Cranbrook_School,_Sydney

Cranbrook School, Sydney

Cranbrook School, Sydney

School in Australia

Cranbrook School is an independent Anglican single-sex male early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school, with two campuses located in Bellevue Hill and Rose Bay, both eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school was founded in 1918 with the Rev'd Frederick Thomas Perkins as the first headmaster. Cranbrook has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,680[4] students from early learning (4 years old) to Year 12 (18 years old),[5] including 97 boarders from Years 7 to 12. The school is currently single-sex, but plans to be fully co-educational by 2029, with the first enrollment of female students planned for 2026[6] Cranbrook is affiliated with the International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC),[2] the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[7] the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA),[8] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),[6] and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.[9] It is a founding member of the Combined Associated Schools (CAS).[10][11]

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History

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]

Charles Kingsford Smith during a visit to Cranbrook in 1928

In July 2022, parents of students were informed that the whole senior school would be co-ed by 2029 with girls enrolled from 2026.[14] In March 2024, the school was featured in a Four Corners investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace and sexist student culture. The report also raised questions around Government funding for Cranbrook School and its level of accountability for this.[15]

Headmasters

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Campus

Cranbrook school is situated over four 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.[16]

House system

Cranbrook has a system of houses from year seven to twelve. This system was created in order for boys to socialise better between different year groups, where senior boys would be acting as juniors' mentors within the house. There are currently 14 day-houses, with about 80 boys each. There are also two boarding houses with around 40 boys each.[17]

Day houses

The school has 12 houses for day students:

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Boarding houses

Cranbrook has two houses for boarding students:

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Cranbrook Sports Pavilion was designed by John Horbury Hunt and is heritage-listed.

Sport

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

CAS premierships

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

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Old Boys of Cranbrook School, Sydney

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]

Controversies and criticisms

Anti-Semitic incidents

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]

Mass resignation from school council

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.

Four Corners investigation and allegations of sexual harassment and toxic culture

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]

Government funding

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]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Cranbrook School". Schools. Study in Australia. 2005. Retrieved 18 January 2008.[permanent dead link]
  2. [2]
    "Cranbrook School". Member Directory. International Girls' Schools Coalition. 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  3. [3]
    "Cranbrook School". School Directory. SchoolSeek. 2008. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  4. [4]
    "Cranbrook School NESA Annual Report 2021" (PDF). Cranbrook School. October 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  5. [5]
    "Annual Report 2006" (PDF). Publications. Cranbrook School. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  6. [6]
    "Cranbrook School". Schools. Australian Boarding Schools' Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  7. [7]
    "AHISA Schools". New South Wales. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  8. [8]
    "JSHAA New South Wales Directory of Members". New South Wales Branch. Junior School Heads' Association of Australia. 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  9. [9]
    "International Members". HMC Schools. The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  10. [10]
    "Combined Associated Schools". CAS. Cranbrook School. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  11. [11]
    "ABC to air 'hit job' on Sydney's elite Cranbrook School". the australian.
  12. [12]
    Paterson, Kate (10 April 2018). "Demolition Report. Cranbrook School". Major Projects. Planning Portal. NSW Govt. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  13. [13]
    "Cranbrook Centenary". cranbrookcentenary.com.au. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  14. [14]
    Baker, Jordan (27 July 2022). "'Inevitable step forward': Cranbrook's high school to become fully co-ed". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  15. [15]
    Badham, Van (5 March 2024). "The ABC's Cranbrook school investigation shows why Australia needs to turn its back on single-sex cultures built on exclusion". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  16. [16]
    "Woollahra and Surrounds Schools Directory" (PDF). Woollahra Municipal Council. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  17. [17]
    "Houses - Cranbrook School". www.cranbrook.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  18. [18]
    "Trophies Awarded – cas-web". Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  19. [19]
    "Old Cranbrookians'". About Us. Cranbrook School. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  20. [20]
    "Cranbrook School delayed acting on Nazi salutes, anti-Semitism, families say". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  21. [21]
    "'A moral duty': Cranbrook undertakes review after anti-Semitic reports". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  22. [22]
    Healey, Bianca (16 January 2023). "NSW Board of Jewish Deputies CEO Darren Bark calls for statewide Holocaust education". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  23. [23]
    "'Untenable': Cranbrook School councillors quit as internal feud escalates". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  24. [24]
    "NEW MEMBERS OF CRANBROOK SCHOOL COUNCIL ANNOUNCED" (PDF). Cranbrook School. 30 December 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  25. [25]
    "Former female staff at Sydney's elite Cranbrook School warn of 'toxic' culture as it prepares to go co-ed". ABC.
  26. [26]
    Teachers blackmailed and bullied at one of Australia’s most exclusive boys’ schools | Four Corners, retrieved 5 March 2024
  27. [27]
    Zhou, Naaman; Visontay, Elias (22 February 2021). "Viral petition against student sexual assault a 'wake-up call', Sydney private school principals say". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  28. [28]
    Nilsson, Anton (27 February 2021). "Prefect at private school calls for a change in attitudes in wake of petition about sex assault". 9News. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  29. [29]
    "Cranbrook School under investigation by federal government". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  30. [30]
    https://www.cranbrook.nsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Cranbrook-School-Fee-Schedule-2024-4-1.pdf
  31. [31]
    https://amp.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cranbrook-headmaster-resigns-following-irrevocable-breakdown-of-trust-20240308-p5fasr.doc
  32. [32]
    https://amp.smh.com.au/national/australia-s-top-private-schools-are-growing-richer-and-faster-than-ever-20210615-p5814b.doc
  33. [33]
    https://amp.smh.com.au/national/victoria/these-five-private-schools-spent-more-on-capital-works-than-3300-public-schools-20240221-p5f6pa.doc

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