While the precise date that the school opened is not known, it was in operation by 1830, when it had 18 pupils. A small school, operated by the Church of England under the Denominational Schools Board, it grew to 42 by 1842. By 1846, it consisted of "two neat little whitened cottages" situated next to the Sutton Forest church, according to a Sydney Morning Herald article of the time. Classes were held inside the teacher's house until they outgrew the space; by 1862, when the school had 66 pupils, they were being held in the church itself. Schools Inspector Isaac Coburn recommended constructing additional space that year, but his recommendations were not immediately enacted. Only following the closure of a nearby Roman Catholic school in 1869, when the number of students increased to 72, did the wardens contact the Council of Education to request a new space. The initial offering, into which the school relocated the following year, proved unsatisfactory, and in 1871 the school moved to a new building. The 30 foot by 20 foot school was, according to the inspector, "a commodious and airy weatherboard structure very fairly fitted up but there are no appointments in the playground".
