Cranbrook School, Sydney

Cranbrook School
Location
Bellevue Hill and Rose Bay, New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	33°52′15″S 151°15′9″E / 33.87083°S 151.25250°E / -33.87083; 151.25250
Information
Type	Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school
Motto	Latin: Esse Quam Videri (To be, rather than to seem to be[1])
Denomination	Anglican[2]
Established	1918; 106 years ago (1918)[3]
Founder	Frederick T. Perkins
President of Council	Vacant
Headmaster (Acting)	Michele Marquet
Deputy Headmaster/Head of Senior School	Bob Meakin
Head of Junior School	Michele Marquet
Director of Students/Deputy Head of Senior School	Peter Young
Chaplain	Roderick Farraway
Employees	c. 187[4]
Years	Early learning and K–12
Gender	Boys (Co-Ed from 2026)
Enrolment	c. 1,680 (2021[4])
Colour(s)	Red, white and blue
Affiliations	International Coalition of Boys' Schools Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia Junior School Heads Association of Australia Australian Boarding Schools' Association Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Combined Associated Schools
Alumni	Old Cranbrookians
Website	www.cranbrook.nsw.edu.au

Cranbrook School is an independent Anglican day and boarding school, with multiple campuses in Sydney's eastern suburbs New South Wales, Australia for students from pre-school to year 12. The school was founded in 1918 with the Rev'd Frederick Thomas Perkins as the first headmaster. Cranbrook has a non-selective enrollment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,680^[4] students from early learning (4 years old) to Year 12 (18 years old),^[5] including 80 boarders from Years 7 to 12. Cranbrook is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),^[6] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),^[7] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),^[8] and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.^[9] It is a founding member of the Combined Associated Schools (CAS).^[10][11] and the Independent Sporting Association (ISA).

On 1 December 1917, the former private home and vice-regal residence, Cranbrook, was bought at auction by an agent for Samuel Hordern. He was the main financial benefactor of a group of businessmen and churchmen aiming to establish an Anglican boys' school in the Eastern Suburbs.^[12]

From December 1917 to June 1918, a provisional committee of twelve, comprising the founders and six additional men, prepared for the opening of the new school. They held meetings, ensured building renovations were completed, drew up the first articles of association and appointed the first Headmaster, Rev. F. T. Perkins.^[13]

On 6 June 1918, the provisional committee reformed itself as the first council of Cranbrook School and organised the official opening of the school for 22 July 1918.^[13]

In July 2022, parents of students were informed that the whole senior school would be fully co-ed by 2029 with girls in Years 7 and 11 being enrolled from 2026, and other years being slowly integrated year by year.^[14] This integration method was based on Barker College's co-ed integration in 2020.^[15] In March 2024, the school was featured in a Four Corners investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace and sexist student culture, led by some former teachers. The report also raised questions around Government funding for Cranbrook School and its level of accountability for this.^[16]

Cranbrook School is situated over five campuses; the Senior School (Years 7 to 12) are located on the main campus in suburban Bellevue Hill, while the Junior School, for students from Kindergarten to Year 6, is located in nearby Rose Bay. There are 2 pre-schools that Cranbrook offer: St Mark's in Darling Point and St Micheal's in Vaucluse. The final campus is Wolgan Valley. This campus is a residential education site with an emphasis on experiential learning. Wolgan Valley takes students away from the bubble of their every life, allowing the space for contemplation, reflection, conservation and wonder, free from the distraction of technology and city life.

Cranbrook has a system of houses across the campuses. This system was created in order for students to socialise better between different year groups, where senior students would be acting as juniors' mentors within the House. In the Senior School there are currently 12 day-houses, with about 100 students in each. There are also two boarding houses with around 40 students each.^[17]

Whilst Cranbrook School is an open entry school, its focus on the individual means they have achieved exceptional academic results. Cranbrook is one of only a few independent school in Sydney to become an IB Continuum School. Starting from Pre-Schools, the school used the IB framework to teach the NSW curriculum through to Year 12. Cranbrook School offers the IB Diploma Programme as an alternative pathway to the HSC credential.

Cranbrook has an extensive range of co-curricular activities from the Arts to the Sciences, Music to Sport, providing its students with the encouragement to support their individual interests.

Cranbrook School is a member of the Combined Associated Schools (CAS).

Cranbrook School has won the following CAS premierships.^[18]

• Athletics (7) – 1930, 1934, 1936, 1943, 1951, 1952, 1965
• Basketball – 2007
• Cricket (8) – 1935, 1989, 1998, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
• Cross Country (9) – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023
• Rugby (13) – 1930, 1931, 1933, 1943, 1960, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1994, 2014
• Swimming (8) – 1942, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1974, 1976

Alumni of Cranbrook School are known as "Old Cranbrookians" and may elect to join the school's alumni association, the Old Cranbrookians' Association (OCA).^[19]

Cranbrook School’s alumni—from artists to entrepreneurs, Olympians to academics—reflect a School culture that has encouraged an openness to the outside world and an emphasis on breadth and balance—freeing individuals to explore, enjoy and fulfil their potential.

In 2022, there were reports that three students were the targets of anti-Semitic behaviour by fellow students. Later, video footage of a student doing a Nazi salute emerged.^[20] In September 2022, the school announced an internal review to look into it.^[21] Cranbrook has said it had built an improved and centralised incident behaviour register and strengthened its alliances with organisations including the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.^[22]

In November 2022, 10 of the 11 members of Cranbrook School’s council announced their resignation due to a deteriorating relationship between headmaster and school council president, as well as disagreement over plans to admit girls to the century-old boys’ school from 2026.^[23] Subsequently, on 25 November, former School Presidents, Helen Nugent AC and Roger Massy-Greene AM, formed an independent Nominations Committee to make recommendations to the current Council on nominations for new members of Council.^[24] 13 new Councillors were subsequently appointed.

In March 2024, the investigative journalism program Four Corners released an investigation about the alleged toxic and sexist "boys club" culture within the school's student body and leadership. Multiple former staff members and students were interviewed about sexual harassment of female staff. Former teaching staff described being sexually harassed, insulted, and threatened by students. A former teacher, who was blackmailed by a student saying he would claim she was abusing him if she did not send him sexual images, said that the incident was downplayed by Head of Senior School and Deputy Headmaster Bob Meakin, who allegedly stated that "because I'm young and, 'I'm just going to say it – attractive,' it's not [surprising] that I've received attention from the boys".^[25][26]

After the investigation was aired and published online, investigative journalist Louise Milligan stated that she, the ABC, and multiple other journalists had received several legal threats regarding the content of the investigation. Headmaster Nicholas Sampson was forced to resign by the school council later in the week after it was revealed that he had not disclosed information to the school council about a teacher who, early in his employment at Cranbrook, had sent explicit emails to a former student of his at another, previous school in which he described sexual fantasies about her and other female students he had previously taught. While the teacher was investigated by police and not found to have behaved criminally, Sampson had in 2015 been informed about the emails and, in addition to not informing the school council about them, appeared have glossed over the teacher's behaviour.

The episode included details of how a petition in 2021, by Chanel Contos received over 2,500 testimonies of sexual assault from high school students, with many testimonies referring to Cranbrook students, as well as students from other elite all-boys schools.^[27][28]

Cranbrook received about $6.5 million in state and federal government funding in 2022.^[29] This is despite the school charging up to $46,000 per year for domestic students (not including boarding fees),^[30] paying their headmaster over $1 million per year,^[31] having $168 million in assets and running a $10 million profit as recently as 2019.^[32]

In 2021, Cranbrook spent more on works ($63.48 million) than the total public school capital expenditure of Tasmania and the Northern Territory combined ($62.4 million).^[33]

• List of non-government schools in New South Wales
• List of Anglican schools in New South Wales
• List of boarding schools in Australia
• Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition
• Leura

• "Two magic words give the signal for a 'school in a park'", 20 June 2006, The Sydney Morning Herald (now archived).

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