Who We Are
Together, we are Ballarat Clarendon College. We help students discover who they are, who they want to be and how to get there. Our core values underpin all that we do and are embedded in every endeavour we undertake.
Our History
As the fifth oldest private school in Victoria, we proudly celebrate our history in providing high quality education.
Reverend William Henderson opened Ballarat College on Wednesday 6 July 1864 when two seven-year-old cousins presented themselves at his church, St Andrew’s Presbyterian. On the following Monday morning they were joined by three other boys to become the first students of the school.
Elizabeth Kennedy, the wife of another Presbyterian minister, came to Ballarat to live and in 1876 she began a cottage school for her children and the daughters of family friends. This was the beginning of what became known as Mrs Kennedy’s School for Girls, later to become Clarendon Presbyterian Ladies College.
In 1974 Ballarat College and Clarendon Presbyterian Ladies College formally joined together to become Ballarat Clarendon College, now associated with the Uniting Church in Australia.
2024 marks 160 years since the establishment of Ballarat College.
Whilst much has changed in this time, the vision and values of Reverend Henderson and Mrs Kennedy remain. Students, in another age, still acknowledge the guidance, support and inspiration they receive from being members of the Ballarat Clarendon College community.