Outcry over female students accepted at elite boys' school

Newington College in Sydney's inner west announced in November that female students would be accepted from 2026 as the school shifted towards co-education across its kindergarten-to-year 12 program.

The switch was intended to promote inclusiveness among students and the decision was made after feedback from students, parents, staff and alumni, Newington College council chairman Tony McDonald said.

But the decision, which the school council said was made to boost diversity and "life-readiness" at the college, has led to a fierce backlash among some parents and former students.

Newington College headmaster Michael Parker said he, and the College Executive, had "every confidence that the co-educational decision by the Council is in the best interest of the future of the College," in a letter to parents on January 31.

"There have been claims that the community was not consulted about this decision, however, the consultation process in 2022 was very extensive," he said.

"It included (but was not limited to) 40 two hour consultation sessions with hundreds of stakeholders in February and March of 2022 - parents, alumni and students.

"The sessions were robust, vigorous, productive and revealed all sorts of strongly held views.

"I know this because I sat in all but two of them.

"Students were consulted widely and their views were taken seriously," he said.

A small group of parents and alumni protested outside the school as students returned to classes on January 31 after the summer holidays. At least 12, and up to 25, protesters were reportedly at the school.

Many of the protestors complained that the move to co-education represented an unacceptable change to the school's culture.

Alumni Robert Orr said the decision would mean there was one fewer boys-only school for Sydney parents to choose from.

"I suspect it's for virtue-signalling, woke-type principles, which I'm dead against," he said.

A parent, who attended the protest but declined to give his name, said he expected the change would lead to worse educational outcomes.

"You'd be mad to send a girl to a boys' school that's going to have 200 boys and 100 girls," he said.

"I don't think it's going to benefit the boys either."

The school, which charges fees of up to $42,200 per year, has exclusively taught boys since it was founded in 1863.

A former parent Vanessa Liell said "what are they afraid of?" in a post to X on January 31.

"The world is co-ed and the decision to move our schools to mixed gender is a great one," she said.

"As a former parent I fully support [Newington College] on a thorough consultation and great outcome."

Newington College is affiliated with the Uniting Church which backed the school's decision saying "the school has followed an inclusive and well-considered consultation process to arrive at the decision, including seeking input from students, parents, alumni, carers, teachers, staff and the wider community".

The staged shift to co-education will start in the junior school in 2026 and for high school students from 2028, with the college fully co-educational by 2033.

Mr Parker said "we will now be moving into the implementation phase for co-education," in his letter to parents.

"It's been a good day here inside the grounds of Newington. We're planning for tomorrow to be just as good, and all the days after that too," he said.

With Australian Associated Press.