Gawura School

Support First Nations students as they progress through their education in a supportive and enriching environment.

Gawura is a school located in the heart of Sydney CBD, that uniquely caters to First Nations students. Within a small class size setting, there is a maximum of 42 students in the school (6 per year level), which focuses intensely on literacy and numeracy, in an effort to reduce the educational gap.

All students at Gawura are on a full tuition scholarship. When students reach Year 7, they are offered a fully paid scholarship for secondary school at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, to continue their educational journey.

Gawura proudly provides a supportive environment, to not only its students, but their families too, by ensuring a culturally safe place to learn. This includes having 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers and staff, and cultural knowledge integrated into all levels of learning, including Wiradjuri language classes.

Gawura provides additional supports such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, music tuition, cultural excursions and camps, annual dental checks and an exclusive bus to assist with school attendance rates. This is all included within the scholarship. Research shows that when there is a strong link between culture, land, and community this benefits all aspects of learning for First Nations students.

Gawura graduates have gone on to complete PhDs, study medicine and law, receive a scholarship to Oxford University or work on Country within an indigenous community. In 2020 Gawura was awarded the School of Year at the Australian Education Awards.

Please pray for Gawura students, families and teachers. And for the efforts of the school to support a growing number of secondary school scholarships. Funds donated to this project go towards secondary school scholarships for Gawura students.