By Lucy Carroll
The headmaster of Newington College has accused a group of parents of pursuing a “campaign of targeted negativity” after the decision by the all-boys institution to become a fully coeducational school within the decade.
Newington announced last year that it would begin to admit girls to the junior campus from 2026, while female students would join the senior school two years later. The move has sparked fierce backlash from some parents and alumni who have spent months lobbying the private school to have the decision reversed.
Newington headmaster Michael Parker has accused some parents of starting a “campaign of deliberate negativity” over the school’s co-ed move.Credit: Steven Siewert
In a letter to the school community on Monday, Newington headmaster Michael Parker lashed out at a “very small group of people whose behaviour is inconsistent with our school culture and our values”, describing their actions as casting a “shadow over what is a highly inclusive, safe and positive place to learn”.
“It has detrimentally impacted our staff, students, families and our volunteers, and it has undeniably impacted the broader community’s understanding of who we are and what we stand for.”
Parker said some of the behaviour, alongside “a campaign of deliberate negativity” by some parents and alumni, breached the school’s parent code of conduct.
“Individual incidents have been raised with the college, which are currently being dealt with, but there is ongoing behaviour from this group which continues to leave some parents and staff feeling threatened and very uncomfortable,” he said.
“For those very few who believe they can continue their campaign of targeted negativity, I say to you that you should stop. That is not who we are as a school.”
Parents and Newington old boys protested this year outside the school’s main Stanmore campus, calling for the school to scrap its plan to become fully co-ed by 2033, while claiming there had been inadequate consultation about the move.
A month after the council announced the decision, a group of parents threatened legal action, arguing the move was contrary to the school’s trust established in 1873. It was supported by a group called Save Newington College, a coalition of parents and alumni opposed to the school going co-ed.
In March, a breakaway faction of the school’s alumni forced a special general meeting of the Old Newingtonians’ Union, where hundreds of former students successfully passed a resolution spilling the leadership of the old boys group. The vacant council positions are yet to be filled.
Parker said while the school was “always open to constructive feedback and suggestions for improvements”, his responsibility was to protect staff, parents and pupils from behaviours which were “simply unacceptable”.
“We believe in the maxim: the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. This behaviour needs to stop, and we will be enforcing our code of conduct for offending behaviour whether in person or online.”
The school, which charges $42,000 in fees for year 12 students, has recently appointed Brigid Taylor, former principal of Marist College North Shore, to become director of coeducation ahead of the first girls to be admitted to the campus in kindergarten and year 5 from 2026.
Taylor, also a former deputy principal at Brigidine College Randwick, led the transition of the more than century-old Marist Brothers when it became a co-ed college in 2021.
In an information booklet distributed to parents, Taylor said Newington was working with their existing uniform supplier on designing a new uniform for girls.
Brigid Taylor is the new director of co-ed at Newington College.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Taylor said all teachers at Newington would receive “additional training on gender equality, stereotyping, child development and neurology, inclusivity and respectful relationships, including visits to coeducational schools across Australia”.
The school said sports offered to girls in the primary school would include football, netball, basketball and touch football.
In March, Parker sent a separate note to parents saying it was “fine not to agree” with the school’s decision.
“There will continue to be good single-sex schools educating excellent young men and excellent young women – not least our colleagues and friends in the GPS and IGSSA, and indeed Newington for the next few years,” Parker said. “Our respect for these schools, colleagues and students means we have tried to be considered and respectful in how we present our arguments.
“Newington’s current boys are terrific. This change is not about ‘fixing’ them. The change is about developing and preparing our future students for the needs and expectations of the future.”
Newington was contacted for comment.
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