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Waranara School

Waranara school offers a specialist environment for secondary students in Yr 9-12 who are having difficulty staying engaged with school. We recognise that young people experience significant life challenges that impact on their education. Since educational outcomes are intrinsically linked to wellbeing, Waranara offers support to students across different aspects of their life. This includes personalised teaching and learning support, specialised wellbeing support, and access to specialist adolescent and family counsellors on-site.

We seek to provide intensive academic and personal support that helps students to achieve their best learning and life outcomes.

Growing for our future

To position Waranara School for growth, Good Shepherd will transition the management of the School to MacKillop Family Services in mid-2024.

MacKillop Family Services currently operates three schools in Victoria under MacKillop Education, and will bring this expertise in supporting the work of Waranara School in New South Wales.

MacKillop will work collaboratively to ensure the school continues to provide quality and specialist education to students who have disengaged from mainstream schooling. Good Shepherd will continue to provide wraparound support services for students and families.

The transition of management will occur mid-year 2024. As part of this change, and to ensure that students have the best possible environment to meet their educational needs, the location of the school will change and we will be moving to 11 Mathieson Street Annandale, NSW 2038. This change of location will not take place until mid-year 2024 when construction work is complete.

The school’s new premises are designed specifically for learning and are currently being retrofitted to meet the needs of Waranara students, teachers, and school community. Please check back for further updates in the lead up to the change.

“Good Shepherd and MacKillop are like-minded organisations with hundreds of years of experience in providing community service,” Ms. Avramopoulos said.

“With the success and the subsequent growing demand on Waranara school the transition to MacKillop Family Services management will give more students and families future opportunities to access this unique environment. This allows Good Shepherd staff in New South Wales to focus on growing the support and services we specialise in.”

The arrangement will not affect staffing, with principal Rachael Peet and her team continuing in their current roles. All current student enrolments will be retained and MacKillop Education Waranara will remain an option to all students in the area who find a mainstream school environment challenging.

Ms. Peet said she is committed to continuing the high-quality support her team have provided to children and families in the region.

“While our name may change, our focus on supporting children and families will not. Our teachers and curriculum will remain, and our commitment to supporting children who struggle to learn in mainstream schools and their families is stronger than ever. We know education creates opportunities, and we’re excited about working with MacKillop to offer these opportunities to more children and their families at the Waranara School.”

Our purpose

At Waranara School we believe all young people have a right to access educational opportunities that positively respond to their individual life circumstances and personal attributes. Our school welcomes students from all backgrounds, including those who may have previously encountered obstacles achieving their education goals.

Find out more

Learn more about Waranara School