Pembroke School

"Pembroke School is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational day and boarding school situated in Kensington Park, a leafy suburb approximately six kilometres east of Adelaide's city centre in South Australia."

Serving students from the Early Learning Centre through to Year 12, the school is home to around 1,700 students, making it one of the more substantial independent schools in the region. For boarding families, Pembroke offers residential places for up to 125 students in Years 7 through 12, providing a supportive community for those coming from regional areas or from abroad. The school's history stretches back well over a century. Its roots lie in two separate institutions: Girton Girls' School, founded in 1915, and King's College, a boys' school established in 1923. In 1974, the two schools merged to form Pembroke, creating the co-educational community that exists today. That blended heritage — drawing on decades of single-sex educational tradition from both schools — has shaped a culture that values both academic rigour and the development of the whole person. Academically, Pembroke follows the International Baccalaureate framework, offering both the Primary Years Programme and the Diploma Programme. The PYP provides a transdisciplinary, inquiry-based approach to learning for younger students, encouraging curiosity and global awareness from the earliest years of schooling. At the senior end, the IB Diploma Programme prepares students for university entrance and adult life through a challenging, internationally recognised qualification — a particularly relevant credential for expat families who may be considering future study in multiple countries. The adoption of the IB reflects the school's commitment to internationally minded education, and makes Pembroke a natural fit for relocating families accustomed to IB frameworks in other parts of the world. One of the more distinctive aspects of Pembroke is its dedicated Hearing Unit, which provides specialist education for a small number of hearing-impaired students. This provision speaks to the school's broader commitment to inclusion and to meeting diverse learning needs within a mainstream school environment, and it sets Pembroke apart from many comparable independent schools in Australia. The school occupies two campuses within Kensington Park, offering families the accessibility of an inner-suburban location while still benefiting from the quieter, residential character of the neighbourhood. Adelaide itself is widely regarded as one of Australia's most liveable cities — compact, safe, and relatively affordable compared to Sydney or Melbourne — making the city an increasingly attractive destination for expat professionals and their families. For families relocating to South Australia, Pembroke presents a well-established, academically credentialed option that combines the familiarity of the IB framework with a genuinely inclusive school community. Its long history, co-educational ethos, boarding provision, and specialist programmes give it both depth and breadth as an institution, and its position close to the Adelaide city centre ensures that families settling into the region will find it conveniently accessible from most parts of the metropolitan area.