Annette Sharp: Cranbrook keen to ‘restore harmony’ after explicit email scandal

The shocked Cranbrook school community has been urged to ‘lean on each other’ following the publication of sexually explicit emails allegedly penned by a current teacher, and the resignation of the principal, writes Annette Sharp.

Newly installed acting principal of embattled Cranbrook school on Friday night urged a shocked school community to “lean on each other” following the publication of a series of sexually explicit emails allegedly penned by a current Cranbrook teacher, and the resignation of principal Nicholas Sampson.

Acting head of school Michele Marquet late on Friday wrote to parents saying the scandal was “distressing for all us” and she would work to “restore harmony”.

Friday, began with the resignation of Mr Sampson after he was confronted at an emergency meeting over his failure to report knowledge of the teacher’s alleged inappropriate conduct, something made known to him in 2015.

And then later, the Cranbrook community was forced to confront the content of the disturbing emails from a person they believed to be a trusted teacher.

The emails are said to have been shared with the principal of another Sydney school where the unnamed teacher worked prior to being shown to Sampson.

Nicholas Sampson resigned as principal of Cranbrook on Friday. Picture: AAP Image

In the emails, first published yesterday by the ABC, the teacher documented fantasies about having threesomes with two female students — one a Year 10 student during his tenure, another from Year 9 — at a North Shore Sydney school.

“U r my solid fantasy” he wrote to one girl, adding, “three of us would be sexy.”

Another girl he alleged to have fantasised about: “ … used to sit really low in her chair, legs so far apart … always could see what colour undies she had,” he told the former student.

Yet another girl, he said, “was waxing [her intimate parts] from at least Year 11. Do you do that?”

The emails, which were reported to police at the time and to the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, are said to have come to light after being discovered by the teacher’s then-partner.

They were sent to the former student when she was an adult aged about 20 and reportedly dismissed by both police and the schools association.

The unnamed teacher, who had been promoted at Cranbrook during his tenure, is now being investigated by the school.

Acting head of school at Cranbrook Michele Marquet.

An email from Mount St Benedict College at Pennant Hills to parents late on Friday said that in March 2105 the school became aware of an email exchange between a former teacher and an ex-student that took place in 2014.

“The college responded promptly and reported the matter to all required agencies, including NSW Police, NSW Ombudsman and the school at which the teacher was subsequently employed,” it said.

Mr Sampson resigned on Friday over “irrevocable breakdown of trust” with the school’s governing council over the explicit emails.

It followed allegations broadcast on the ABC’s Four Corners program on Monday, detailing historic complaints and an alleged a toxic culture at the prestigious boys school.

These included concerns about Mr Sampson’s failure to report to Victorian authorities during his time as headmaster of Geelong Grammar the inappropriate conduct of a teacher jailed for the historic abuse of a 16-year-old male student.

The teacher, Jonathon Harvey, was given a $64,000 payout and a letter of recommendation.

Graham Richardson spoke out against going co-ed. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The resignation was another chapter in the controversial career of Mr Sampson, whose leadership style in recent years had polarised the Cranbrook community.

Matters came to a head in April 2021 when a powerful group of school parents led by Atlassian founder and billionaire Scott Farquhar and his wife Kim Jackson started agitating for the 104-year-old boys school — the alma mater of three generations of Packer scions and businessmen including Mike Cannon-Brookes, David Gyngell, Jodee Rich and Rodney Adler — to transition to co-ed. This they hoped to achieve with some urgency by the start of 2022.

According to Old Cranbrookians, the push to go co-ed came at the urging of the Cranbrook Foundation which manages the school building fund.

The Foundation’s expansion project, which saw the unveiling of $125 million in new building works including an Olympic pool, gymnasium, theatre, chapel and basement car park in late 2022, had exposed Cranbrook’s need for new donors and revenue streams.

A cohort of female students was the obvious place to start.

The co-ed plan found an enthusiastic supporter in Mr Sampson, who sided with a group of elites spearheaded by the Farquhars and two hedge fund managers, Will Vicars — whose $10 million pledge to the Foundation would see his name emblazoned on the new school Centenary Building — and Doug Tynan, the man who would emerge as Mr Sampson’s staunchest supporter.

Doug Tynan was a staunch support of Mr Sampson during the co-ed plan discussions. Picture: AAP Image

The school community was divided over the plan.

Soon relations between the conservative 11-person school council, headed up by investment banker Jon North, its president, and Sampson’s pro co-ed lobby fractured.

North’s council was painted by the co-ed lobby as being slow, anti-progress and anti-Sampson.

The co-ed lobby meanwhile were soon being portrayed as billionaire bullies.

The school was divided — philosophically, socially and politically.

Some were completely opposed to the plan — former Labor Party senator Graham Richardson was one of few who had the courage to say so — others, quite reasonably, wanted greater consultation about the transitional process, while still others stood with the Farquhars, who had offered to underwrite the cost of 40 scholarships for girls provided the transition was achieved within its own rapid-fire time frame.

Hostile meetings between the council, principal and parents soon spilled into the media.

A school petition revealed Mr Sampson had lodged a formal complaint against the council, while the co-ed faction lobbied for council president North to be sacked.

Mr Sampson eventually offered to resign his $1.1 million-a year post and agreed to leave at the end of 2023 with a one-year gardening leave payout.

However, he soon withdrew the offer.

Kim Jackson and Scott Farquhar led the push to go co-ed.

Will Vicars donated $10m to Cranbrook’s foundation.

The battered voluntary school council, whose names had been dragged through the mud for standing up to the plan, instead resigned, with just one staying on.

This occurred four months after the final plan to transition to co-ed in 2026, signed off on with the old council’s endorsement, was finally struck.

Backed by a newly elected council led by investment manager Geoff Lovell, Mr Sampson’s contract was extended until 2026.

It was that same council that supported Mr Sampson on Monday night following the Four Corners’ broadcast.

However, by Thursday the council had backflipped after being confronted with the new-old allegations that led, it said, “to an irrevocable breakdown of trust between the headmaster and the school council”.

In her Friday night letter to the school community, acting principal Marquet expressed concern for the emotional wellbeing of the community.

“I understand there may be feelings of disbelief and sadness, which we are all experiencing,” she wrote.

“I am grateful for everyone’s support and together we will navigate through this transition with resilience and grace.”

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]