Advertorial.

By Lucy Dalleywater, Director of Activities and Coordinator of The Jamieson Program
When you are new to Frensham, either as a student, a parent or a staff member, you float around the school, wide-eyed in all that is new, but somehow buoyed by a fresh lilac cloud of something that you can’t quite put your finger on.
In almost 20 years as an educator, every school I have worked at has commonalities – NESA syllabus, some camps, some sport, some clubs. But at Frensham, there is something else. Something you can’t quite understand until you experience it: The Frensham Connection.
The connection that knows every new student. The one that greets them by name when it spots a quivering bottom lip and wraps their heart in Frensham support.
The connection that drops everything to assist a guest as they wander around campus looking for a white cottage. (“Oh, you mean THE White Cottage! Allow me to walk you there.”)
The connection that can see when action needs to be taken and, within minutes, has rallied a team and created a solution whose creativity is far beyond anything that could have been explicitly planned by an adult.
The connection that greets you with a giant smile in an airport, years after they’ve graduated, and engages in a fully-fledged conversation with the absolute adult confidence that you once wished for them when they were in Year 12, standing in the doorway to your office, downloading about their nervousness for the future.
It is an authentic and lived experience of our motto: ‘In love, serve one another’.
The International Coalition of Girls’ Schools’ recent paper Raising Her Voice found that “a common theme in the data is the foundational importance of relationships [in] students’ overall sense of belonging at school is a strong predictor of higher engagement, flourishing, and confidence in coping with stress.” Frensham has stayed true to our Founder Winifred West’s vision, resisting the distractions of educational fads and keeping relationships at the centre.
In 2025, our Character Education Framework was reviewed to ensure our students remain future-ready while preserving that unique Frensham character. Its first pillar, Connection through Belonging and Wellness, reflects the strength of our boarding context and the lifelong impact of community.
You won’t find this framework, or this lilac cloud, anywhere else. It is lived by our students, past and present. And it is what makes a Frensham education truly unique.