Abbotsleigh

Abbotsleigh is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for girls, located in Wahroonga, on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1885 on Sydney's North Shore, the school has a selective enrolment policy from Year 5 upwards and currently caters for approximately 1,400 students from Transition to Year 12, including 170 boarders from Years 7 to 12.

Abbotsleigh is a member of the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), and a founding member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).

History

Abbotsleigh was founded by Marian Clarke in 1885 in a small terrace house in North Sydney. The school then moved to Parramatta; first to Honiton House, then to more spacious premises at the corner of Church and Marsden streets, a site now covered by a car park. The school proved successful in Parramatta, but in 1895 Miss Clarke left 80 pupils behind to set out for a year in England to visit her family. The school declined during her absence, and on her return only a small number of boarders remained.