Farrar Day School for Deaf Children was founded in February 1946, my Miss A.D. Burns as a private oral school for deaf children. It was established in the hope that a small day school would, through parent education and co-operation, allow more children to reach a high standard of education. "Nitor Donec Supero" - "I Strive Until I Overcome" - was chosen as the school's motto.

The School was named in horour of Abraham Farrar (1861-1944). Though deaf from infancy, he completed a university degree, following which he devoted his life to promoting the cause of deaf people through research, writing, speaking and example. (on display in the school foyer is a set of spoons originally owned by Abraham Farrar's grandparents and presented to Farrar by Mrs. Burlison. Abraham Farrar's sister-in-law.)

The school began with four pupils in two rooms rented from St. James' Church, Croydon. The ages of the children necessitated the employment of a trained kindergarten teacher, Judith Henry, who remained at Farrar for 27 years. In 1949, to the delight of pupils, parents and staff, the newly established school was visited by Helen Keller, the famous deaf and blind American, and her companion, Polly Thompson. I late 1949 the growing school moved to Liverpool Road, Ashfield, where Dorothy Burns and her co-principal, Elise Cole, (who has joined the staff in 1948 has brought and renovated a two- storey building. At the request of the owners, the school was purchased by the N.S.W. Government in 1952 and became the first New South Wales Department of Education school for deaf children. A year prior to Dorothy Burns' retirement in 1963, the school was moved to its present site in Croydon Avenue, Croydon Park. The new building were officially opened on the 19^th October, 1963, by the then Premier of New South Wales, Mr. R. J. Heffron.

To date 217 pupils have been enrolled at Farrar. The school has had six principals - Miss A. D. Burns (1946-1963), Miss J. Walter (now Mrs. Morgan) (1964-1967), Mr. R. Shaw (1968-March 1973), Mr. A. Dixon (March 1973-February 1976), Miss L. Geoghegan (February 1976-1978) and Miss M. Cadby (1979 to date). By 1980 there was a much wider ranger of educational options available for deaf children in the Sydney area, and it was becoming obvious that unsupported oralism was no longer meeting the needs of the children then being enrolled at Farrar. So Total Communication was introduced, and has proved to be powerful force in the educative process.

Today has 48 pupils from nursery to primary age. The school remains strongly family based and is closely linked to and supported by parents and friends. The staff continues to meet the challenge of teaching hearing-impaired children with the same degree of commitment as marked the school's beginning and its history since that time.