Parents threaten legal action against Newington College after co-ed plans revealed

A decision by one of Sydney’s oldest and most expensive private schools to admit girls has sparked a massive reaction from some parents.

A group of parents are threatening legal action against an elite Sydney private all boys’ school after a decision to admit girls which would break a 160-year tradition.

Newington College is one of Sydney’s oldest private schools with a yearly fee of up to $40,000 for students.

The controversial decision to become co-educational by 2026 was announced in a letter to parents this month with Newington’s chairman Tony McDonald revealing the board’s decision was unanimous.

Mr McDonald wrote the school assessed “three overlapping elements” when making the decision, including how to “build diversity and inclusiveness”, meet the “demands and opportunities of society” and whether the “college should be larger”.

The college is one of Sydney’s oldest and most elite private schools. Picture: Facebook / Newington College

But the decision has sparked a heated reaction from some parents and old boys.

Now a group of parents have enlisting commercial law firm Brown Wright Stein to try to fight the move, the ABC reports.

A letter written by the lawyers to the chairman of the Council of Newington College challenges the college’s legal right of the school to enrol girls based on its “general objects” which date back to when it was established in 1873.

The letter was also provocatively sent to NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley.

It argues the school’s council as the trustee of a charitable trust does not have the power to change the original purpose for establishing Newington College, which it says “was to educate boys and young men”.

The school has come under fire for admitting girls from 2026. Picture: Facebook / Newington College

It also questions whether the move to become co-ed breaches the terms of the trust.

The letter said the college website shows “it is clear that the college was conceived as … open to the sons of parents of all religious denominations”.

“The college upon its inception, was intended to be (and has been) a college in particular for the advancement of education of boys and young men.

“Upon establishment of the college (and indeed the establishment of the charitable trust of which the council holds property), it was never contemplated that girls and young women would be educated by the college”.

Newington College declined to comment to news.com.au.

A change.org petition by old boy John Ramarque has garnered 1798 signatures so far.

Mr Ramargque describes himself as a “proud member” of the school but described the decision to go co-ed as “an erosion of our heritage”.

“Newington has always been a place for boys to grow into men, surrounded by their brothers,” he wrote.

Newington headmaster Michael Parker. Picture: Facebook/ Newington College

“It’s where we learned about camaraderie, leadership and respect – values that have shaped us into who we are today.”

Mr Ramarque goes on to lambast the current leadership of the school for a “noticeable decline in the schools culture” and allegedly failing to consult alumni or current students on the shock move.

“The lack of transparency is concerning and undermines trust in school leadership,” he wrote.

Comments on the petition expressed similar outrage.

“We signed up for a boys school and this choice has been taken away from us with no parent input whatsoever,” one parent lamented.

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