Cranbrook Senior School offers our students a range of exceptional facilities and resources to enable them to explore, enjoy and fulfil their potential.
Set within 4km of the centre of Sydney and overlooking the iconic Sydney Harbour, our Bellevue Hill campus provides meticulously planned facilities to provide the environment for our students to pursue their academic, sporting and co-curricular interests.
The thoughtfully planned campus creates an inspiring environment that is essential to our students’ educational journey. Here, students can thrive in a setting that encourages both personal growth and academic excellence.
Classroom Spaces
The Vicars Centenary Building classroom spaces have been designed to encourage the interconnectedness of learning, with flexible classrooms empowering staff to deliver inspiring learning experiences.
Our buildings are designed based on research about how different spaces can boost collaboration and communication in learning and teaching. The variety in our spaces helps students and teachers connect and work together more effectively.
We have teaching and learning spaces that enable a flow of interaction creating a strong sense of collegiality and flexible learning. The flexible design offers break out spaces that facilitate smaller groups, individual and larger group learning styles.
Year 12 College
The Year 12 College is a dedicated space for Year 12 students to study independently, collaborate and exchange ideas.
The Year 12 College represents the pinnacle of a student’s academic journey, providing an environment that emulates the rigors and independence of university study. This dedicated space fosters a culture of focused and quiet study, essential for the intensive preparation required in the final year of Senior School, whether studying the HSC or the IB Diploma.
The College offers students the resources they need to excel academically while also preparing them for the self-directed learning expected at the tertiary level. This unique setting not only supports their immediate educational goals but also instils the discipline and study habits that will benefit them throughout their future academic and professional pursuits.
Bridging the gap between Year 12 and university, the varied individual room layout effectively facilitates collegial learning by Year 12 students, with staff mentors on-site to help with any request.
The College is open from 7.30am-8pm Monday to Thursday, and until 7pm on Fridays during term time, and over the school holidays from 10am-4pm. During the term it is also open on Sundays from 1pm-5pm.
Year 11 College
Our Year 11 College was established in 2023 and is a critical pathway to establishing effective study patterns in a dedicated, supervised space with staff and tutors to assist students.
The Year 11 College provides students with the opportunity to be tutored by ex-students, to research careers pathways and the university admission process, and to study in an environment unlike a classroom, with a more collegiate approach.
The Year 11 College is open from Monday to Thursday from 3.30pm to 6.30pm, and is a quiet, supervised space for students to study. During the day, attendance is compulsory whenever students have a free period, with supervision by academic staff. In the evenings the College is supervised by ex-students – who operate as a private tutor at no additional cost. The College is also open before school, at lunchtime and on weekends in Terms 3 and 4.
The Murray Rose Aquatic & Fitness Centre
The Murray Rose Aquatic & Fitness Centre (AFC) represents a cornerstone of our school’s commitment to health, fitness, and wellbeing, offering facilities that support a wide range of aquatic and fitness activities.
Named in honour of Olympic swimming legend Murray Rose, the AFC embodies our school’s tradition of excellence and inspires a sense of pride in both our heritage and our ongoing dedication to fostering athletic achievement.
The Centre includes a 50m swimming pool designed for racing, including FINA blocks and a Swiss timing system for electronic timekeeping. The pool can be transformed into 2x 25m pools for Waterpolo. There is also a Learn to Swim pool, state-of-the-art gym, cricket nets, sprint track, cycling studio and breakout learning areas.
The Packer Theatre
The Packer Theatre is a purpose-built, 267-seat theatre, designed to provide optimum acoustics for drama and dance performances, musical theatre, theatre sports, debating, lectures, smaller assemblies, conferences and events.
We have a strong legacy in the Arts at Cranbrook and our commitment is reflected through our Drama facilities, including this purpose-built performance theatre.
The Packer Theatre is a flat floor stage venue with retractable, raked seating which can be used for formally seated assemblies and meetings, as well as Drama and Music productions. Entering the theatre is an experience in itself, with doors opening to a deep red, soundproofed hallway that amps up the excitement as you step into the theatre world.
The first major performance in the Packer Theatre, was the School of Rock in 2023.
Centenary Hall
The Centenary Hall is a 1600-seat assembly hall, examination centre and can be used for formal functions and concerts. It can also be converted to a space for two basketball, volleyball or netball courts.
The Hall’s versatile design ensures it meets a wide range of community and educational needs, making it a hub for both academic and co-curricular activities.
The Centenary Hall is on Level 1 of our Vicars Centenary Building which spans five levels and terraces and opens out onto Hordern Oval.
Orchestral Room
Cranbrook’s Orchestral Room is a dedicated practice space for musical groups. It can also pipe sound from this space directly to the Packer Theatre, acting as a musical pit, where it provides live music to accompany on-stage drama and musical performances.
The textured wall panels and cloud-like ceiling panels in Cranbrook’s Orchestra Room help distribute the sound around, making sure we get great acoustics and early sound reflections. The Orchestral Room compliments the recently refurbished Perkins Music Centre, adjacent to the Mackay Lawn which is home to excellent music tuition spaces as well as classrooms and rehearsal rooms.
Perkins Building
The Perkins Building is the heart of the Music Faculty and is designed to provide students with a dedicated space to learn and practice. It houses spaces for individual and group lessons, tiered seating for smaller performances and examinations and collaborative learning spaces as well as a full recording studio.
The recently renovated building has sound-proofed walls and doors in percussion rooms, additional breakout spaces and increased natural light.
The dedicated spaces for music making and listening to music are the very heart of this building.
The Dining Commons
Located on Level 3 of The Vicars Centenary Building, the Dining Commons is an area where students and teachers can eat together, chat, and share ideas.
It’s a café-style setting that offers another chance for informal learning. By blending recreation and education, it creates a place where connections are made, and ideas are exchanged in a relaxed atmosphere.
The Hive is our café, offering food that meets the nutritional needs of both students and staff. The café is open from 7am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
The Chapel
The Chapel, located on Level 5 of The Vicars Centenary Building, is a place for religious worship, gatherings and quiet reflection. It adjoins The Mackay Lawn, which is the focus of social and ceremonial gathering.
The Memorial Garden is an extension of the Chapel and functions as a space for private reflection. This is also the site of weddings and funerals for members of the Cranbrook community.
Hordern Oval
The Hordern Oval is located directly above the Murray Rose Aquatic & Fitness Centre. It is a meeting place for physical activity, and includes a running track, sprint track, and an interchangeable Rugby, Football and Cricket oval. It also houses the purpose-built Justin McDonald Stand for spectators.
Overlooking Sydney Harbour, Hordern Oval provides the opportunity for all students to participate in many different sports whilst simultaneously enabling our most elite athletes to train and compete at national and international level.