‘Prohibited substance’ seized at Newington College and Methodist Ladies College co-ed cadet camp at $2m ‘outdoor education” site

A school camp scandal has engulfed two of Sydney’s top secondary colleges with police called in to investigate after students were found to have taken drugs with them on a joint trip away.

Two of Sydney’s most prestigious schools are engulfed in school camp scandal. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

A school camp scandal has engulfed two of Sydney’s top secondary colleges with police called in to investigate after students were found to have taken drugs with them on a joint trip away.

Newington College and Methodist Ladies College sent hundreds of boys and girls away on a five-day co-ed cadet camp to Eungai Creek, near Macksville on the state’s mid-north coast, in the last week of Term 1.

But even before students had returned on April 12 stories were spreading about what had occurred on the camp, with parent chat groups lighting up amid widespread rumours.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal two Newington College students were expelled and a report made to NSW Police, after drugs were found at the camp.

“The school commenced a thorough investigation at the end of last term, and these investigations will continue when the students return to school for Term 2,” a Newington spokesperson said.

A Newington spokesperson said investigations are continuing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“The school has detailed and rigorous internal policies for responding to these sorts of matters.

“The two students in possession of a THC based product were returned from camp early and are no longer at the school.

“NSW police has been contacted about the possession of a THC based product.”

The incidents that unfolded on the camp led Newington College – whose controversial decision to go co-ed in 2026 has outraged some in the school community – to issue a letter to parents earlier this month, sorting “fact from fiction”.

In the letter they confirmed a “prohibited substance” in the form of an e-cigarette with THC oil – which is extracted from cannabis – had been seized by teachers, but refuted other rumoured incidents including that students had been “handcuffed to trees” and that “gummies” containing drugs had been smuggled into the camp, explaining rather that they were the supermarket variety.

The camp was taking place at Eungai Creek near Macksville.

“We are writing in relation to incidents which occurred on the cadet camp at the end of the term, and to notify you of the progress we are making towards resolution,” the letter said.

“Several allegations about events have been made and the College is taking these very seriously. Be assured that we are addressing them in accordance with our duty of care, reporting obligations and relevant policies and procedures.

“Through our investigation we are aiming to sort fact from fiction.”

Also addressed in the letter was the need for one student to be taken away from camp in an ambulance, but the school said that was due to an issue with their low blood pressure, rather than due to any particular incident.

Parents also raised concerns after students returned to complain about the conditions of the campsite.

The 200-hectare rural property at Eungai Creek was purchased last year for more than $2 million to be a “social service immersion and outdoor education” site for its students.

But after heavy rains led to large parts of the property being under water questions are being asked about whether it sits on a swampland prone to flooding, with the school saying it was simply an “extraordinary” amount of rain.

“With respect to the conditions at Eungai Creek, the wet weather experienced was an extraordinary weather event and appropriate action was taken regarding the safety of students,” the letter said.

“Being an outdoor program, the weather did have an impact as it would have had we held it in any other NSW location.”

A spokeswoman for MLC said they would not be commenting on the matter, while NSW Police have been contacted for comment.

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