From the Principal

The Opening of Wyvern House

On Wednesday, 24 June, the School was honoured to welcome Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales, to officially open our new boys boarding house, Wyvern House. 

This occasion marked far more than the unveiling of a new boarding facility. As Her Excellency reflected, it was a moment centred on opportunity and access to education for young Australians, regardless of where they live. 

Boarding has long been at the heart of the Kinross Wolaroi story. Today, we are proud to be one of the largest co-educational boarding schools in New South Wales, welcoming over 300 boarders each year - with these students making up around 40 per cent of our Senior School. 

For many of our families, particularly those from regional and remote communities, boarding is not simply a choice — it is an essential service. As the Governor noted, it is through schools such as ours that young people are able to access a full and enriching education when local options are limited. 

Beyond education, boarding shapes lives. It provides stability, connection and belonging - becoming, for many students, a second home. 

Wyvern House represents a deliberate and carefully considered investment in that future. The $12 million project enables two important outcomes. It allows for the release of key areas on our main campus for redevelopment as part of Stage 4 of the School’s Built Environment Masterplan, while also renewing our boarding facilities to meet contemporary expectations of student wellbeing and care. 

Purpose-built for today’s students, Wyvern House will accommodate 28 Year 7 boys, 36 Year 8 boys, and 8 senior student leaders, providing a carefully structured transition from a student’s first experience of boarding through to leadership within the house. 

The design of Wyvern House reflects a deep understanding of modern boarding life. It prioritises wellbeing and connection - with natural light, fresh air, landscaped outdoor spaces and a range of shared and quiet areas that support both community and the need for privacy.

It also introduces a refined boarding model, bringing students together within a single house structure while providing a clear and supported progression of independence as they move through their school years. 

As highlighted in Her Excellency’s address, schools like Kinross Wolaroi play a vital role not only in education, but in the life of regional communities.

With more than 320 staff and a significant economic contribution to the Orange region, the School is a major employer and contributor to local industry and services.  Wyvern House stands as part of this broader contribution — an investment not only in our students, but in the ongoing strength and vitality of our region.

This moment also invites reflection on the long history of boarding at Kinross Wolaroi.

From the early days of Wolaroi Mansion - where students once slept on verandahs and milked the cows each morning - through to the opening of Trathen House in 1959, generations of boarders have called this place home. 

Wyvern House continues that tradition.

It is not a departure from our past, but its natural next step - designed to ensure that future generations of students will experience boarding that is supportive and contemporary.

Projects of this scale are only possible through the vision, dedication and collaboration of many people. We acknowledge the leadership of our School Council, past and present, particularly Reverend Andrew Cunningham and Mrs Paras Meates, as well as the foundational work of Dr Andrew Parry. We thank our project partners, McIldowie Partners, Renascent and Source Architects, for the wonderful work they have done in bringing this vision to life.  Most importantly, we thank our boarding families for the trust they place in us by choosing our school for their child’s education.

Wyvern House is, at its heart, about people.

It is about young people finding their place, building independence and forming the connections that will shape their futures.

We look forward to welcoming our first students into Wyvern House at the beginning of Term 3 — and to seeing this remarkable new space come to life.