St John's Primary School in Dubbo celebrated its 50th year of building best friends on Friday.
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Principal Anthony O'Leary said St John's 50th birthday party was also a celebration of the primary school and its long heritage.
"Fifty years ago two schools came together, De La Salle Brothers and St. Patrick's girls' Convent, they merged to form St John's Primary School, so we're celebrating those two traditions coming together," Mr O'Leary said.
"We celebrated with dances through the decades, from the 1960s until today.
"Each grade performed a dance dedicated to one of the decades.
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"We also dedicating our two new outdoor learning areas to those traditions which were landscaped by Scott Mcnamara Landscaping.
"One area will be dedicated to De La Salle Brothers and the other to St. Patrick's.
'That's so that we can establish the exciting roots we have that we cherish."
Mr O'Leary said both of the areas have plaques on them for the school from which they've been dedicated.
"The outdoor learning areas are a phenomenal benefit to any school," Mr O'Leary said.
"Most of the time, in springtime we have an enjoyable environment, so the students, particularly with the mathematics groups or literature, the kids can leave the actual structure of the classroom to go out into the areas and work collaboratively together in groups under the shade.
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"It's just a pleasant environment and works well."
"One of the best things about the night, and yes it was about cherishing our past and celebrating it, but even with all the people here, this celebration was about community.
"One of the special things about St John's is that we do cherish our Catholic heritage, but we are also very inclusive as well.
"Even just looking around at all the many faces here today, you can see many faces, but one family. I know that's a bit of a cliche', but that's what we try to emphasise.
"And I think just coming together here for the party, past students, current students, past families, today's family can come together and enjoy a performance and look at the artefacts in the library but also, make connections."
Mr O'Leary said the students were excited and enjoyed practising their routines, as well as a special performance by the St John's Primary School Band.
"Once they saw the stage being put up, the students were super excited," he said.
"I was pleased to see them having a good time and smiling. It was fantastic to see everyone enjoying themselves."