School History

The Sisters of Mercy started teaching in Southport in 1898 when Star of the Sea Convent was built on land next to Guardian Angels Church. Guardian Angels Parish Primary School was originally incorporated into Star of the Sea College but by 1958 Guardian Angels had gained its own identity and was the first official Catholic primary school on the Gold Coast. Sister Mary Inez was the Foundation Principal until 1977 when the appointment of lay teachers saw the Sisters of Mercy fulfilling other pastoral roles within the church and handing over the spiritual and academic life of the school to the lay ministers. The locale at Scarborough Street, Southport grew too small and with the foresight of the Vincentian priests, principal Mr John Maksimas, teachers and parents, in 1986 the school was relocated from Southport to its current location in Edmund Rice Drive, Ashmore. This proved beneficial as the parish intended to move the centre of its activities to Ashmore. Now included in this campus is Mary Immaculate Church, De Paul Villa Aged Care Facility, De Paul Manor Estate, Southport Parish Child Care and Outside School Hours Care, Aquinas College, Southport Parish Office and the Parish Presbytery.

The move to Ashmore began a new phase in the history of Guardian Angels with the school becoming co-educational from Year 1 to Year 7. Guardian Angels has continued to expand with the ongoing addition of new buildings to cater for an ever-growing educational community, including a Preschool, which has since become the Preparatory classrooms, a multi-purpose hall and a purpose-built facility to cater for Design Technologies, Science, Visual Arts and Food Technologies. The building’s name, the Kombumerri Centre, acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which Guardian Angels is built. In 2008 Guardian Angels celebrated its 50th year as a registered school and a time capsule was placed in the Garden of Angels for opening in 25 years – 2033.

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