| Kambala | |
| Motto: | Latin: Esto Sol Testis |
| Motto Translation: | Let the Sun be your Witness |
| Established: | [1] |
| Type: | private school single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school |
| Denomination: | Anglican |
| Gender: | Girls |
| Slogan: | Celebrating learning; inspiring young women |
| Principal: | Jane Danvers |
| Chairman: | Ainslie van Onselen |
| Founder: | Louisa Gurney |
| Location: | 794 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, New South Wales |
| Country: | Australia |
| Coordinates: | -33.865°N 151.2719°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Australia Sydney |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in greater metropolitan Sydney |
Kambala Church of England Girls' School is a private Anglican early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Rose Bay, 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]
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]
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 on 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 classrooms and 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]
| 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] | |
| 2017–2021 | Shane Bogan | |
| 2021 | Amanda Bell | |
| 2022–present | Jane Danvers |
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:
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]
The House system was introduced at Kambala in 1928. Each student from Years 3 to 12 is allocated to one of the four houses; Gurney, Hawthorne, Roseby or Wentworth. 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]
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: