The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale (PLC Armidale) is an independent,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls. The school is located in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

, a large rural town with a population of 24,000 in the New England region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. PLC Armidale currently caters for approximately 400 students from

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

to Year 12, including 80 boarders in Years 5 to 12. Enrolment at PLC Armidale is non-selective, and students from all races and religious affiliations are welcome. The college is affiliated with the Association of independent schools of New South Wales (AIS NSW), the

Junior School Heads Association of Australia The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia. Officially established in Septem ...

(JSHAA) the Association of Heads of independent schools of Australia (AHISA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), and is an affiliate member of the

Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools The Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS), is an Australian association for independent girls' schools, founded in New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1916 as The Association of Head Mistresses of New South Wales, t ...

(AHIGS). In 2006, PLC was named the top performing Higher School Certificate school in the New England region of New South Wales. Overall PLC Armidale ranked 114th in the State.

History

The Presbyterian Ladies' College dates from the foundation of the New England Ladies College at "Smith House" in 1887, offering a secondary education for girls under its

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

, Elizabeth Higgs. In 1910, the New England Ladies' College was bought by Alethea Tendall, who went on to be

proprietor Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as ''title'', which may be separated and held by diffe ...

and Principal for 28 years, and who renamed it The Hilton School. When Tendall purchased it, the school was operating out of two houses. A group of Presbyterian businessmen purchased the school in 1938, and the following year it came under the financial support of the Trustees of the

Presbyterian Church of Australia The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian and Reformed denomination in Australia. The PCA is the largest conservative, evangelical and complementarian Christian denomination in Australia. The Presby ...

. Subsequently, the school's name was changed to its current form, The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale. In 1945, of land on North Hill were purchased, and following a fund raising campaign, the foundation stone of the new school buildings was laid in 1960. Since then, several building programmes have extended the facilities to their present form. In late August 2005, due to financial troubles at the College, it was announced that PLC Armidale and the

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (PLC Sydney) is an independent Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary school for girls, located in Croydon, New South Wales, Croydon, an Inner West ...

(PLC Sydney), would join to form an alliance, with both schools coming under the executive leadership of William McKeith, the Principal of PLC Sydney. Members of the PLC Armidale Council formed part of the new joint school Council, essentially making the two PLC's true

sister school A sister school is usually a pair of schools, usually single-sex school, one with female students and the other with male students. This relationship is seen to benefit both schools. For instance, when Harvard University was a male-only school, Ra ...

s. The aim of this alliance is to strengthen PLC Armidale through cooperative marketing, a change in management and a stronger financial base. It is also to be of benefit to both schools through student exchanges, accommodation for sporting events or

excursion An excursion is a trip, usually made for leisure, education, or Physical exercise, physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other (typically work-related) purposes. Public transportatio ...

s, and a 'country or city' option for prospective students. Both schools will maintain their separate identities in order to preserve the unique histories and traditions that both have developed over many years.

Principals

Co-curriculum

A variety of sports and co-curricular activities are offered each semester, and students may choose from these according to their interests and needs.

Music

The school offers a range of

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

s and

musicianship A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

classes, including

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

, cello, clarinet, double bass, drums,

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument based on keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs and digital audio work ...

, flute,

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, guitar,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, percussion, piano,

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

, saxophone, singing, violin,

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, trumpet. Students may also be enrolled in

Australian Music Examinations Board The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) is a federated, privately funded corporation which provides a program of examinations for music, speech and drama in Australia. The organisation had its beginnings at the Universities of Melbourne ...

(AMEB) and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

music examinations.

Students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...

may also participate in ensemble

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, with

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

s, orchestra,

bands Bands may refer to: * Bands (song), song by American rapper Comethazine * Bands (neckwear), form of formal neckwear * Bands (Italian Army irregulars) Bands () was an Italian military term for Irregular military, irregular forces, composed of nati ...

, string, saxophone, recorder and flute ensembles available. There are a number opportunities for public performances.

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

teachers include Matthew Minter and many more. (Not enough information for teachers has been given in 2025.)

Sport

PLC Armidale encourages students to participate in a range of team and individual

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

, with teams for all ages and all levels of ability. The school enters teams in the

Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association The Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association (formerly known as IGSSA now trading as IGSA Sport), was established in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1922 with five founding members, all of them independent girls' schools. Today, t ...

(IGSSA) competitions and other competitions as appropriate. Sports available include: Tennis, Softball, Touch Football, Swimming, Athletics, Basketball,

Hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

, Soccer,

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

, and Cattle Management.

Notable alumni

* Kate Bell – Actress on ''

Blue Water High ''Blue Water High'' is an Australian television drama series, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on ABC (Australian TV channel), ABC1 and on Austar/Foxtel Nickelodeon channel in Australia and on various channels in many other ...

'' * Patricia Lovell – Producer of ''

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

Associated schools

;Neighbouring Schools Nearby schools include: *

The Armidale School The Armidale School (abbreviated as TAS) is an independent Anglican co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Administration of the schools is formalised as a ...

New England Girls' School New England Girls' School (NEGS) is an independent Anglican school. Located in Armidale, Northern NSW, NEGS provides an educational experience for both boys and girls in Junior School and a tailored learning environment for young women in Senio ...

O'Connor Catholic College O'Connor Catholic College, formerly O'Connor Catholic High School, is an independent Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. It was created by an amalgamation of St Ursula's College and De ...

Armidale Secondary College Armidale Secondary College (abbreviated as ASC) is a government-funded co-educational dual modality partially academically selective and comprehensive secondary day school, located in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. History The schoo ...

;Presbyterian Schools There are three other Presbyterian schools in New South Wales: *PLC's 'sister school', The

. Sydney and Armidale "PLC's" are both overseen by Paul Burgis (Executive principal of Armidale, Principal of Sydney), and a joint College Council. *

The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...

, Bellevue Hill *

The Scots School, Bathurst Scots All Saints College is a multi-campus independent school, independent Presbyterian Church of Australia in New South Wales, Presbyterian Church Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, prima ...

References

External links

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale website
{{Authority control Girls' schools in New South Wales Boarding schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1887 Presbyterian schools in Australia Private primary schools in New South Wales Private secondary schools in New South Wales Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools Schools in Armidale 1887 establishments in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia