Frensham School

Frensham School is an independent, non-denominational, secondary, day and boarding school for girls, located at Mittagong, south of Sydney, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia.Established in 1913 by Winifred West, the school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 300 students from Years 7 to 12, including 222 boarders. Students come to Frensham from Sydney, rural New South Wales, interstate, overseas and the Southern Highlands. The school is governed by the Winifred West Schools Limited, along with Miss West's other two schools, Sturt School Craft Centre and Gib Gate Primary school.Frensham is affiliated with the Boarding Schools' Association of the United Kingdom, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), and is a founding member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).HistoryFrensham was founded by Winifred Mary West (1881–1971) on 17 July 1913, with three students and five teaching staff.West first came to Australia in 1907, where she met Phyllis Clubbe, and the two soon after considered the founding of a school. To prepare for this they returned to England, where West furthered her experience in teaching, and Clubbe undertook teacher training. In 1912, they returned to Australia to begin the search for a suitable site, preferably a country region with an invigorating climate, within a reasonable distance of Sydney. On 1 June 1913, "Y Berth", a house belonging to Mr Tooth, was leased for five years with the option to purchase. The property featured a twelve-room house and 5acre of grounds. The school was named after West's birthplace, Frensham in Surrey.