Western Sydney’s richest and poorest schools revealed
The schools in western Sydney with the highest and lowest incomes have been revealed. See where your child’s school sits here.
Parramatta
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The richest and poorest schools in western Sydney have been revealed, with the region’s richest raking in more than $180 million in three years, the latest school statistics show.
Analysis of school finances from the MySchool website has shown the large amounts of money some schools make every year and how little other schools are forced to scrape by on.
The figures reveal The King’s School in North Parramatta has a higher gross income than any other school in the western Sydney region.
The school made a gross income of $180.2 million, according to financial records from the most recently available years.
A spokesman from the school, however, said there was more to the figure than meets the eye, with more than 85 per cent of King’s income sourced from school fees or philanthropic donations.
The spokesman said the bulk of the elite boys school’s income was invested back into teaching and learning.
“The vast proportion of our income remains that which is raised as charges to parents in the form of tuition and boarding fees,” the spokesman said.
“All of the Federal and State Government funding that King’s receives is devoted to teaching and learning.
“There is a substantial misconception that independent schools such as King’s use their Federal and State Government Funding exclusively to build fanciful facilities for the School.
“This is simply not true and can be exemplified in the total expenditure that King’s has received from governments in respect to capital expenditure.”
The region’s second richest school was Oakhill College Castle Hill, in Castle Hill, which had a gross income of $102.9 million.
The school with the third-highest gross income was William Clarke College, in North Parramatta, which made $97 million.
The figures include all fees, charges and parental contributions as well as State and Federal
Government funding and any other private sources over the 2015, 2016 and 2017 years.
It does not include any deductions for capital works or debt servicing. The analysis does not
include special schools or schools that did not have complete financial data in MySchool for one or more of 2015, 2016 or 2017.
The King’s School was also the region’s most expensive school, where the average amount parents had to pay in fees, charges and contributions in 2017 was $31,449.
Parent Kate Page said her family — like many others — had made some financial sacrifices to send her sons to Kings.
“Every family is in different financial circumstances, but for us, we’ve made a lot of financial sacrifices for our kids to go there,” Ms Page said.
“We had a block of land down south and we sold that so we could pay for our kids to have a good education. We have a caravan instead of taking extra big holidays overseas.
“It’s not all doom and gloom with those sacrifices. We say to our kids, we have made sacrifices and we want you to take very opportunity that you’re given and make the most of it.”
Despite the costs, Ms Page said the investment was worthwhile.
“Our kids are a mixture of academic, sporty and creative. We have two boys who are very different, but Kings allows us to give them opportunities we probably wouldn’t have in a public school.”
Tara Anglican School for Girls, in North Parramatta, had the Western Sydney region’s second highest average parental contributions with $22,783.
The school with the third highest parental contributions was The Hills Grammar School, in Kenthurst, where the average contribution was $20,633.
At the other end of the spectrum, Megalong Public School, had the lowest gross income of any school in the greater western Sydney region. It made just $1 million over the three year period.
Black Springs Public School, Middle Dural Public School and Vineyard Public School were the next lowest income schools, all bringing in under $2 million for the same period.
Labor’s education spokeswoman Prue Car said it essential that public schools, which did not receive a financial boost through school fees, were adequately supported by the government.
“Independent schools have the capacity to get fees from parents and that will always be the case, but the government has the responsibility to adequately fund public schools in NSW,” Ms Car said.
“It is the right of every parent to be able to send their child to their local government school and there are just so many in western Sydney that are not getting the support of the government.
“What the government needs to do better is getting the funding to the schools that need funding.”
RICHEST SCHOOLS/ MOST INCOME:
The Kings School: $180.2 million
Oakhill College Castle Hill: $102.9 million
William Clarke College: $97 million
Meadowbank Education Trust School: $90.4 million
Al-Faisal College: $88.1 million
Cherrybrook Technology High School: $72.1 million
The Hills Grammar School: $71.5 million
Mount St Benedict College: $70.6 million
Pacific Hills Christian School: $68 million
Rouse Hill Anglican College: $65.7 million
POOREST SCHOOLS / LEAST INCOME:
Megalong Public School: $1 million
Black Springs Public School: $1.2 million
Middle Dural Public School: $1.6 million
Vineyard Public School: $1.9 million
Hillside Public School: $1.9 million
Maroota Public School: $2.1 million
Colo Heights Public School: $2.2 million
Hawkesbury Independent School: $2.3 million
Cattai Public School: $2.3 million
Marsden Park Public School: $2.5 million
HIGHEST FEES:
The Kings School: $31,449
Tara Anglican School for Girls: $22,783
The Hills Grammar School: $20,633
Northholm Grammar School: $17,317
Blue Mountains Grammar School: $14,260
St Paul’s Grammar School: $13,222
Mount St Benedict College: $11,803
William Clarke College: $11,735
Oakhill College Castle Hill: $10,703
Redfield College: $10,562