St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Mossman
St. Augustine's is a Catholic primary school in Mossman, Queensland catering for boys and girls from Prep to Year 7. St Augustine’s prides itself on being a Catholic Learning Community built on the traditions of the Sisters of Mercy who founded the school in 1934. With a current school enrolment of 165 students St Augustine’s is inspired by its founders and espouses its motto of "Together in Faith – Learning for Life", which is a quote by Sister Catherine McAuley
St Augustine’s School is shadowed by the magnificent Mt Demi, and is situated 76 Kilometres north of Cairns within a rural farming community on the edge the Daintree Rainforest and Mossman Gorge. In addition, the popular beaches of the tourist town of Port Douglas are only 16 kilometres to its south.
The school currently has 165 students enrolled which is a massive drop from the 576 students enrolled in 2000.
1984 saw the fiftieth anniversary of St. Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Mossman, marking exactly fifty years since the arrival of Sisters of Mercy and the establishment of Catholic School Education in the area.
Since the turn of the century, the agricultural areas of Mossman had been growing, with the progress of sugar cane cultivation; and it is now history that the 1920s saw the beginning of a shift of the business and administrative centres from Port Douglas over to Mossman. With this agricultural growth came of course the desire for a Catholic school in the area. Sisters Mary Agnes, Gabriel, Cecelia and Pius took up residence in the Mossman presbytery until the convent building was completed. School classes were conducted under the presbytery building. Early in 1934 the school building was completed under the church and seventy students started their Catholic Education.
Over the years, as the numbers in the school have increased, several buildings have been added to the two roomed school of earlier years which functioned under the church building. Today the old church building serves as several classrooms and learning areas. A refurbishing program began in 1988, when two classrooms were built onto the old church building. Between 1988 and 2004, four stages of building development have taken place. In 1999, a new Preschool building and two Year One classrooms were constructed. In 2000, a new library, computer lab and Senior classrooms were added to the school.
In 2001, the Mercy Convent was purchased by the parish and renovated for use as an administration block and a classroom. Finally, in 2002, a larger undercover area was built along with a much needed Tuckshop and an early childhood classroom. With the creation of a third Sporting House in 1997, the Team names were changed from Emus and Kangaroos to Mercy (in honour of the Sisters of Mercy); Merinda (in honour of the vessel that brought the sisters from Ireland); and MacKillop (in honour of the first Australian saint).
Since 1934 the Sisters of Mercy have maintained a religious presence in the school. The first lay principal of the school, Mr John McSweeney, was appointed in January 1984. Today, the school has an enrolment of over 160 pupils and staffed by six full time and five part time teachers, a principal, a Learning Support Teacher, an APRE and eight school officers, all of whom are committed to the philosophy and ideals of Catholic Education.