When Laura Arnott’s first son, Dexter, was a year old, she toured the grounds of inner west private school Newington and saw its stately sandstone buildings and multiple sports fields.
“Honestly, my jaw dropped. I was like, this is amazing,” she said.
She put Dexter’s name on the waiting list – not because of the impressive facilities but because of the students and teachers she had met.
“We were looking for a school that was strong academically, but really focused on service and building good humans. That was the most important thing for us,” she said.
After her next child was born, a girl named Ruby, selecting a school for her proved more challenging. Ruby went to her local public primary school, but her mother felt a co-educational school would be a better fit for her daughter in high school. However, she soon discovered that most private secondary options around the inner west were single sex.
“Honestly, we didn’t actually have her down anywhere,” she said.
After Newington’s governing council revealed plans to go co-ed in 2023, an angry mob, including adult men crying, rallied outside the school. Arnott watched on.
“I thought the whole thing was a bit embarrassing for those people that were making such a fuss,” she said.
But she soon realised their problem was a very neat schooling solution for Ruby. “We were like, ‘Gosh, it’s serendipity.’ ”
On Wednesday, Ruby, 10, was among the first girls to enrol at the 163-year-old school, entering year 5 alongside her brother, who is entering year 7.
In total, 52 girls have started at the school in kindergarten and year 5. Under the co-ed transition plan, more girls will enter years 7 and 11 in 2028, and it becomes fully co-ed in 2033.
“It definitely feels like a big deal,” said Arnott. “There is an element which feels a little bit risky because we are the first, and you don’t know what you don’t know.
“But I would also say that Newington has done a really great job at trying to think of anything they might have missed and making the girls feel really, really welcome.”
Newington’s director of co-education Rebecca Panagopoulos said, when she spoke to prospective parents, their questions had a similar theme: “There’s only a small number [of girls] … how are you going to look after my daughter?”
Panagopoulos explained to parents that safety was paramount, the school had strong support networks in place, while there were high expectations of classroom behaviour.
The first day of girls at the school is hopefully also a line in the sand for the school from the tumultuous events of the past three years, headmaster Michael Parker hopes.
On top of public rallies, the furore has led to courtroom showdowns disputing dictionary definitions in a bid to stop the co-ed move swirling around a broader culture war over toxic masculinity and the merits of all-boys schools.
“One of the nice things about this week, we do feel that is part of the past,” Parker said.
There are about 2000 students at Newington across its Stanmore and Lindfield campuses, and dozens of students have left the school following the co-ed decision, but demand for spots means departing students were all replaced.
“Once the girls actually turn up, and they’ve got their school uniforms, they’re coming out of the train station and their parents’ cars, and there they are, studying, playing in the playground, it will feel like we have got to the next stage,” Parker said.
He is also mindful that the introduction of girls is not the only thing occurring at Newington this year.
Most of the students in the school are boys and the teachers remain focused on ensuring they get a good education, he said.
“We want to give them the best time they can have in 2026 as well.”
There will be six classes of year 5 students; four of those will be co-ed across its Stanmore and Lindfield campuses, while one will remain all boys. The school has chosen to group the girls in larger groups.
Teachers have also received gender perspectives training while additional portraits of historic female teachers have been commissioned and now adorn the school’s halls.
“Of course, we’re a 160‑something‑year‑old boys’ school. We’re going to have some stuff baked into the sandstone … the honour lists, the portraits, all that sort of stuff. So we are going to be really open and cognisant of all of that, and really making sure that these girls have as good an experience as possible.”
After years of being at the centre of a culture war, Parker wants Newington to be known for educational excellence.
“We’re a good school [that] does a really good job at educating kids. And as part of being part of contemporary society, we want to educate boys and girls, and we want to educate them together.”
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