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The King's School is an independent Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in North Parramatta in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1831, it is Australia's oldest independent school. The King's School is a founding member of the nine "Great Public Schools" of New South Wales and is situated on a 148-hectare (365-acre) campus. In the geographical heart of Sydney, the School has about 3,000 students from kindergarten to Year 12〔 and about 430 boarders from Years 5–12, making it one of the largest boarding schools in Australia. It is also Australia's oldest boarding school. The school is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), and the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA).〔 It is a G20 School and is a founding member of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS). In 2010, ''The Age'' reported that The King's School ranked equal seventh among Australian schools based on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour.〔 The hard copy article also published a table of the schools which were ranked in the top ten places, as follows: (1st, with 19 awards) Scotch College, Melbourne, (2nd, with 17 awards) Geelong Grammar School, (3rd, with 13 awards) Sydney Boys High School, (equal 4th, with 10 awards each) Fort Street High School, Perth Modern School and St Peter's College, Adelaide, (equal 7th, with 9 awards each) Melbourne Grammar School, North Sydney Boys High School and The King's School, Parramatta, (equal 10th, with 6 awards each) Launceston Grammar School, Melbourne High School, Wesley College, Melbourne and Xavier College.〕 == History == In January 1830, the Archdeacon William Grant Broughton devised a plan for the establishment of grammar schools in New South Wales under the governorship of Sir Ralph Darling. The Duke of Wellington assisted in securing royal patronage, the text of which stated that with the authority of King George IV such schools would be named "The King's Schools". It is said, although no documentation exists, that royal sanction was granted by King William IV. Two schools were opened in 1832: the first in Pitt Street, Sydney, the other in George Street, Parramatta, inland. The former, opened in January, closed eight months later after the death of its first headmaster, while the Parramatta campus remained open under the stewardship of the Reverend Robert Forrest, who was appointed headmaster in 1831. According to ''The King's School 1831–1981'', on opening day, Monday 13 February 1832, with a handful of pupils. Forrest was paid a salary of £100 per annum, but it was inclusive of a land and housing grant. From fees of £28 and £8 per annum for boarders and day pupils respectively he was expected to maintain boarders and pay the salaries of his assistants, whose fees were £4 per annum for each pupil taught. According to an article in the ''Australian Historical Society Journal'' in 1903, enrolment reached over 100 pupils before the end of the first year.〔 By 1839, Forrest's health had deteriorated and he submitted his resignation. Ill-health caused the school to experience a rapid succession of headmasters in the following decade. Reverend William Clarke was appointed headmaster to replace Forrest, and Reverend John Broughton was appointed master in charge of boarders. Two years later Reverend W.W. Simpson became headmaster, but an epidemic of scarlet fever in 1843 forced his reisgnation. Reverend James Walker, a notable botanist and classical scholar, succeeded Simpson, but ill-health resulted in his resignation in December 1847. In 1848 Forrest returned to the school, which had now had 60 pupils, but he was again forced to resign due to illness in September 1853. In July 1854, the Reverend Thomas Druitt was appointed headmaster and established military drill in April 1855, a compulsory subject overseen by W. Bamford. Druitt had been under the impression that his appointment was permanent and he refused to relinquish his position upon the arrival of his replacement, Reverend Frederick Armitage, in January 1855. It was not until the intervention of Bishop Frederic Barker in May 1855 that Druitt agreed to stand down. Under the helm of Armitage, the school experienced a protracted period of expansion in facilities and enrolments, due to his significant wealth, which allowed him to pay for many of the improvements personally. The number of pupils increased to nearly 200, 150 of whom were boarders. Pupils studied for seven hours per day in summer and six hours in winter. As well as religious holidays, there were two official school holidays per year, including a mid-winter vacation from 15 June to 15 July, and a mid-summer vacation from 24 December to 31 January. In 1859 Armitage adopted school arms similar to those of The King's School Canterbury in England, which according to ''The King's School 1831–1981'', was due to the erroneous assumption that the Australian school was named after the English one. He applied for leave in 1862 to attend to his ill wife and to obtain a mathematics degree at the University of Cambridge, but he never returned. By the end of his tenure, he had raised the standard and quality of education to a high level. The acting headmaster appointed prior to Armitage's departure, LJ Trollope, saw a drastic contraction in the number of pupils to just 10 by June 1864, resulting in the closure of the school. There are varying accounts as to the reasons underpinning the school's rapid and sudden decline, including the school's poor financial situation, the dilapidated buildings and competition from other schools, while ''The King's School 1831–1981'' claims that it was a series of successive rainstorms causing the collapse of the schoolroom roof that forced its closure. Other accounts have blamed Armitage as lacking the discipline to continue as headmaster. The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' argues that while the departure of Armitage was not ideal, "a headmastership devoid of endowment or guaranteed salary in a colonial school without a council or adequate financial support could hardly have been attractive to a scholarly English gentleman."〔 The school reopened in January 1869 with the Rev. George Fairfowl Macarthur as Headmaster. Macarthur had been a pupil at The King's School during its early years. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King's School, Parramatta」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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