The King's School, Parramatta - Campus

Campus

The King's School originally rented premises in George Street, Parramatta, near the wharves on Parramatta River. The school soon outgrew Harrisford House in George Street, and following a submission to the crown it was provided with land and premises a little further upriver in Parramatta, close to Government House. The school remained there for 130 years until it was vacated in August 1968 when it completed its relocation to Gowan Brae, a 147-hectare (365-acre) site in North Parramatta that was the family residence and property of James Burns (shipowner), co-founder of Burns Philp and Company. Other sections of the property are now owned by the Redeemer Baptist School and Tara Anglican School for Girls, with some still owned by the NSW Synod of the Uniting Church as the Uniting Theological College. Another section was sold for residential development, now the suburb of Kingsdene.

The senior school has a library within the Centre for Learning and Leadership, and separate buildings for visual arts, music, science, drama, PDHPE and industrial design and technology. Most learning activity occurs in the precinct generally known as "the quadrangle", in which there are 35 classrooms, all equipped with audio-visual and computer facilities. The school theatre has recently been renovated, adding a drama complex which opened in June 2010. The school is in the middle of building a new $20 million science centre expected to finished in 2014.

Sporting facilities include 15 playing fields used for both cricket and rugby union, 14 tennis courts, 10 basketball courts (seven outdoor, three indoor), seven soccer fields, a 50-metre lap pool, a 25-metre swimming pool, a diving pool, and a gym under which there is an indoor rifle range. The Sports Centre, opened in 2007. includes two basketball courts, a weights room, and PDHPE classrooms. The school has a rowing facility in Putney on the Parramatta River.

The extensive facilities of the school were subject to political scrutiny during the tenure of Prime Minister John Howard, when the Australian Labor Party criticised federal grants to wealthy private schools. The controversy reached its apex during the 2004 federal election in which Mark Latham, leader of the opposition, launched a private school "hit list" that would have removed a significant proportion of private school funding. Latham was defeated at the election.