

St Bernadette's is proud to be part of Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese's system of 80 Catholic primary and secondary schools operating across Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains providing more than 43,500 students with a high-quality, low fee Catholic education.

Our motto, 'Come to Learn, Live, and Love,' is an invitation for our community to grow spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. In accepting the invitation, students are equipped to face whatever challenges life presents them with.

Come to Learn, Live, and Love

Students building lego together in the classroom at St Bernadette's Primary School Dundas Valley

Our school is committed to creating a learning community where:

we come together as a learning community to nurture each person in a respectful atmosphere.

we promote a love of lifelong learning with a child-centred and creative curriculum.

we are centred on the love of Christ and faith is integrated with daily life.

we value the partnership between home, school and parish and realise that our goals are achieved when we work together.

we prioritise a sense of wellbeing and promote the optimal development of the whole person.

we acknowledge that every student has a variety of gifts and support all students to reach their full potential.

Our school crest

Our school crest, with the Franciscan Tau Cross, speaks to the vision of our community where Christ is at the very centre of all we do.

The water represents St Bernadette, our patron saint, who centred her life on Christ. The blue and gold represent Our Lady who appeared to St Bernadette. Blue is also the colour of our founding order, the Good Samaritan sisters. The shell was used in ancient times to hold water and food for the weary traveller and represents our aspiration to welcome all members of our community.

Our school crest

The school crest of St Bernadette's Primary School Dundas Valley

Our history

For nearly 70 years, St Bernadette’s Primary has flourished as a community-focused, Catholic parish school for local families.

St Bernadette’s Primary School was opened in 1958 by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. Also known as the “Good Sams”, the sisters are the first religious congregation founded in Australia.

The sisters were actively present at St Bernadette’s from 1958 to 2006 and we are grateful for their legacy. Over the years, our school buildings have expanded to accommodate the growing population.

In 1999, St Bernadette’s received a diocesan grant to upgrade and build rooms with rich educational resources as well as a new library. This grant also refurbished existing learning spaces.

Today, our school welcomes students from Dundas Valley, Carlingford, Ermington, Telopea, Northmead and Oatlands. We continue to provide a faith-centred education that meets the learning needs of 21st century students.