The 
Journey
Maitland
Glebe
Redfern
Fairfield
Orange
Liverpool..

Goulburn
Albury
Armidale
Dubbo
Ryde
Waterloo
Bathurst
Granville
Wagga
Blacktown
Redfern...

Aitape
Nuku
Lumi
Mt Hagen
Wewak

ST THERESE
PRIMARY
SCHOOL
SADLEIR-MILLER

The adjacent suburbs of Sadleir and Miller are around 30 kilometres to the west and a little south of the city of Sydney.  It was in the early 1960's that these suburbs were established and are now primarily residential.

The school itself is located on a reserve which twists and turns it way through the suburbs of that area.

Fairfield staff and students in 2003

Brother Nicholas Harsas is the only Patrician Brother at St Therese, he is the Principal of the school. Before moving on to St Therese in 2004, he had been Principal of Patrician Brothers' Primary at Fairfield, the last remaining Patrician Brother established primary school in Australia.


Br Nicholas & kindergarten students

With some staff members



96 Cartwright Ave
Sadleir NSW 2168
960 77879
info@stt.sadleir.syd.catholic.edu.au

At the beginning of the 2004 school year Brother Nicholas Harsas was appointed Principal of St Therese Primary School. The school is the parish primary school of Sadleir – Miller, in the Liverpool local government area and the south-west of the Archdiocese of Sydney. Brother Nicholas took up this appointment after seven years as Principal at Patrician Brothers’ Primary School, Fairfield.

The school has an interesting history. Green Valley was an area of pasture and bushland on the western outskirts of Liverpool. In the early 1960s it was transformed into satellite townships crammed with Housing Commission houses and young families. The Catholic parish of Sadleir – Miller was established in 1963 with Father Francis Muldoon as Parish Priest. There was no Catholic church or school, only a church – hall. Catholic instruction was provided by a Motor Mission run by the Sisters of Charity.

Parishioners and Fr Muldoon were anxious to have a parish primary school. In 1966 the first classrooms were built. The Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart agreed to staff the school and St Therese School opened in 1967 with 150 children in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 and five Sisters on staff. Sr Betty McMahon, rscj was the first Principal. The school over the years continued to expand and a new school was built in 1970 to cope with the growing enrolments.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart had been the pioneer staff of St Therese School. In 1996 the Sisters withdrew from the school, with Sr Nancy Fitzgerald, rscj the last Sister as Principal. The Catholic Education Office, Sydney then appointed the first lay principal, Mr Michael McGovern. Under his leadership, with the cooperation of the CEO and the parish, the school undertook a building project which comprised the total refurbishment of the school and new classrooms, library and landscaping of the school grounds. (Photo: Students blend into school grounds.)

In July 2003 Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, blessed and opened the new and refurbished school buildings.

2004 saw the return of Religious leadership to St Therese School with Brother Nicholas Harsas appointed as Principal. This was the first time a Patrician Brother had been on the staff of St Therese School, however, Brother Basil Downey had been a Parish Assistant in the Sadleir – Miller Parish after his retirement from teaching some years ago. Of course there was a close connection between St Therese School and Patrician Brothers’, Liverpool as for many years the boys on leaving Year 4 at St Therese School went onto Year 5 at Liverpool. (Photo: Br Nicholas Harsas addressing the school community.)

St Therese School has a current school population of 360 students and is a two-stream school, Kindergarten to Year 6. There is strong community spirit resulting from the excellent cooperation of children, families, staff and parish.

The Staff and students of St Therese School have made Brother Nicholas very welcome to the school community and he is thoroughly enjoying his ministry there. There are a number of pressing social needs in the Sadleir – Miller area, and so the school provides a most suitable opportunity for the Patrician apostolate.