Kambala School

Kambala Church of England Girls' School is an independent Anglican early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Rose Bay, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1887, Kambala has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,000 students from early learning to Year 12, including 95 boarders from Year 7 to Year 12. Students come to Kambala from the greater metropolitan area, rural New South Wales and overseas.[2]

For the buffalo race in Karnataka, see Kambala.

Kambala Church of England Girls' School
Kambala Church of England Girls' School, pictured in 2011
Location
794 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, Eastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°51′54″S 151°16′19″E
Information
TypeIndependent single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school
MottoLatin: Esto Sol Testis
(Let the Sun be your Witness)
DenominationAnglican
Established1887 (1887)[1]
FounderLouisa Gurney
ChairmanAinslie van Onselen
PrincipalShane Hogan
Staff~193[2]
GradesEarly learning; K-12
GenderGirls
Enrolment~1,004[2] (2019)
Colour(s)Grey, gold and blue    
SloganCelebrating learning; inspiring young women
Affiliations
Websitewww.kambala.nsw.edu.au

The school is affiliated with the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA),[3] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),[4] the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[5] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),[6] and is a founding member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).[7]

History
"Tivoli" - Kambala, Rose Bay

Kambala was established in 1887 by Louisa Gurney, the daughter of an English clergyman. Gurney conducted her first classes with twelve girls at a terrace house in Woollahra called 'Fernbank'. In 1891, Augustine Soubeiran, who had assisted in the running of the school and who taught French, became Co-Principal. To accommodate increasing enrolments, the School was moved to a larger property in Bellevue Hill called Kambala, from which the school took its new name.

In 1913, with an enrolment of nearly fifty, the School moved again, to its present site in New South Head Road, Rose Bay. The property was known as "Tivoli", from the original Tivoli Estate, and was previously occupied by Captain William Dumaresq and later by merchant James Robinson Love. The spacious new building was built in 1841, and the notable architect John Horbury Hunt was commissioned to extend it. Today this building houses Kambala's boarders in Years 7 to 9.

In 1926, Kambala became a Church of England Foundation School controlled by an independent council. During Fifi Hawthorne's tenure as Principal, 1933 to 1966, the school grew from 100 students to more than 660, and buildings and facilities expanded accordingly.[8]

Principals
Kambala students, c. 1890s
Period Details
1891 – 1914 Augustine Soubeiran
1887 – 1914 Louise Gurney
1914 – 1927 Clara Roseby
1914 – 1926 Minnie Roseby
1927 – 1932 Flora Stewart
1933 – 1966 Fifi Hawthorne
1966 – 1984 Joyce Gibbons
1985 – 1987 Barbara Monk
1988 – 1999 Peter Moxham
1999 Roderick West
2000 – 2013 Margaret White
2014 – 2017 Debra Kelliher[9]
2017 – Shane Hogan

Campus

Kambala is located on a single campus on the rising shore above suburban Rose Bay, overlooking Sydney Harbour.[10] The school is divided into four main areas:

  1. Hampshire House – the Early Learning Centre (creche)
  2. Massie House for students from Preparation (4 year olds) to Year 2;
  3. Junior School for girls in Years 3 to 6; and
  4. Senior School for girls in Years 7 to 12.[11]

Boarding

Boarding students from Year 7 to Year 9 live in Tivoli, the home of the original Tivoli estate, of which the School was once a part. Frequented by the colonial artist Conrad Martens during the 1840s, extensively renovated by architect John Horbury Hunt in the 1880s, Tivoli features modern dormitory-style living amenities.[12]

Boarders in Years 10 to 12 reside in Fernbank. Opened in 1997, Fernbank provides students with more independent living, social privileges and greater privacy for study.[12]

Kambala overlooking Sydney Harbour, as seen from New South Head Road.

House system

The House system was introduced at Kambala in 1928. Each student from Years 3 to 12 is allocated to one of the four houses. There are several interhouse competitions throughout the year in which Houses can earn points towards the Angus Cup at the end of the year. Each House is led by two House Captains. Tutor groups are formed according to Houses.[13]

Notable alumnae
Kambala Old Girls' Union Logo

Ex-students of Kambala are known as Old Girls and may elect to join the Kambala Old Girls' Union (KOGU).[14] Some notable Kambala Old Girls include:

See also

References
  1. "Kambala". Directory. Sydney's Child. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  2. "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Kambala. 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  3. Butler, Jan (2006). "Member Schools". Members. The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  4. "JSHAA New South Wales Directory of Members". New South Wales Branch. Junior School Heads' Association of Australia. 2007. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2007.
  5. "AHISA Schools". New South Wales. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. April 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2007.
  6. "Kambala". Schools. Australian Boarding Schools' Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  7. "Heads of New South Wales Independent Girls' Schools". About AHIGS. Association of Heads of Independent Girls Schools. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  8. "Our History". About Us. Kambala. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  9. "Kambala principal Debra Kelliher resigns after 'nasty campaign'". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  10. "About Kambala". About Us. Kambala. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  11. "Our School: One School". Our School. Kambala. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  12. "Boarding at Kambala". Boarding. Kambala. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  13. "About the Senior School". Our School. Kambala. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  14. "Kambala Old Girls' Union (KOGU)". Community. Kambala. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  15. Durie, E. Beatrix (1979). "Aspinall, Jessie Strahorn (1880 - 1953)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. p. 118. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  16. Wainright, R. (2014), Sheila: The Australian Beauty Who Bewitched British Society, Allen & Unwin, pp. 12–13
  17. Lehmann, Megan. "ABC boss Michelle Guthrie: 'We can do better.'". Weekend Australian Magazine. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  18. Playfair profile

Further reading
  • Nobbs, A. 1997. Kambala: The First Hundred Years, 1887-1987. Melbourne, Globe Press.
  • Lenskyj, H. 2005. A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women and Education in the 20th Century. Toronto, Women's Press.
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