Wilderness School

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title: "Wilderness School" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["girls'-schools-in-south-australia", "high-schools-in-south-australia", "educational-institutions-established-in-1884", "boarding-schools-in-south-australia", "nondenominational-christian-schools-in-adelaide", "junior-school-heads-association-of-australia-member-schools", "private-primary-schools-in-adelaide", "1884-establishments-in-australia"] topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_School" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox school"]

Field	Value
name	The Wilderness School
image	[[Image:Wildernessschool.jpg
motto
motto_translation	Always True
established	August 8 1884
type	Independent, day and boarding
denomination	Non-denominational
founder	Margaret Hamilton Brown OBE
principal	Belinda Arnfield
city	Medindie
state	South Australia
country	Australia
enrolment	820
enrolment_as_of	2018
grades	R–12
gender	Girls
colours	Brown and blue
affiliation	Independent Girls Schools Sports Association
homepage	www.wilderness.com.au
::

Wilderness School is an independent, non-denominational Christian, day and boarding school for girls, located in Medindie, an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.

Established by the Brown family in 1884 with four girls and one small boy, Andrew Muecke, as students, Wilderness is a Reception to Year 12 school, and also caters for Year 13. The school enrolled approximately 820 students in 2007, including up to 80 boarders. In 2003, The Australian declared The Wilderness School one of the ten highest achieving schools in Australia.

Wilderness School is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association, the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA) and the Independent Girls' Schools Sports Association (IGSSA).

History

The school was created by the Brown family who encouraged their eldest daughter Margaret Hamilton Brown to take an interest in education after her father's business had failed. Margaret was born in Edinburgh and educated in South Australia and she showed a talent for teaching. In 1884 she started a small school in her parents home left|thumb|The four surviving Brown sisters in 1946 It became a boarding school that increasingly employed the five Brown sisters as teachers. The Brown family helped to run the school which had no uniform. Classes took place around the dining table, in an old tram or in the stables. Margaret's younger sister Mamie Brown showed a talent for teaching. She introduced the ideas of Charlotte Mason while Margaret moved aside to manage the school's business rather than the education. By the end of the second world war the successful school had 360 pupils. Margaret was awarded an OBE in 1948 and in the same year the school was made into a company. Margaret died in 1952 and Mamie in 1968 leaving a thriving school.

In 2003, The Australian declared the school one of the ten highest achieving schools in Australia.

House system

The Wilderness School has five houses, through which all girls partake in intra-school activities:

Amaryllis (Pink)
Antholiza (Blue)
Carob (Green)
Cedar (Purple)
Sparaxis (Orange)

Sport

Wilderness School is a member of the Independent Girls Schools Sports Association (IGSSA). The school maintains the sporting grounds at Park 6 on Robe Terrace, for use as hockey, lacrosse and soccer fields. Other sporting facilities include a gymnasium which was completed in 2005, and a boatshed at the South Australian Rowing Association complex at West Lakes for rowing.

IGSSA premierships

Wilderness school has won the following IGSSA premierships.

Badminton (3) – 2009, 2014, 2015
Hockey (7) – 1981, 1982, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2019
Swimming – 2010

Notable alumnae

Mamie Brown – founding pupil and the second principal
Annabel Crabb – the ABC's chief online political writer, formerly political columnist with The Age
Ally Fowler – actress
Posie Graeme-Evans – novelist, producer, director of drama, co-creator of Hi-5 and McLeod's Daughters (also attended The Fahan School)
Mekhla Kumar – pianist
Susan Magarey – historian and author
Georgie Parker – member of the Australian National Hockey Team.
Phiala E. Shanahan – theoretical physicist
Ellinor Gertrude Walker – teacher and women's rights activist

References

"Misses Brown grow a home school at North Adelaide from 1884 into Wilderness at Medindie; thriving in 21st Century".
(2008). "School Directory". Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia.
(2008). "JSHAA South Australian Directory of Members". Junior School Heads' Association of Australia.
(2008). "Wilderness School". Australian Boarding Schools' Association.
Butler, Jan. (2006). "Member Schools". The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia.
Berry, Dean W.. "Margaret Hamilton Brown (1858–1952)". National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
[http://www.wilderness.com.au/notices/best10schools.pdf The Australian- Wilderness School award] (dead link - accessed:26-06-2007)
"Sports – Independent Girls Schools Sports Association".
Green, Jonathan. (2005-03-30). "Famous alumni on Latham's hit list". Crikey.
(2006-11-17). "GRAEME-EVANS Posie". Crown Content Pty Ltd.
"Home | Hockey Australia".
Yew, Anthea. (August 2017). "Eloise Petrucco: St. Andrew's University Scotland". Life in the Wilderness.
Jones, Helen. "Ellinor Gertrude Walker (1893–1990)". National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.

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