Ruyton Reporter Autumn 2021

reporter the ruyton

autumn 2021

LEARNING, LEADERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT

CONTENTS FROM THE STUDY

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FROM THE BOARD

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WELCOME

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LEADING WITH CAMARADERIE AND ZEAL

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2020

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WORDS OF SUPPORT FROM THE ORA

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YEAR 12 GIFT

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CREATING AN UNEXPECTED DIFFERENCE

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GIRLS @ THE CENTRE REFLECTION

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SPEECH NIGHT 2020

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WELLBEING AT THE HEART

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BLENDED LEARNING

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RUYTON EARLY LEARNING

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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COMMUNITY

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PARENTS OF RUYTON

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FOUNDATION

31

BEQUESTS

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FLORENCE WAY CAMPBELL

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OLD RUYTONIANS’ ASSOCIATION

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ALUMNAE

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REUNIONS

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If you have articles you would like to submit for consideration for publication, please email news@ruyton.vic.edu.au or post to 12 Selbourne Road, Kew Victoria 3101.

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FROM THE STUDY Speech Night at Ruyton is an extraordinary occasion. It is a time when we gather to celebrate both the year just lived and the contribution of our Year 12 girls to the life of our School. It is a night of stirring student speeches, acknowledgement of student endeavour and excellence and awe-inspiring performances by our choirs and ensembles. It is quite simply Ruyton at her best.

In a year where everything was rescheduled, reinvented or cancelled, Speech Night 2020 was no exception. Reimagined outdoors in Hiscock Court, only the Class of 2020, prize winners, a small group of staff and President of the Ruyton Board, Virginia McLaughlan were present. Despite rain threatening proceedings, the show went on and was recorded and shared with the Ruyton community for viewing from home.

In times of challenge you find out what truly matters. Realising Speech Night would need to be different in every way, we asked the Class of 2020 what was most important to them.

To be together in person and to continue the tradition of the School singing the Irish Blessing were unanimous responses. Sitting with them in Hiscock Court on that windy and damp morning and seeing these young women openly weep as the Irish Blessing was sung to them via a video recording is a memory I will treasure forever. It was both heart-aching and heart-warming. It spoke to me of opportunities lost; those important milestones of your final year of school, a year of celebration and unity.

But it also spoke of a group of young women who rose above these challenges to make the most of the situation, digging deep to find their inner strength and their support for each other and for others. A group of young women who truly understood and lived the values of community, empathy and unity.

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Each year the graduating class of Ruyton gives a gift to the School; something of meaning and importance to them. The Class of 2020 have written a poem, shared at Speech Night and in this issue of the Ruyton Reporter. A truly collaborative process, they gained inspiration from the centuries-old Japanese art of kintsugi, a concept which takes broken ceramics and pieces together the chipped or broken shards with a glue of gold. Based on the philosophy of ‘no mind’ (無心, mushin), the image of kintsugi is one of finding beauty in the broken and an acceptance of change and fate as constant vicissitudes of human life. Rather than being the year of perfect unity these young women expected, their Year 12 brought separation and shattered hopes that initially seemed insurmountable. However, like threads of gold holding together the broken shards of a vase, it was the friendships and kindness within their year level which enabled them to stay connected and still create a memorable experience in 2020. They identified the gold of friendship as representing a recuperative salve with the power to restore the bonds fractured by isolation.

We often say at Ruyton that leadership is not a badge or a title. It is stepping up and taking action when the time calls for you to do so. This was the spirit of Ruyton girls in 2020; a spirit of learning, leadership and engagement, led so graciously and courageously by the Class of 2020. Their Unity and Radiance will always be the golden lining that bound the Ruyton community together in a broken year. We celebrate their leadership and the achievement and endeavour of the Ruyton community in this edition of the Ruyton Reporter.

Linda Douglas Principal

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FROM THE BOARD We could never have anticipated how challenging 2020 was going to be for us all.

What started as news reports of a new flu-like virus in China rapidly escalated into multiple lockdowns and over 168 days living under stay-at-home directions. For the education sector, this meant a complete pivot from onsite operations into an alternate reality, distance learning on screen. The dedication and commitment shown by our students and staff to their work and each other during this time was truly admirable.

In a previous Ruyton Reporter article, I spoke about the importance of care, connection and support as being key through the difficulties of the pandemic. New families often comment on our warm and friendly community culture and the strength of the relationships we build within it. This is something we have a right to be proud of. Accepting the environment of uncertainty created with the pandemic, Ruyton’s school community continued to do what it does best. Care, connection and support were ingrained in the multitude of interactions between students, staff, parents and alumnae.

Despite being physically apart, we remained together. I enjoyed watching the daily activities of the School through social media and was especially delighted to see the Community cookbook published at the end of last year, a true display of creativity and collaboration.

As a Board, we sincerely thank every single one of you for your continued support and engagement with our school through difficult circumstances.

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In reflecting on the challenges of last year, we congratulate the Class of 2020 for their outstanding VCE results. We are enormously proud of our Year 12 students and what they have achieved under significant adversity. The grit and sense of endeavour shown is a real reflection of the Ruyton spirit and we look forward to seeing what these impressive young women do as they journey beyond school and make their own mark on the world.

Despite a short snap lockdown in early February, life in 2021 has settled into a ‘COVID-normal’ and the Board is looking to the future with more certainty as we plan the development of our new Strategic Plan for 2022–2025. We will shortly approach the community to become involved in a consultation process for this project and look forward to hearing from those of you who would like to become involved.

We are also looking forward to reigniting the development of the Royce Theatre and the Library as we ensure continual improvement of the facilities and grounds, and importantly the learning opportunities available to our girls.

With the best wishes of the Board, please enjoy this edition of the Ruyton Reporter and its stories of our wonderful school that are contained within.

Virginia McLaughlan President, The Ruyton Board

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WELCOME We invite you to meet four staff members who joined the Ruyton community at the start of this year.

Laura Winbank English Teacher/Year 7 Wellbeing Leader

Shannon Morley Early Learning and Junior School Counsellor

With a strong desire to work in a girls’ school and empower a future generation of women, Laura is thrilled to have accepted a position at Ruyton teaching English and as the Year 7 Wellbeing Leader. With a passion for helping young people and working with them, Laura loves that every day is different in a school and how rewarding it is to have the opportunity to get to know and support students as they grow into mature young adults. Laura has already noticed how nurturing and supportive the Ruyton community is and the degree to which people care for each other.

An Educational and Development Psychologist, Shannon has diverse experience working with children and young people across independent and Catholic schools, community health settings and in private practice. With a passion for working with girls and young women, Shannon loves the breadth of her work in a school and the strong partnerships she is able to build with students, families and staff. Driven by her desire to empower children and young people to be the best they can be, Shannon believes it is a privilege to support students through their school years.

Katherine Putnam Science Teacher/Year 8 Homegroup Mentor

Brigid Steele Marketing and Publications Manager

Recently accepting a role at Ruyton to teach Senior School Science and VCE Chemistry, Katherine spent the first part of her career as a postdoctoral research scientist focusing on parasite metabolism and drug development in the field of malaria. With a strong research background, Katherine is involved in the ongoing development of the Ruyton Scholar Programme and looks forward to being able to contribute to this space through the Capstone Project.

Having been warmly welcomed into the community, Katherine already feels a strong connection with the students, especially those in her Homegroup, and looks forward to coming to School each day.

With a passion for communication and media in non‑profit organisations through strategic storytelling, Brigid has recently joined the Community Relations team as our Marketing and Publications Manager. Brigid has a strong background in education and is experienced at enhancing community engagement through effective marketing and communication. A people-person, she loves to get involved and contribute to the communities that she works within. Delighted to have accepted a role at Ruyton, Brigid is proud to work in an organisation focused on empowering all its people to be their best and is looking forward to meeting the broader community at events throughout the year.

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leadership

LEADING WITH CAMARADERIE AND ZEAL A reflection from our School Co‑Captains In thinking back to any of our previous years at Ruyton, it is impossible not to remember the motivation, dedication and energy brought by the two Co-Captains leading the school.

From being Year 7 girls in our first year of Senior School to Year 11 students preparing to take on leadership roles ourselves, the passion and hard work of the entire leadership team was evident in everything they did. Being a smaller school community, the most prominent feeling we can recall throughout these past years is the overwhelming sense of community established and maintained by past School Co-Captains.

One of the most valuable lessons we learned last year was that you truly never stop growing and adapting both individually and as a leader, and this has continued to prove true as we’ve stepped into our positions this year. The two of us are very conscious of wanting to preserve the incredible legacy left by Co-Captains before us while also bringing parts of our own inspiration and sense of self to the role. We don’t want to lose that feeling of connection and togetherness that has become such a pivotal part of our years at Ruyton. If the past 12 months have shown us anything, it’s that this culture is not created by mere physical proximity on School grounds, but rather a deeply rooted unity and support amongst students, staff and parents alike. These values were at the forefront of our minds when we nailed our colours to the mast at the Year 12 Leadership Assembly in early February, pledging to lead both the Year 12 girls and the whole school as so many Co‑Captains have before us.

This year, the Class of 2021 has chosen to lead with camaraderie and zeal. Whilst there were many words which described our year level’s 4

experiences through 2020 and our hopes for this year, ultimately, we decided on camaraderie as it reflects the unity and togetherness of our whole cohort. At the first of our Year 11 Leadership days last year, we discussed the importance of forming connections with others and allowing yourself to open up.

To reflect these ideas, we chose camaraderie to represent the mutual trust and friendship across the Class of 2021 and our loyalty in the face of hardship. For example, last year when we were all separated from each other, we never lost that feeling of connection and it helped us move past the difficult times. To us this is a perfect example of the unwavering togetherness camaraderie encapsulates, which we hope will continue in 2021, despite whatever challenges are thrown our way. To complement camaraderie we selected the word zeal, a great energy or enthusiasm in both life and in pursuit of one’s goals. Our zeal represents our enthusiasm and fearlessness that motivates us and guides us. It also encourages others to possess this same energy and in this way we motivate those we lead too. With great zeal and camaraderie we can help others rise above challenges and create what will be an unforgettable year.

In addition to these two words, we have chosen the colour sage to reflect our leadership goals.

For us, the green of sage represents growth, new beginnings, and new opportunities, and we hope to use the wisdom we gained after last year to help us get through any other difficult experiences and challenges we may face.

We are both so excited for this year ahead and we hope everyone has a safe and connected year, no matter the hardships that may arise.

Annie Timm and Zoe Boussioutas School Co-Captains

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empowering girls

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2020

17%

56%

ATARS 99 AND ABOVE 16 STUDENTS

92.6 MEDIAN ATAR

ATARS 90 AND ABOVE 53 STUDENTS

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27%

MEDIAN STUDY SCORE

SCORES OVER 40

STUDY SCORES OF 50 Dasha Lin BIOLOGY

Simone Lin

PRODUCT AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

Charley Oakley ENGLISH

Susan Fang ENGLISH

Simone Lin

GEOGRAPHY

Maya Wilmshurst

Mia Waters

ENGLISH

HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Bella Eames ENGLISH

Angela Ye ENGLISH

Vanessa Jin

FURTHER MATHEMATICS

Nancy Lu

FURTHER MATHEMATICS

While we celebrate the 2020 ATAR results at Ruyton, our measure of success does not rely on a single score. We empower our girls to lead lives of impact and purpose with courage, character and compassion, both now and in the future.

This is how we define success.

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Advice and life lessons from Maya Wilmshurst 2020 Dux Dux from the Class of 2020, Maya Wilmshurst achieved an ATAR of 99.95. Returning to Ruyton in early February, she spoke to the Senior School students at Assembly about life as a Year 12 student and what lessons she learned from the experience. An abridged version of her speech is below.

While I’m so grateful and honoured to have the opportunity to stand here on behalf of the Class of 2020, I know that my one voice nowhere near captures the success or knowledge of every single girl in my year level, my one voice doesn’t even come close. Because, even as one very new Old Ruytonian stands here at the start of each year at a lectern speaking about her journey through VCE, every girl who walks out of the gates of Ruyton for the last time at the end of Year 12 has an incredible success story.

Throughout my years of high school, I’ve always been someone who’s quite hard on myself. It’s not just that I wanted to do my best, to score those higher marks and do ‘well’, it was that I would be upset and angry with myself if I didn’t. Tests in Year 7, assessments in Year 9, and especially SACs and exams in Year 11/12. My first Specialist Maths SAC last year ended in a lot of frustrated tears as I realised pretty much as soon as I’d gotten home, the mistake I’d made on the second last page which cost me the many marks that followed.

Now I’m not saying don’t be disappointed.

When we fall short of what we’d hoped, and what we’d put in the work to achieve, it’s hard not to be. We need to be able to, of course, learn from our mistakes, as we’re constantly told by our teachers and parents and memorably Grace Wang last year, but also, and maybe more importantly, we need to be able to autumn 2021

forgive ourselves; to recognise that a less than hoped mark on a test or a slower cross-country race doesn’t determine our self-worth and should never crush our hopes of doing better in the next test, the next race, of achieving what we want to achieve. Forgive yourself and know that you are capable, no matter what the letter grade is on the page or the time is on the race clock.

Another thing that I think is super important to remember is that you’re surrounded by people who want you to do your best and want to support you to get there. While VCE can feel like a somewhat solitary endeavour at some points – I know that school in general probably felt like that for a lot of us last year – and everyone always talks about it being a competition, a ranking, the showdown between you and the rest of the state, it’s really more of a team sport. The girls sitting next to you right now, and who’ve sat next to you for the past few years, are the team-mates that you can, and should turn to for support and help – trust me when I say that I definitely did. Nothing I did, and nothing I achieved in my last years of high school came down to me alone. If I was able to finish the year proud of what I’d achieved, it was by standing on the shoulders of everyone who supported me throughout. Everyone who finishes VCE at Ruyton is standing on a similar little human pyramid of their own: buoyed up by the support of their friends, family and teachers.

Reach out to the girls sitting beside you and be the person who supports them as they reach for their own goals too.

Maya Wilmshurst (2020)

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grit

WORDS OF SUPPORT FROM THE ORA In the lead up to VCE exams under the most unusual of circumstances, Old Ruytonians were contacted and asked if they would like to send a message of encouragement to the Class of 2020. 74 people replied and their contributions were bound in a book for each student in the year level. Excerpts from some of their letters are below: ‘I would like to quote my Anderson House motto as a guide, which seems particularly appropriate in the present circumstances, “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”.

May your House motto and your time at Ruyton continue to give you hope and strength in the years ahead. Take the lessons you have learned at School and during this unprecedented year of challenge into your future and play your part in making this planet a better place to live. I wish you every success in the world’.

Judith Cooke, Class of 1959

‘Dear Year 12 Ruyton Students, Work towards your goals.

If you don’t succeed at first, try again and again.

And be grateful especially for the education you have been given.

Best wishes for your future and go forward knowing you are not alone in this world.

Be happy and joyful.

Blessings from another Ruytonian.’

Johanna Martin, Class of 1974

‘I was just like you. A young woman with dreams.

I was a half-scholarship student at Ruyton, a high achiever but a bit of a rebel. Headstrong, determined but yet to truly appreciate the adults who guided me.

Unknowingly at the time they instilled great life lessons and prepared me to fight for what I wanted. To stand tall, anywhere in the world, in any circumstances.

That is what I took away from Ruyton. Iron-clad confidence. So I say now: cast aside ANY self-limiting beliefs. You can be anything you want to be. You are in the driver’s seat’.

Sarah Hope, Class of 1986

‘Over the coming weeks as you sit your final exams and finish your schooling at Ruyton, please know that we are all cheering you on. Family, friends, teachers and old girls of the School who have walked the path before you. We will be thinking of you and wishing you all the very best. …Stay true to who you are, look after each other and dare to dream!’

‘What a year you have had. Probably not the Year 12 experience you had imagined or hoped for. Just wanted to say that I am sure you will look back one day and realise the resilience you have gained during this difficult year will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Whilst this might not be the regular Maths, Science and English skills usually gained in Year 12 – it is a skill that will get you further in life than any of those things.

Try not to stress about the exams and the future, everything always works out just the way it is meant to in the end’.

Amy Mulready, Class of 1998

Jacquelyn Whelan, Class of 2006

Jenny Gunson, Class of 1965

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‘My tips for you going forward are: 1. Take charge of your financial literacy straight away. Learn how to read company annual reports, be aware of the smorgasboard of investment options (e.g., shares, efts, bonds) and how you can use them.

And become aware of philanthropy.

2. Keep your eye on ‘the prize’, whatever that may mean for you. In other words, take control of your destiny and plan ahead. Being rudderless is very unsatisfying and wasteful.

3. Pay attention to your health. Maintain a sport as it contributes to good health both physically and mentally. Don’t take good health for granted and make sure you have annual medical check-ups.

I wish you well and may all your dreams come true.

Have a wonderful life, with lots of fun along the way’.

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‘YOU’RE BRAVER THAN YOU BELIEVE, STRONGER THAN YOU SEEM, AND SMARTER THAN YOU THINK’ — CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

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grit

YEAR 12 GIFT

FINDING BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN ‘94 individual pieces sculpted, a unified whole so dear

To be glazed and polished in the furnace of our final year.

The bonds we had formed over the years seemed infrangible, As too did our vision of the perfect year that felt so tangible.

The Class of 2020 could never have anticipated how challenging their final year at school would prove to be. As the pandemic quickly brought their expectations of what 2020 would be like crumbling to the ground, the girls stood united in support of each other and the broader student body. Choosing to lead the School with unity and radiance, the girls became a living embodiment of these terms.

It is Ruyton tradition that every year the Year 12 group leave a gift to the School at graduation.

The Class of 2020 wrote the following poem, which will be publicly displayed on school grounds for all to see.

Chipped, Cracked,

Crushed.

Like a vase chipped, cracked and crushed under the pressures of separation.

Discarded, disjointed; a broken mould,

And yet threaded together with shimmering gold Laced with a glimmer that was previously not there,

Of beauty not broken, but tended to with care.

Who knew friendship could smooth over the cracks of being apart?

The unbreakable bonds always present in our heart,

Ribbons of gold with a healing, recuperative magic,

Tenderly bringing light to a year so tragic.

Imagine kindness as an infinite gift,

Not something one can steal or reduce to thrift.

We all need kindness to show us the way Of how to piece together those fragments gone astray.

People may be more fragile than they appear, Their façades crafted as a delicately glazed veneer.

So it is best to weave kindness as a gift to bestow Offering a shimmer of gold wherever you go.’

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global citizenship

CREATING AN UNEXPECTED DIFFERENCE One of the most wonderful characteristics of the Ruyton community is our connectedness As the 2020 school year began, there was a flurry of fundraising around the world in support of Australian bushfire victims.

Bushfire does not play favourites and flora, fauna and people across our country were devastatingly impacted. Responding to the crisis, Ruyton joined as one to support the many affected by the crisis in Victoria.

Early in Term 1, our School Co-Captains Bella Eames and Mia Waters and Community Service Captain Maddy Truong collaborated and organised an outdoor cinema fundraiser in support of the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund (GERF). What was to follow was an outpouring of support from our community. Junior School families donated bags (many bags!) of popcorn, staff donated hamper goods to raffle and Senior School students organised lolly bags and baked goods to sell. Event tickets were flying out the door and everyone was excited about the event and the difference it could make. With over 350 Ruyton families purchasing tickets it promised to be a wonderful community event, supporting an important cause. What we hadn’t planned for was the pandemic. As it rapidly unfolded with restrictions and lockdowns in March, the outdoor cinema fundraiser was postponed.

With plans to reschedule the event, the second lockdown began and social restrictions remained at play. With focus firmly on the girls, their wellbeing and the continuity of their education; the weeks rolled by and we still had popcorn, hamper goods and donations to distribute. By the start of Term 4 there was no end to the pandemic in sight and with the guidance of the School leadership team, it was decided that the valuable work towards the outdoor cinema would not go to waste. The funds raised from the tickets (over $4,800!) was donated to GERF as intended. The perishables were donated to a charity, Servants Community Housing. Passionate about breaking the cycle of disadvantage and social exclusion, Servants Community Housing provides not only a roof over heads but a place vulnerable residents can belong, a ‘house family’. CEO of the organisation, Amanda Donohoe, was grateful to the Ruyton community for our donation.

Making a difference to the men and women living in the Servant homes, she said our gifts brought an extra dollop of joy at Christmas after a year filled with so many challenges.

As we move forward with the lessons of the most unpredictable year, we will continue to embrace change, always being mindful we can make a positive difference, even if not the way we expected. We know our girls will bring the Outdoor Cinema to our oval one day but in the meantime, it is heart-warming to know that our girls’ bushfire fundraiser still made an impact to people in need.

Sally de Guingand Director of Community Engagement

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global citizenship

GIRLS @ THE CENTRE REFLECTION From 2011 to 2015, Ruyton girls and their families were involved in a programme with The Smith Family that supported disadvantaged girls in Alice Springs. With the aim of keeping at-risk girls at school, the Girls @ the Centre programme was based at Centralian Middle School, and managed by Girl Coaches who kept track of the girls’ education, attendance and wellbeing.

Breakfasts and lunches were provided, careers mentors engaged, and a special Homeroom was created to give the girls a safe space that they could go to throughout the school day.

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Ruyton’s involvement was two-fold. Each year, ten of the girls from Alice Springs would fly to Melbourne for a week of adventures.

Five Ruyton families each hosted two Alice Springs girls, including them in their daily lives. The girls attended activities at Ruyton, or participated in excursions. These excursions were often a highlight because they were usually places the girls had never visited before: the Melbourne Zoo; the beach; Melbourne University; the NGV and the city’s laneways.

Each October, during the Year 10 Central Australia Tours, the Ruyton girls would visit Centralian Middle School, and spend time with the Girls @ the Centre again. The Girl Coaches arranged wonderful activities for all of the girls. One year, we visited Stanley Chasm and learnt about the Dreamtime from some of the local elders. Another year, we all went to the Telegraph Station where the Alice Springs girls cooked kangaroo tail in the river bed, and we learnt about Skin and Kin from Deanella Mack.

Other activities were grinding native herbs to make bush medicine, and a hugely popular trip to the town pool with the Alice Springs girls.

Many friendships were forged, and greater understanding and connections between young women were the result.

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Unfortunately, due to issues with funding and other school programmes at Centralian Middle School, The Smith Family wound up the Girls @ the Centre programme in Alice Springs at the end of 2015. It was a very sad time for the girls at Ruyton, and most particularly in Alice Springs.

Since then, some of the friendships formed have continued and it has been wonderful to hear news of one of the graduates of the Girls @ the Centre programme. Christine Lawson was hosted by Aisling Moten when she first visited Ruyton in 2013. About eighteen months after visiting Ruyton, Christine was fostered by one of the Girl Coaches, Shelly Bestman. For her last two years of school, while Shelly was battling breast cancer, Christine attended boarding school at Alexandra and Hamilton College in Victoria. During this time, she often stayed with Julie Hoskins and popped in to visit Ruyton.

Christine’s goal was to become a police officer, so it has been wonderful news to hear that she graduated in October 2020 as an Indigenous Liaison Officer for the Northern Territory Police and Emergency Services. Christine is one of the first people to hold this role, and was the youngest member of the graduating class.

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Christine delighted the Year 10 girls in December by connecting with them for a Teams meeting during the End of Year Programme.

She told the girls that she is loving her job, and finds the challenges of working with the indigenous community in Alice Springs to be very rewarding. She still aims to be a police officer, and her particular goal is to join the Mounted Forces. For now, the Girl Coaches, the Smith Family, the Moten family, and Ruyton can take pride in having a small part in this young woman’s journey. Christine is hoping that there will be many more opportunities to connect with the Ruyton community in future.

She has always been a person with a big heart and a wonderful sense of humour. She has become someone who has achieved one step on the road to her dream, and is an inspiration for many.

Julie Hoskins Coordinator of Community Services (Senior School)

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creativity

SPEECH NIGHT 2020 Required to pivot from the time-honoured tradition of holding Speech Night in an auditorium or concert hall, the Ruyton community gathered to watch the Class of 2020 be sent off in the most creative way.

Whilst participating students processed through our gardens and then stood in Hisock Court watching key speakers on the outdoor stage, families and other staff attended the ceremony online from home.

In her Principal’s Address, Linda Douglas addressed the Ruyton community with the following speech: Good evening Virginia McLaughlan, Directors of the Board, parents, friends, staff, girls and, most importantly the Class of 2020.

We entered 2020 with great plans for events, occasions, milestones and journeys. Our dreams were quickly dashed as we spent much of this year in our homes; together apart.

The year started with devastating bushfires where the humility and courage of our firefighters and the strength of our community made us proud to be Australian. Those bushfires cruelly burned our country, decimated wildlife and plunged communities into fear and devastation. As the embers cooled a damaging hailstorm hit Victoria and then the pandemic descended, with our community rallying and uniting again.

A year like no other.

Victorians lived through a severe 112 day lockdown to suppress the second wave.

During this time many found inspiration and joy in Freeman, the documentary that followed Cathy Freeman’s journey from childhood to the race that stopped the nation on 25 September 2000. So much more than a race or a medal, Freeman embodied and carried the story, hopes and dreams of a nation. An unexpectedly beautiful marriage of dance, history, sport and politics in an era when the federal government refused to apologise to the stolen generations.

20 years later, with racial inequity highlighted internationally we watched Cathy’s story; her resilience, her humility and her pride.

In Cathy’s words: ‘I think the greatest amount of pressure is the pressure I place on myself. So in a way I chose to be alone.

I feel the sunshine in my chest. I feel the people, I feel the energy.

I feel like I am being protected. My people were the first people to walk on this land. Those girls were always going to have to come up against my ancestors.’

She ran for herself but she ran for the people.

She understood the power of unity. And Freeman noted that we all carry some sort of anger or fury or sadness or pain.

Humility is a personality trait often overlooked in today’s fast moving world, an ability to accurately acknowledge one’s limitations and abilities, an interpersonal stance that is otheroriented rather than self-focused.

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We’ve had to let go of our expected trajectories and halt the incessant pushing forward. We’ve had to stop, experience failure and loss, and grapple with uncertainty and letting go. 2020 has forced us to find some sort of peace within this tension. To swim with the current instead of using our ambition to fight it. To come to terms with the fact our lives do not exist in isolation, but within a connected world; an ironic realisation during a forced isolation.

Recent research has revealed intellectual humility is related to curiosity, reflectiveness and open-minded tendencies. Humility, intellectual or otherwise, nourishes our mental health and improves our ability to forgive ourselves and others. It facilitates our ability to walk through life with an “other-oriented” state of mind.

Ellyse Perry is one of our most accomplished Australian athletes. Despite numerous career cricket and soccer records she cites her most significant career highlight as witnessing the progress of women’s sport in recent years.

This humble response is typical Perry. Last year she launched her book Perspective, opening up about her own vulnerabilities. Perry notes she lacks confidence outside the sporting arena, away from the place she feels comfortable, prepared for and familiar with. She reminds us that when you throw your strengths and weaknesses together you have a proper person – it is empowering to accept yourself for who you are.

Like Freeman and Perry, the Class of 2020 have shown humility and resilience in challenging times. You have learnt to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, come to understand your strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Most importantly you have been other-oriented; your compassion and care for others evident in your actions.

We have all thought at times this year that a pandemic gets in the way of life and learning.

In actual fact, it challenged us to learn how to cope with adversity. To dig deep and focus on being good people rather than living good lives.

It helped us rediscover humanity.

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We’ve taken the setbacks of 2020 and now we dance with possibilities. We go forward with a renewed sense of purpose, our compassion recharged.

Class of 2020, none of us can know what you will do in the future. But we know what you’re capable of. We’ve seen you, virtually and in real life, wielding your power. And it is mighty. When you decide you’re here for something, the world will know it. When you decide time’s up, we will feel it. Your passion and power have been on full display. You have made a difference and will continue to do so.

Every class at Ruyton leaves a legacy, but the Class of 2020 will hold a unique place in our hearts. Radiance and Unity will always be the golden lining that bound the Ruyton community together in a broken year.

You will be remembered for your humility, resilience and fortitude.

You will always have a home at 12 Selbourne Road.

We are here when you need us.

Believe in yourselves as we believe in each of you.

Stay connected – your unity gives you strength.

Stay radiant – the sunshine is always inside you.

Thank you and good luck to you and your families from the Ruyton Community.

Linda Douglas Principal

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wellbeing

WELLBEING AT THE HEART At the start of this year, the Ruyton community enthusiastically returned to Selbourne Road and embraced the opportunity to reconnect and reintroduce the routines and rituals that make Ruyton so special to students, staff and families. Yet there was a sense of cautious optimism for this new school year as we knew the world in which we lived had changed. 2020 was to some extent a double edged sword. Whilst it presented us with complex challenges, it also offered us a unique opportunity to reflect on what really mattered and how we might move forward in providing optimum learning and wellbeing conditions for our students.

So in terms of the wellbeing of our students and community, what did we learn from 2020?

Below are four key areas that we believe to be great lessons learned from last year that will continue to guide our journey throughout 2021.

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PARENT ENGAGEMENT As the lines between home and school blurred last year, it reminded us all of the importance that these two domains of a student’s life are working and communicating in harmony.

This home/school partnership grew stronger in 2020 and we saw the benefit of a shared wellbeing language emerging. Such examples came from our virtual Powerful Parenting Seminar Series. This Seminar Series proved to be an invaluable support for families on two levels. Firstly the increased understanding they gained on critical wellbeing topics, as well as the ability to seamlessly combine their attendance with equally important home commitments. Additionally, our Total Wellbeing Parent Conference involved a variety of wellbeing presentations that allowed parents to select age-appropriate sessions and topics of specific interest to them and in supporting their daughters. Based on the overwhelming positive feedback and exceptionally high attendance, such events will continue to be available virtually in 2021.

MENTORING IN THE SENIOR SCHOOL The importance of maintaining strong connections and supportive relationships was certainly amplified in 2020 and it strengthened our commitment to the launching of a mentoring programme in the Senior School. The role of Mentors is to nurture and enhance the holistic growth and development of students within a ‘home base’ setting by creating a safe and inclusive environment where each student is valued, known and respected; interpersonal and personal skills are developed, and independence is nurtured. We are confident this new approach in supporting students will prove beneficial to both their holistic wellbeing and their academic pursuits.

the ruyton reporter

AN EXPLICIT WELLBEING CURRICULUM IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

LEARNING DISPOSITIONS IN THE SENIOR SCHOOL

Whilst wellbeing has always taken pride of place within the Ruyton Junior School, prior to 2021 this often occured implicitly through daily interactions and classroom routines and rituals.

The need for the development of an explicit wellbeing programme became evident in 2020 and work commenced on creating a programme with more intentionality in building specific wellbeing skills, concepts and resources for our students. The programme aims to translate current research and best practice in developmentally appropriate ways and in 2021, we hope that our Ruyton community will see that achieving wellbeing is more like learning an instrument. Something we dedicate time and effort to so that over time we build and practice the skills and concepts of wellbeing.

Hence, this year in the Junior School we have allocated a dedicated wellbeing session each week.

2020 also highlighted the need to provide an agile and flexible learning environment whilst at the same time recognising the importance of supporting the holistic wellbeing of students.

Both endeavours, which underpin our Powerful Learning strategy, are co-dependent and the success experienced in one directly impacts the success of the other. We now are certain that if students are to be successful learners they need to be adaptable, independent and able to embrace challenges; all while learning within a supportive and safe environment.

The importance of these learning dispositions was amplified when we moved to a Distance Learning model with our student data revealing that these dispositions were linked with students who self-reported that they were coping with the new challenges. External research also showed us that the most successful learners displayed strong emotional intelligence and in particular high levels of resilience and perseverance. It is for this reason that we will continue to focus on this in the Senior School.

It is said that many good things can emerge from adversity and we like to think that whilst the challenges were certainly there, we also had the unique opportunity to really reflect on what effective wellbeing support should like in the future.

Trish Hatzis Director of Wellbeing Jahanna Parry Junior School Wellbeing Advisor

autumn 2021

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teaching and learning

BLENDED LEARNING Whilst 2020 was a year of challenges, it was also a year of growth; one where we capitalised on the potential of technology to improve learning and provide students with a range of unique opportunities.

It’s true that 2020 was a year of firsts for our teachers, students and parents, a time when we tackled learning away from the physical school and achieved so much that we could not conceive prior to the disruption of the global pandemic. It helped us experience first-hand the benefits of learning online, and at the same time emphasised the joy and value of physical, face-to-face interactions with students. It was through this experience that our understanding of the importance of a ‘blended’ approach to learning and teaching; a combination of online and face-to-face learning, deepened.

Exploring the benefits of blended learning had been a priority at Ruyton for a number of years prior to this experience, and in 2019, Learning Leaders across the School had embarked on a project to explore research-based approaches to improving learning and teaching with technology and develop a ‘blended learning’ vision at Ruyton. This work continued throughout 2020, with Learning Leaders taking time to delve deeper into blended learning by undertaking online professional development offered by Harvard University Graduate School of Education and working with a digital learning consultant specialising in blended and online learning.

It was certainly an interesting time to continue with this work as we were unable to gather face-to-face, and in many ways, the perfect time! Our lived experience of working and collaborating at a distance brought new perspectives and insights to blended learning.

By the end of 2020, the leaders of learning in the School had developed a shared vision of what blended learning means and could look like for students from Early Learning to Senior School. It’s a vision that places the student at the centre of learning; a landscape where teachers blend the power of physical, face-toface interactions and the benefits of technology to support learners to reach their full potential in age-appropriate ways.

Our blended learning vision is about more than enhancing learning with technology.

Blended learning at Ruyton is underpinned by our Learning and Teaching philosophy and Learning Pillars. Our blended learning approach provides opportunities for choice, flexibility and experiential learning, and supports our girls to be independent and collaborative learners who connect, explore, discover and create.

So what’s next? We emerge from a tumultuous 2020 committed to empowering teachers and students to move from crisis to consolidating our blended learning vision. This year, Learning Leaders will spearhead a professional learning programme across the School, supporting teachers to apply an action research approach to explore how we can effectively embed blended learning in our practice. Student feedback will play a critical role as we reflect on and refine our approaches to blended learning, ensuring that we continue to change, adapt and evolve as a community of learners.

Sylvia Guidara Digital Learning Consultant

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the ruyton reporter

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS We are currently seeking community members who possess a range skills and capacities, to enhance the provision of learning programmes and opportunities within the School.

Volunteers will be considered for guest speaking and mentoring roles or may be able to provide work experience to students, for example.

Interested individuals are asked to contact Sally de Guingand on email deguingands@ruyton.vic.edu.au to register their details. autumn 2021

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curiosity

RUYTON EARLY LEARNING CULTIVATING A CULTURE OF CURIOSITY AND WONDER INDOORS AND OUT Over the past couple of years, Ruyton Early Learning staff have been engaging in various professional learning sessions and research projects to explore how we create a culture of curiosity, thinking, wonder and research through our work with and alongside our youngest students.

Learning with and from nature and working in the outdoors has been a key focus of the pedagogy and practice at Ruyton Early Learning. This year staff in Early Learning have examined the values that underpin learning in the outdoors and reflected on how our environment authentically and consistently reflects how we see children as learners, how it affords opportunities for agency and how it enables a culture of curiosity and inquiry.

With the support of educational consultant Kirsty Liljegren, we have explored outdoor pedagogy and practice; the role of the teacher; and the purpose and value of materials and loose parts in learning environments. Together, we have taken a deep dive into these ideas and linked this work to our learning teaching philosophy and our image of the child as a learner. Over time our outdoor spaces are taking a refreshed focus, as we fix our gaze on how we can enable opportunities for intentional teaching, creating a culture of thinking and make links to curriculum beyond the four walls of the classroom.

research or inquiry they are doing at the time.

So far this year these tools have been utilised by the children to search for ladybirds, get a close look at worms and how they work, and investigate and design ways to attract more birds to our garden. Our range of open-ended ‘intelligent’ materials provoke a sense of wonder, enable possibilities for creativity and encourage complex and abstract thinking as the children work collaboratively to imagine, construct and invent.

Looking to the future, Early Learning is excited to re-connect with our School community through our weekly School walks and specialist lessons and re-commencing our Community Walks signature programme for Pre Prep. These opportunities outside of Early Learning not only provide possibilities for connection and relationship building with people and place, but help extend the thinking and research the children are participating in the classroom. We intentionally craft these opportunities and experiences to learn in our outdoor spaces and community environment so our youngest learners have ample opportunities to connect with, learn about and contribute to the world around them, not forgetting a sense of wonder and joy along the way.

Sarah Denholm Director of Early Learning

Staff have created new ways to enable a culture of curiosity outdoors, introducing tools and equipment children can access to be explorers of the world around them.

Binoculars, magnifying glasses, microscopes, iPads and other tools are a feature of our outdoor learning programme, with students invited to select the tools they need for the 20

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character

Meggie Palmer

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY Uniting under the UN Women banner for International Women’s Day 2021, #womenlead, our Senior School International Women’s Day Committee prepared a series of wonderful events in early March for our community to celebrate this important event on the global calendar.

At Senior School Assembly students drew on the resources of the UN Women Australia’s 2021 IWD live streamed event, particularly the message of Yasmin Poole. An award-winning speaker, writer and youth advocate, Yasmin is Plan International's National Ambassador and champions the importance of young women being heard in Australia's political conversations. She has also appeared on prominent television programmes such as Q+A, The Drum and The Project. As Young Influencer of the Year 2021, Yasmin urged our students to choose to challenge ourselves, each other and our institutions to address gender inequality at its roots. She drew on her experiences and that of many other marginalised women to highlight the manner in which women have for too long been forcefully excluded from the shaping of Australia. Yasmin urged her audience to take all women seriously, to choose to challenge each other and our institutions.

She encouraged all women to take control of their personal narrative, as she has in the face of adversity. Poole challenged the entire community to ‘chip away at the roots of gender inequality’ in order to ‘grow together’. Her final image, a ‘forest of freedom for all’, was an uplifting vision of the future; a vision set to inspire our community.

This message of combating gender inequality and working together to action genuine change was echoed at our 2021 Ruyton UN International Women’s Day Breakfast by special guest keynote speaker, Meggie Palmer. A former journalist and now social advocate for gender equality, Meggie is the founder of PepTalkHer, a global tech company with a mission to close the gender pay gap. Drawing on her own personal experiences working in the media, Meggie spoke to the assembled audience of Senior School students, their mothers and other women from our community about the importance of knowing your worth, learning from mistakes and choosing to challenge societal norms. Reminding the girls about the power of the individual, she implored the girls to speak up in instances of inequality and understand that any action of courage, however small, still has the ability to contribute to broader social change. Meggie firmly believes in the power of story as a trigger for broader talking, sharing and normalising in society, for ‘when no one talks about it, nothing is done’.

Inciting the girls to speak up and get involved, Meggie was resolute. ‘Our voice and our stories and the most important tools we have’.

Our International Women’s Day Student Committee was honoured and inspired to work with these two influential and inspirational women and has taken strength from their powerfully simple messages.

Lauren Perfect Deputy Principal – Head of Senior School Brigid Steele Marketing and Publications Manager FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.yasminpoole.com www.meggiepalmer.com

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COMMUNITY Grandmother and Grandson A RUYTON FAMILY STORY Doreen Dempster (McMillan, 1942) was ‘thrilled to bits’ to hear her grandson Rolly had accepted a teaching job at Ruyton.

Having arrived at Selbourne Road as a boarder in 1938, Doreen has since seen her sister Jennifer Coller (McMillan, 1952), daughter Amanda Hannemann (Dempster, 1975) and nieces (Edwina 1979, Sarah 1982 and Abigail Coller 1986, Jill 1967, Kate 1970 and Rebecca McMillan 1980) educated at the School. Rolly’s appointment in 2020 has carried the family connection to Ruyton into another generation of her family tree.

Bringing his 96-year-old grandmother back to School for a visit in early February, grandmother and grandson walked arm in arm as Rolly guided Doreen through the buildings and grounds. With a soft voice and a sharp mind, Doreen directed parts of the tour through the familiar and unchanged, briefly commenting that some rooms in Henty House seemed smaller than her childhood memory had recorded them. Stopping under the dappled shade of the fig tree with the chatter and noise of recess around them, Doreen looked across the oval and then up at Rolly with a big smile.

back to Ruyton for another week of learning.

Playing basketball, baseball and a keen runner, Doreen was awarded colours on her blazer pocket for her contribution to Sport. She still holds that pocket in her possession today.

Doreen has clear memory of her Principal Miss Daniell being a lovely lady, ‘incredibly kind and thoughtful… She was a really fine woman’.

The students called her Dream behind her back, but never to her face. Doreen isn’t sure how this nickname came about – it just was. Miss Daniell had dinner with the boarders every night at 6pm in what is now the Reception Room.

‘We always had evening prayer and a student play on the piano. I was not a musician and used to choose “Peace, Perfect Peace” when my turn came as it was very slow and simple. I am still sure everybody cringed!’. Sitting at the head of the table, Miss Daniell would always carve the meat and pass each plate around to Miss Barnes to serve the vegetables, who would then pass each plate around the table until every girl was served. ‘I am sure our meal was cold by the time we ate, not that we minded at all… I thought the food was excellent’.

Doreen only remembers being ‘very, very happy’ at Ruyton. Her classmates were ‘a very fine bunch of girls’, many of whom she has kept in touch with through her adult life. Sleeping in ‘the nursery’ and at times on the balcony in white cast iron beds, her memories are of being cared for by the house matron Miss Barnes and teacher Miss Gregson (who would tap on the bedroom door at night when she heard the girls gossiping past lights out, ‘come on girls, it is time for sleep!’), academic classes and dancing lessons with the Trinity boys. Sundays were for church. Wearing tailored jackets, the boarders would walk in crocodile (pairs) to Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Kew, and then 22

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Describing herself as a weak student, Doreen left Ruyton in 1940 to become a nurse. Raising three children with her husband, a dentist, Doreen later obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University. Now with grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren, Doreen’s time at Ruyton has been passed over with life experience and time. Her memories are fragmented, but strong feelings remain.

Asked what made Ruyton special in 1938, Doreen paused. ‘I just always remember being happy here’.

One of Doreen’s favourite memories of her time as a boarder is Miss Daniell’s annual ghost story evening. Bouncing down the stairs and into the Principal’s Study, the girls would be entertained with tales of the Henty brothers haunting the halls of Henty House after dark. After delighting the audience with her storytelling, Miss Daniell would toast crumpets over the fireplace for her guests. This intimate treat was a delight for the boarders, many living far from home, and provided them with a personal insight into Miss Daniell’s warmth and humour.

Rolly knew his family had a connection to Ruyton but wasn’t aware why it was so special. ‘From my first day I was supported and made to feel so welcome. What they say about community here is true. Dore’s experience 80 years ago is similar to mine – that part of Ruyton has stayed the same’.

Brigid Steele Marketing and Publications Manager

The adjustment to life at Ruyton after spending her childhood in the small country town of Mansfield was easy, ‘I was happy to come, I did as my parents told me’. Waiting until the height of the 1937 polio epidemic had passed, and city life was safer, Doreen travelled by a number of interchanging buses to arrive in Kew. Having been referred to Ruyton by the Adams family who had sent their daughter Beryl (Neely, 1937) now aged 100, to board at the School some years earlier, Doreen was warmly welcomed by her fellow students, Miss Daniell, Miss Gregson and Miss Barnes. ‘I just went along with it all.

I got up in the morning, did what I was told and fell into the routine… I didn’t have any complaints about Ruyton at all’.

autumn 2021

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community

Leontine Hass (1986) A LIFE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

Chatting over Zoom from her country house in the South Downs of England, conversation with Leontine Hass (1986) quickly turns to COVID. Leaving London to bunker down with her partner and a blended family of four adult children and a couple of their partners, Leontine’s experience of living through the pandemic is starkly different to what we have endured in Australia. She caught COVID last April, her daughters have both had it twice.

When her daughter’s boyfriend fell ill a couple of weeks ago, Leontine worried she would fall ill again. The virus has devastated London and decimated the arts industry in which she works. Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia have both closed on the West End and many performing arts industry professionals are having to sell their houses to survive. Leontine knows ‘we will have a renaissance, but there will be people who cannot come back from this’.

Leontine has endured challenging times before. Arriving in Australia from Germany in 1981, she was enrolled to start Year 7 at Ruyton without a word of English. The School had been recommended by her new stepfather’s mother Eileen Stewardson (Logan, 1927), whom Leontine remembers fondly as her ‘surrogate grandmother’ and ‘a beautiful woman’.

Attending Ruyton from 1916–1927, Eileen was a member of Anderson House, a prefect, Editor of the Ruytonian and Dux of her graduating year. With a scholarship to the University of Melbourne, Eileen studied philosophy, obtaining an Honours degree and an MA. Attending the Australian Teachers’ Training Institute, before teaching at St Margaret’s School and PLC; Eileen finished work when she married Harold Stewardson in 1937. Taking a ‘very shy and very thin’ Leontine who was ‘dreadful at school’ under her wing, Eileen guided and supported the little girl’s transition to Ruyton and as an English speaker with trips to the Cotham 24

Cake Shop after school to buy little sponge cakes with pink and white icing, an especially sweet memory.

Attending Ruyton was a turning point in Leontine’s life. From a family of academics, doctors and lawyers, Leontine found her passion for the performing arts under the tutelage of Miles Maxwell, Vicky Watson and Tessa Leonard. Miles ‘definitely inspired me. He was a really important figure’ and Vicky was the most ‘wonderful vocal teacher’. ‘I played the harp. I sang. I got involved’. With memories of performing in the Royce Theatre in orchestras, the Madrigals and in a musical production of The Mikado, she also played hockey and ran cross country, ‘I had the best time’. After struggling at school in Germany, ‘I did really well at Ruyton. It was a complete turnaround. I just flourished there’. Voted Drama Captain in Year 12, Leontine speaks of her Senior School years with warmth and feeling. ‘At Ruyton I was nurtured, and I was noticed. I was treated as if I had a special talent and it completely turned my life around’.

Moving to London at 21 for post-graduate study at The Royal Academy of Music, after completing an Arts Degree at Melbourne University and a further Music Degree at the Victorian College of the Arts, Leontine’s career took off after working as a waitress for Ruth (Ruthie) Rogers and Rose Grey at The River Café in Hammersmith. Singing everything from opera, musical theatre and jazz songs as she chopped vegetables and herbs with the other wait staff before service, Ruthie saw Leontine’s passion and her potential. She had Leontine perform at glitterati parties and introduced her to important people in the UK arts scene; Leontine was offered a role on Broadway by Harold Pinter during this time.

the ruyton reporter

In turn, Ruthie and Rose inspired Leontine with their entrepreneurial spirit and ability to get things done. Juggling two small children and undiagnosed chronic asthma, Leontine was working one day when Ruthie grabbed her and slipped a piece of paper into her hand.

It contained a cheque for £1,000 and a note saying, ‘this is for your singing lessons’. Ruthie also booked Leontine into her own personal doctor for an appointment to address the chronic asthma, which severely limited her vocally and required hospitalisation.

Never finding a teacher able to factually help Leontine through her vocal issues, she moved ‘more and more towards teaching’ and established Associated Studios. Now a leading British Drama school with an Australian campus in Melbourne, Associated Studios offers rigorous training in singing, music, acting and dance for students seeking professional careers in musical theatre. Guests for masterclasses have included Jeremy Irons, Patrick Stewart and Hugh Grant; notable alumni have worked across the stage and screen. Leontine loves working with people and being able to provide the technical training she was never able to find for herself. ‘I teach my students not to need me.

I teach them to be independent, to understand their instrument, their psychology, how to be their best. That is what I do’.

Despite the UK arts industry plunging into crisis, Leontine has continued to successfully manage Associated Studios throughout COVID. Recognising the importance of human connection, she has not put all her classes on Zoom. Consulting with her students, Leontine has minimised daily online contact hours, and semester dates have been extended to account for the extenuating circumstances around the pandemic. ‘It is not perfect, but at least we have done our best to give them the best possible experience at this difficult time’.

Leontine’s students are part of her company.

They have agency, are treated with respect and feel a sense of belonging as a result. ‘I’m really aware of how important it is to connect with students personally. Teachers can make such a difference to your life’. Nurturing, believing in and supporting her students, in the same way she herself was at school, ‘I point out to students that they have a talent, they have control over their talent and can do something with it. That is definitely something I learned from Ruyton’.

Brigid Steele Marketing and Publications Manager

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.leontinehass.com www.associatedstudios.co.uk www.associatedstudios.com.au autumn 2021

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community

25 Years of Service

A reflection on 25 years of service to the Ruyton community by Tanya Cockwill, PE and Junior School teacher from 1996.

I have to admit that 25 years has snuck up on me, just a little!

It is quite unimaginable to be accepting an award for 25 years of service.

In no way does it feel like I have been teaching at Ruyton for 25 years.

I think this is because I love what I do. It is as simple as that.

I have been so very fortunate to have been mentored and inspired by the most talented, and very strong role models, during my time at Ruyton.

I started at Ruyton as a PE teacher in just my second year of teaching. I still remember to this day, finding every opportunity I could, to watch Louisa Burbury teach her Junior School classes, whether they be on the oval or in the gym.

I would watch her through the PE office glass windows, taking it all in.

Lou has a presence, she has the biggest heart, and she earned my respect very quickly. She supported me, she encouraged me and she challenged me. She took me under her wing and played an instrumental role in shaping me as a teacher, in my early years at Ruyton.

It was also during this time that Linda Douglas became a very important part of my learning journey and development as a teacher.

Her passion for curriculum, for teaching and learning, and her leadership, inspired my interest and love, too, for seeking and documenting best practice. I, too, remember, representing the PE Department at many Junior School curriculum meetings and being in awe, as Linda led professional learning.

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It was Linda and Lou’s connection and interaction with the girls they taught, the fun they created, their expertise, their hard work, their passion and their love of teaching, that gave me such a special introduction to Ruyton.

They showed me the standard, they modelled the Ruyton values. I learned and continue to learn, so much from them both.

It was about six years later, that Lee Wills, the Head of the Junior School, at the time, asked me to consider taking on the role of a Year 6 classroom teacher.

This marked the beginning of a change in direction, and another very special connection.

It was from this point, and to this day, that Lee’s support, wise counsel and care have played a pivotal role in my aspirations as a classroom teacher, in the various leadership roles I have occupied, and in life, in general.

As soon as you appeared in the doorway of Lee’s office, she stopped what she was doing, no matter what, and welcomed you in.

She listened. Moreover, she offered the best assortment of chocolates from the bottom drawer of her filing cabinet. Lee holds a special place in many of our hearts at Ruyton, still to this day.

It is hard to capture in words, to describe the ‘special sense or feeling’ that is simply Ruyton.

That has ensured my longevity.

It is an energy. It is a smile. It is a warmth. It is pride. It is a hug. It is caring. It is belonging. It is safe. And as Linda reminded me just recently, it is family.

It is the people who call Ruyton home that make it so special. It is all of you.

My school day always begins with meeting Cameron somewhere along the path as I make my way up to the Junior School. ‘Good morning Tanya’ is his greeting. We share stories, catch up the ruyton reporter

on family happenings and always part ways with, have a great day!

It is… The life-long friendships, the laughter, the tears, the fun and the trust.

And there, too, is Danyang. We, more often than not, arrive at school at the same time.

Always vibrant, Danyang’s warmth, care and energy, simply put a smile on my face.

And finally, it is the girls that we are so very lucky to teach. Where to begin?

It is a wave from the other side of the oval from Ange Allen.

It is Gary Mark, doing his morning walk around the Junior School learning studios, always stopping by to say good morning, and to check that we are okay.

It is Elizabeth Blumbergs whose warmth you connect to with ease, when you visit the study.

It is Jane Koenig whose smile and kindness is appreciated by us all in the Junior School.

It is Fran Johnson and Sonja Horbelt, with whom I reminisce, whenever we cross paths.

It is Liz Barry, who always asks ‘What can I do to help?’ What would we do without her?

It is Cate Hallpike’s ability to tell a story, her passion for teaching and her care.

And my school day ends with Ryan and Luke, who insist on walking me to my car after an evening of Parent Teacher Interviews or to carry my bag, laden with books.

It is… Our most beautiful, most magnificent Moreton Bay Fig Tree. Her heavy and widereaching branches filled with the singing of magpies, that greets me every morning. She stands so tall and so proudly, watching over us all.

It is… The singing of the Irish Blessing that bids farewell to our Year 12 girls. It is such a sacred and precious tradition. As we stand as a School to sing it, there is not a year that goes by, that I don’t find myself shedding a tear. And this year was no exception.

It is… Those Year 12 girls. Thu Luu. Melanie Clarke. Lucinda Church. Isabelle Alexandrakis.

Mia Carbone.

Just a selection of the Class of 2020 that I taught in Year 4.

It is…

Their energy.

Their curiosity and wonder.

Their enthusiasm.

Their love of learning.

Their ability to tell a story.

Their sense of fun.

All of our girls are special and teaching them fills me with such joy.

It is all of these things, and the many stories and memories, that have captured my heart and ensured my longevity. Yes, there have been challenges. It would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

This year, we have shared our homes, we have shared our teaching practice in a way I liken to a fish bowl and we have shared Seesaw Sundays – Jo Milic!

We have shared our strength, our vulnerability and our exhaustion.

And never before, after the inconceivable year we all experienced in 2020, together – apart, have I felt such a sense of pride to be a part of the Ruyton community.

Thank you.

Tanya Cockwill Junior School Teacher

It is… The most incredibly hard-working, caring and talented leaders and teachers in the Junior School, with whom I have had, and continue to have, the privilege of working alongside. Their dedication and humility is inspiring.

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PARENTS OF RUYTON (POR) 2020 was a year like no other and one that definitely challenged us to think differently and be more inventive in our approach to events and community building! Despite the challenges, there were many positive outcomes which came from those hurdles and our need to think differently.

As Melbourne went into lockdown we needed to move the POR and Year Level Representative meetings online. This actually allowed for record numbers to attend, as previously many working parents juggled to attend meetings with work. Such positive feedback has come from these Zoom calls that moving forward we are going to look at having a balance between physical and virtual meetings, to ensure more members of our community can be involved.

Clearly 2020 threw us some curve balls and despite not being able to hold any events, the POR still found a way to ensure people connected. Community is so central to the POR that last year we launched a cookbook called exactly that Community. The book is a culmination of months of work by a dedicated team and contributions from the far reaching community of past and present students, teachers and family that Ruyton has built over many decades.

The cookbook features treasured, tried and true family recipes, many of which have been brought to life by the beautiful food styling and photography of Claudia Anton. Samantha Robertson did a phenomenal job designing the book alongside the help of Sharron Maher, Jenny Woollard and the Community Relations team. Proofreaders played an integral role in producing the final product. Thanks to Amanda Aitkin, Jen Alexander, Kylie Harrison, Domenica Lamont, Sue McLeish, Helen Moss, Kate Robertson, Karina Woolrich, Melinda Gray and Melissa Haberfield.

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2021 has started well with many committee members and Parent Representatives assisting the School at the Senior School Parent Welcome Function held at the start of Term 1. The night was a great success with many new and familiar parents in attendance. It was so lovely to see so many people finally back together and the evening was a buzz of excitement as parents reconnected after what felt like a period of hibernation.

The POR is excited about the number of new parents expressing an interest to get involved and lend a hand across the broad range of groups which fall under the umbrella of the POR. We have some new team members in the second hand uniform store (SHUS), who have been working hard to organise and grade the abundance of uniforms delivered by the community to put back into circulation.

Alongside SHUS there are lots of other opportunities to get involved through the POR, with something for everyone including Year Level Representatives, FORPA (Performing Arts), Questers who organise the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stalls and sewing of smocks, the Care Group which provides meals to families at the School in need, Henty Rowing and Ruyton Velo.

Like many things in life, you get out of it what you put in, and we warmly encourage all of the families at Ruyton to be involved as we know you will end up gaining so much from the experience, it is also a great way to support your daughter(s).

Equally we would like to thank everyone for their continued support and for making the POR such a rewarding group to be involved in.

Melissa Haberfield and Annabel Dundas POR Co-Presidents

the ruyton reporter

Welcome Events for 2021 Despite postponements due to inclement weather and the snap lockdown in February, Welcome Events were finally held for the Senior School and then Early Learning and Junior School parents over two nights in mid-Term 1.

Having been unable to host parents onsite due to social restrictions for most of 2020, it was wonderful to be able to bring people together onsite again. The joy and cheer was palpable!

CALLING ALL PAST PARENTS Being part of the Ruyton community is something special and it shouldn’t have to stop when your daughter finishes her schooling. Currently we are creating a new Association for keeping our past parents connected with all things Ruyton!

Please let us know if you would like to be involved in our inaugural group and contact community@ruyton.vic.edu.au.

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parents of ruyton

Community the cookbook

CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE This recipe has been handed down from my great-grandmother and is the birthday cake of choice in our family. If you prefer a plain sponge, then just leave out the cocoa powder.

X cup cornflour 1 tbs custard powder 2 tbs self-raising flour W cup Dutch cocoa V tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp cream of tartar 4 eggs X cup of caster sugar Whipped cream to serve Strawberries or raspberries to serve (optional) Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 2x20cm diameter round cake tins with butter and line the bottom of each with baking paper.

Combine all the dry ingredients, except for the sugar, and sift three times.

The idea of a Ruyton cookbook has been floating around for some time. Investigation revealed that Ruyton had produced cookbooks in the past with titles such as Oh’ for a Ruyton Wiffe! When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year and we were forced into lockdown, people were cooking at home like never before. It seemed like the perfect time for the POR to bring a new cookbook to fruition.

Ruyton prides itself on the strength of its School community and new families often comment on the warmth of the welcome they receive. Community felt like an apt title for the cookbook as a result! With over 180 recipes, this publication contains generations of favourite meals, dinner table conversations and celebrations with family and friends.

Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff. Gradually add the sugar, then the egg yolks one at a time. Add the dry ingredients and beat until combined.

Bake for 20–25 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the tins and cool on wire racks.

To make one double sponge, put one cake upside down on a serving plate, spread whipped cream on top, then top with the other cake. You may also like to add strawberries or raspberries to the cream. Dust with icing sugar. SERVES 10.

Sue McLeish Mother of Jemima (Year 10) and Sophie (2017)

In a project this size, special thanks must be given to the Cookbook Committee, the editors, the proof-readers and of course the tasters! Thank you also to Claudia Anton (@thesugarologist) who embraced the task of cooking, styling and photographing the dishes – her touch elevating the publication to something extraordinary.

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the ruyton reporter

FOUNDATION It gives me great pleasure to announce Peter Nelson as the new Chair of the Ruyton Foundation.

A strong advocate for parents in the School since his family joined Ruyton in 2014, Peter’s two daughters Isabelle and Lottie are students in the Junior School. A member of the Ruyton Foundation Committee since 2017, Peter brings a strong professional and financial skill set to the role, having spent close to 20 years working as an investment banker.

After four years as Chair of the Ruyton Foundation, Fiona Griffiths is stepping down from the Foundation, but will remain a member of the Ruyton Board. A passionate and dedicated member of the School community, Fiona will be remembered for nurturing a culture of philanthropy at Ruyton and raising the importance of fundraising in the community during her tenure. Instrumental in establishing and raising funds for the Founder’s Scholarship, I want to take this opportunity to thank Fiona for her meaningful and significant contribution to our School through the Foundation.

The work of the Ruyton Foundation is essential.

It creates advancement for all at Ruyton with opportunities for our girls today, and those to come tomorrow. Anyone seeking additional information about the Foundation and philanthropy at Ruyton is invited to contact Sally de Guingand, Director of Community Engagement for more information deguingands@ruyton.vic.edu.au.

Building on Fiona’s legacy, Peter takes the role of Chair with intention to continue with the work that has been achieved, including the anticipated capital campaign to redevelop the Royce Theatre and Foundation building into a performing arts and library resource centre.

I have every faith the Foundation Committee will continue to grow and strengthen under Peter’s leadership and look forward to working closely with him in the future.

Virginia McLaughlan President, The Ruyton Board

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BEQUESTS Micky Ashton: seated, bottom right

The Moreton Bay Fig Society was established in 2018 in conjunction with Ruyton’s 140th Anniversary. The Society honours all of our benefactors who have chosen to support the School directly through a gift in their will.

We are incredibly grateful to the following Old Ruytonians whose bequest will forever support Ruyton and its girls.

SALLY DEAN (1970) A long time Ruyton girl, Sally was a student for 13 years and remains very connected to the School today. Sally has been both a member of the ORA Committee, including a period as President and a School Board member since leaving in 1970. She recently attended her 50 Year (belated) reunion in March 2021.

MICKEY ASHTON (MARSHALL, 1965) Both Micky and her daughter Cathy Ashton (1995) attended Ruyton for seven years. Micky volunteers with Ruyton’s Archivist (when Covid-19 permits). Ruyton’s archives are housed in Wardynski’s House which was bequeathed to the School by a generous neighbour.

‘I enjoyed my school days, all 13 years, the friendships made have endured. I have had a close relationship with Ruyton and can see how committed the staff are to their girls.

The goal to bring each student to be the best she can, appeals to me, rather than pure academic excellence. By not being a purely academic driven school, the range of student abilities enhances their experiences. This is why I have made a bequest in my will.’

‘I have been working for four years as a volunteer in the Ruyton Archives with Cathy Dodson the Archivist. I decided to leave a modest bequest to be used specifically by the Archivist as there are many projects that could be done if we only had more money. As a former professional librarian and archivist I know the value of archives and I am happy to think my bequest might play a small part in furthering the work of the Archives.’

SUE A’BECKETT (VAUTIER, 1962) A boarder and passionate Old Ruytonian, Sue is a member of the Moreton Bay Fig Society Committee. She was a prefect in 1963, the same year that the inaugural boarders’ dance was held, and a television purchased for boarders as a gift by the School Council.

‘Having been a boarder at Ruyton from the age of nine, I have many happy memories of my home in Henty House beside the Moreton Bay Fig tree. These memories are shared by my life-long friends from those years. I am pleased to leave a gift through the Moreton Bay Fig Society in the hope that the historic features of Ruyton will be maintained in the future.’

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FIONA GRIFFITHS (1987) A past student and current parent, Fiona is a huge supporter of Ruyton. She is past Foundation Chair, a current School Board member and sits on the Moreton Bay Fig Society committee. Fiona’s sister Dr Leonie Griffiths (1986) also attended Ruyton.

‘Providing gifts from my estate to the people and institutions that have played a significant role in the journey of my life gives me immense satisfaction. Ruyton gave me the grounding for a career in the law, friends who I will cherish all my life, a belief I could do anything and a wonderful community for my daughter to thrive and learn in. I know my gift will play a role in securing the future of our great School’.

If you are considering leaving a bequest to Ruyton Girls’ School, please contact Kate Nixon confidentially on (03) 9290 9345 or email nixonk@ruyton.vic.edu.au. the ruyton reporter

Sue a’Beckett: Second from left

Sally Dean: front row, far right

ROBYN KANAT (BATE, 1980) Robyn is the President of the Moreton Bay Fig Society and a Ruyton girl through and through. Her sister Wendy Bull (Bate, 1975), both daughters Zoe (2011) and Sarah (2014) and niece Clare Bull (2004) are Old Ruytonians.

‘Ruyton Girls’ School has been a major part of my life, and still is. For me, the importance of girls’ education and the empowering of women is something which my parents also felt passionate about. As a family, we recognise the importance and power of philanthropy. I want to give back to Ruyton as a way of saying thank you and so that it can remain as a strong school, meeting the needs of girls and empowering them to be their best for future generations.’

Fiona Griffiths: middle row, second from right

MARGARET SMITH OAM (INGRAM, 1965) Margaret was at Ruyton for two years, a boarder and in Anderson House. Margaret’s two girls attended Ruyton, Belinda Sharpe (Smith, 1991) and Natalie Langlands (Smith, 1994) and it appears her granddaughters may soon follow suit. Margaret received her Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to the community, particularly children and youth.

‘My small bequest to Ruyton will be given because I believe in girls receiving the best possible education, in both academic and co-curricular activities. I feel Ruyton gave me a solid foundation, positive outlook and strong work ethic to go forward in my career and I’m very grateful for those opportunities.’

JANE TEASDALE (1957) Jane was at Ruyton for three years, arriving in Year 7. She had the most wonderful time as a student and has many treasured memories and friends that she catches up with regularly.

‘My time at Ruyton allowed me the opportunity to pursue my musical studies and my Bequest reflects very much upon this fact. It gives me great pleasure to do this in the hope that another student will benefit.’

Margaret Smith: second row from the top, fifth from left

Jane Teasdale: standing, left

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Robyn Bate: third from right, seated row

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archives

FLORENCE WAY CAMPBELL AN ALUMNA OF FIRSTS

An unexpected phone call first drew my attention to a volume in Ruyton’s large collection of historic book prizes. ‘There’s a gentleman who would like to see a book he donated to Ruyton in 1996,’ I was told. ‘It was his grandmother’s. Could you give him a call?’

A few days, and a phone conversation later, I met John and Rose Downer in Henty House.

Between us on the table sat a nineteenthcentury, leather bound book, The Works of William Shakespeare. Carefully opening the cover, we all admired the beautiful deep-red marbled endpapers and the elegant prize plate pasted in the centre. Early Principal Eliza Bromby’s handwritten inscription confirmed that this was indeed the prize presented to John Downer’s paternal grandmother, a boarder at Ruyton, ‘Awarded to Florrie Campbell, Dux Prize … [signed] E.M. Bromby, Xmas 1888.’ We talked for a time about Florence. Ruyton’s records of its earliest years are so scant that initially she seemed simply a name but as John outlined some of her life, she took shape in my mind.

The ‘Florrie’ of our inscription was Florence Way Campbell. She came from a prominent family in Adelaide, her father Allan Campbell an eminent doctor and politician and her mother’s brother Samuel Way, the Chief Justice of South Australia for 40 years. In adult life she married Frederick Downer, whose family has produced four generations of South Australian politicians. How had she come to be at Ruyton in 1888, I wondered, given the School was only ten years old at the time, and in another colony from her own? There was a clue in something else John told me about her; Florence Campbell was a gifted pianist and intensely musical.

My curiosity caught, I had to find out more about her.

1 C hronicle, (Adelaide, South Australia), 25 December 1897, p20 2 A ustralische Zeitung (Adelaide, South Australia), 17 November 1886, p6

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Later, thanks to the Downers’ visit, I open Miss Daniell’s Book, (the name given to Ruyton’s first enrolment register,) and am able to read the very first entry with new understanding. Begun

by Eliza Bromby when she took over as Principal in 1888, it tells me that Florence Campbell, child of ‘Dr Campbell’ in Adelaide attended Ruyton in that year, departing in December. Elsewhere the name Florence Campbell sits among the first names on the Dux of the School honour board.

Together with Florence’s book prize, I have now exhausted everything the School Archives have to share on Florence Campbell.

Historic newspapers are where I turn next.

Family notices and other brief mentions help fill out Florence’s story, but two key articles really bring her to life. My first discovery delights me.

It is a short article in Adelaide’s Chronicle, 1897, entitled ‘A Clever Musician.’ 1 ‘Miss F.W. Campbell’, it reports, ‘was the recipient of the degree of Bachelor of Music’ at the University of Adelaide.

‘Miss Campbell whose whole course of study has been marked by conspicuous ability, is the first lady who as attained to this high honor (sic) in Australia.’ I’m gratified to be able to count a trailblazer like Florence among the earliest Ruytonians, and, because there is a line drawing of Miss Campbell sitting above the article, now I even know what she looks like! Calculating that she would have been 27 years old at the time, my glee is somewhat tempered by wondering about the social expectations Florence had to stare down in order to achieve her degree in that time and place. The clue is in the name, in that era Bachelor degrees were meant for men.

Images (left to right) 1 Florence Downer, c.1925. (private collection, supplied by the Downer family.)

2 In 1897 Florence Way Campbell was the first woman in Australia to achieve a Bachelor of Music. (University of Adelaide Archives http://hdl.handle.net/2440/89622) 3 Illustration of Florence Campbell 4 Florence Campbell was the first student listed when Eliza Bromby began an Enrolment Register in 1888.

the ruyton reporter

The second notable discovery is from another Adelaide newspaper, though this time it’s from 1886, and is in German. For South Australia’s significant German speaking population the Australische Zeitung reported on events across the country that had any Adelaide or local German connection. Amazingly, in 1886 they shared a glowing account of a Ruyton musical evening held at the Kew Recreation Hall by Frau James Anderson (known to us as Ruyton’s founder, Mrs Charlotte Anderson). 2 Among a guest list remarkable in both size, (400 people), and it’s prominent members, (the Governor’s wife Lady Loch was in attendance,) ‘Dr. Campbell from Adelaide’ was among the first listed. In the flower and foliage festooned hall, the students, all dressed in white, demonstrated their impressive musical skills in the performance of several classical pieces. Among them were ‘the two Frauline Campbell from Adelaide, noted for their usual … brilliant performance.’ Undoubtedly explaining the Australische Zeitung’s interest, the whole event was conducted by the German-born Herr Julius Herz, who was not only the ‘esteemed director of music’ for Ruyton’s small student population, but also a leading light in the music world of 19th century Melbourne.

My mind buzzes with all the information in this second article. When read in the knowledge of Florence’s later pioneering achievement in music it helps make sense of the questions raised when John Downer requested to see his grandmother’s prize book again. It is now clear that Florence Campbell attended Ruyton for at least three years from 1886–1888, and that for some of that time her older sister Jeanie Campbell was with her as a fellow boarder. Both of these discoveries extended the information contained in our own records about Ruyton’s earliest years. And the Campbell family’s choice of Ruyton, a school so far from their home? The 1886 article confirms that, though newly founded, Ruyton was already a place where the two Campbell daughters could be exposed to the experiences and education that would prepare them for an expected future among Adelaide’s most influential families.

But Ruyton offered them more than that. It was a place where Florence’s own musical talents could be nurtured under the care of a talented teacher and overseen by a Principal who created an environment of excellence.

In looking into Florence’s story, I’d come to learn so much more about the first decade of Ruyton itself, and of the woman who I hadn’t been researching at all: Ruyton’s founder Charlotte Anderson. Yet again I am impressed by the energy and ability that enabled her to transform a small gathering of children in the parlour of her rented Kew home in 1878, into a flourishing and well-respected school that was able to attract notable inter-Colonial students a mere eight years later. It is a testament to her.

Cathy Dodson Archivist

THE SILVER BATON In the winter of 1898, Florence Campbell performed as part of an all-female musical event held at ‘Torrens Park’, the grand Adelaide home of the Barr-Smith family. The Critic reported that for an audience of ‘the fair sex only’, a programme of music, songs and recitations were all performed by ladies, and that ‘Miss Florence Campbell’s conducting of Romberg’s Toy Symphony was excellently done.’ To commemorate the unusual event Mrs Joanna Barr-Smith gifted a silver baton to Florence, and it remains today in the care of her family.

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OLD RUYTONIANS’ ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT’S REPORT The ORA has a busy year ahead, with numerous events being rescheduled from last year and the resumption of our reunion programme. We are particularly looking forward to welcoming our newest members. As the Class of 2020 departed Ruyton, we at the ORA are excited to welcome a new group of young Old Girls to the fold. They overcame the greatest challenges and adversities faced by any Year 12 group in a generation to achieve remarkable academic success, both collectively and individually; a credit to each of them, and to their parents and teachers.

Pleasingly, the ORA is enjoying a period of strong financial performance, is now well positioned with new and enhanced governance and financial reforms, is more engaged with our membership than ever and our committee has implemented a purposeful, forward-leaning programme of work.

The current strategic focus of the ORA Committee centres on a core philosophy of modernising and growing our organisation and operations. Our renewed vision is to provide a rewarding, relevant and enjoyable avenue for Old Girls to stay connected, to network and to empower them in their professional lives, whilst also continuing to provide and administer bursaries and other support to Ruyton.

We are of course committed to increasing our organisational capacity, as well as the opportunity for more members to become involved in the operation and management of the ORA through the establishment of a subcommittee structure, which has now been established and is fully operational.

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We continue to grow our online community through RuytonORA, a networking platform made exclusively available for Old Ruytonians.

RuytonORA supports alumnae to re-connect with past classmates, establish professional networks and interest groups and employ or mentor Old Girls. This platform also enables ORA members to view RuytonORA events and reunions, photos and news. We encourage anyone who is yet to join the platform to do so at www.ruytonora.com.au.

At the ORA AGM in April, I thanked the 2020 ORA Committee for their contribution.

I particularly thank outgoing ORA Vice President Anna Truelove (Class of 2012) who has relocated to London and outgoing ORA Secretary Sarah Forbes (2012) who is standing down from the committee. Our thanks must also go to Andrea Fyfe (1989), who after 11 years of dedicated service as ORA Treasurer stepped down last year; we are grateful Andrea has remained on the general committee.

As part of our commitment to making it easier for Old Girls to engage through the ORA, we will provide for virtual attendance at our upcoming AGM. Finally, I was delighted to recently speak at the Year 12 Leadership and Academic Assembly and to present a gift to the 2021 School CoCaptains Zoe Boussioutas and Annie Timm.

Whilst we all were unable to sing along to our School song, I think every Old Girl will understand what I mean when I say it was nonetheless great to hear the stomping!

Phoebe Demiris (Tallent, 2003) President, Old Ruytonians’ Association

the ruyton reporter

ALUMNAE

WEDDINGS

BIRTHS

Heather Cunningham (2007)

Caitlin Bly (Davies, 2008) and her husband Sean welcomed their first daughter Charlotte Mairéad into the world on 1 July 2020.

Since leaving Ruyton, Heather completed a Bachelor of Product Design Engineering and moved to New Zealand in 2014, where she works for Fisher and Paykel Appliances as a Verification Engineer. Heather met CJ Marland through some mutual friends in 2013 and he followed her to New Zealand.

Heather and CJ were married at the Wattle Park Chalet, Surrey Hills in February 2020.

All the girls in the above photo are Old Ruytonians.

L-R: Joanna Clegg (2007), Anne Cunningham (2009), Kate Simondson (2018), Jane Cunningham (Simondson, 1978), Heather Cunningham (2007), Annie Looringh van Beeck (2007), Kelly D’Arcy (2007), Fiona Allen (Keks, 2007), Shinsa Enayeth (2007), Veronica De Poi (2007)

VALE Deaths of Old Ruytonians or former staff members of which Ruyton is aware are listed here.

Obituaries for the name(s) in italics below are on the following page.

CABENA, June (1946) Born 2.4.1929, RGS 1937–1945, Died 20.8.2019 MATHIESON, Kirsty (Frater, 1958) Born 11.03.1940, RGS 1954–1958, Died 1.12.2017 OWEN, Jennifer (Pullman, 1960) Born 8.9.1943, RGS 1947–1959, Died 4.6.2020 Jenny’s sister, Bron Hadley (Pullman, 1965) attended Ruyton ROBSON, Jane (1971) Born 30.07.1954, RGS 1970–1971, Died 24.6.2020 Jane’s sister, Eve Robson (1973) attended Ruyton

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ROWLEY, Susan (1966) Born 18.11.1948, RGS 1961–1966, Died 3.9.2016 Susan’s sister Lesley Rowley (1963) attended Ruyton STEINICKE, Jennifer (1975) Born 30.3.1958, RGS 1970–1975, Died 14.8.2020 Jenny’s sister Rose Pockett (Steinicke,1977) attended Ruyton THRESHER, Pamela (Johnston, 1942) Born 11.09.1925, RGS 1930–1941, Died 4.09.1920 WORLAND, Judith (Nicholson, 1956) Born 30.12.1939, RGS 1954–1955, Died 21.03.2020

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VALE Jennifer Allison Owen (Pullman, 1960) Jennifer (Jennie) Owen, 1943–2020, did well at sports in school, and went on to study a secretarial course at RMIT along with one of her best friends Judith Durham from the Seekers, where they become involved with RMIT’s annual Revue.

Kirsty Mathieson (Frater): seated front row, second from right

One of her fondest memories of Judith was when she stayed at Jennie’s family’s holiday house, where they all sang songs whilst washing up!

Jennie kept the show business trend going when she became employed at Channel 9’s continuity department, where she met and eventually married Doug Owen. Doug was a folk singer/lighting technician then, a protege of Graham Kennedy and appeared on IMT occasionally. Jennie then moved onto Channel 10 in Nunawading.

They both loved food and cooking and became one of the earliest ‘foodies’ way back in the middle sixties; they even used a wok!

Jennie Owen (Pullman): standing right

Susan Rowley: seated, second left

If you have any updates of Old Ruytonians’ deaths, or wish to send an obituary to the School, please contact the Alumnae Relations and Bequest Manager, Kate Nixon by email at nixonk@ruyton.vic.edu.au or telephone on (03) 9819 2422.

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They moved up to Sydney where the popular club scene had a better chance of employment for singers. They had one child, Joel. They opened a sandwich shop in Parramatta which was very hard work and gladly sold it eventually.

Jennie then worked as a receptionist at a physiotherapist for many years while Doug started up a successful business making and selling semi dried tomatoes.

They consequently, on retirement, chose to come back to Victoria in 2011, settling in Castlemaine where the arts and music community was thriving. They built a recording studio at the back of their house, joined the music community and Doug entertained at many concerts held in the town.

Jennie met up with many Old Ruytonians living there and was an enthusiastic attendee of the Old Ruytonians’ reunions.

By Bronwyn Hadley (Pullman, 1965)

the ruyton reporter

REUNIONS

After a year of virtually no events, we are thrilled to be able to host Ruyton reunions again.

CLASS OF 2016, 5 YEAR REUNION It was a perfect evening, two days after Victoria’s snap (and third) lockdown we hosted the 5 Year reunion at Fonda Mexican Restaurant on the ‘deck’ in Hawthorn. 41 girls attended and Linda Douglas popped in to say hello to the girls. A special thank you to the Co-Captains, Rose Adams and Jane Karopoulos for assisting behind the scenes and rallying the troops.

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The following girls attended: Rose Adams, Nisha Adihetty, Georgie Apos, Sesharna Bala, Samantha Bayley, Eva Beland, Alexandria Brooks, Saffrey Brown, Emma Brown, Sally Chao, Amy Collyer, Beth Cooper, Imogen Feder, Grace Flinn, Kate French, Annie Gleisner, Angelica Green, Phillipa Hajdasz, Kiara Hendawitharana, Jane Karopoulos, Alice Kent, Nicola Kolaitis, Milla Marston, Astrid Melton, Louise Monsell-Butler, Helena Moschoyiannis, Hannah Murray, Madeline Nolan, Saskia Poes, Bella Poulier, Paris Powell, Lily Rachcoff, Meg Richards, Isabelle Scopelliti, Liliana Testen, Jess Thuring, Emma Viney, Hannah Winspear-Schillings, Amelia Wood, Anita Ye, Grace Zimmerman.

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CLASS OF 2019, (BELATED) 1 YEAR REUNION The Class of 2019 attended their belated 1 Year Reunion in March this year.

These girls had a tough 2020, with virtually no time spent on site at tertiary institutions, it’s certainly not what they expected for their first year out of School. On top of that, their reunion date was moved three times. The venue chosen by these girls was the Auburn Hotel and 33 girls attended. A special thank you to Co-Captains, Olivia Harper and Jacqui Du, and to the following girls who attended: Sammy Bendall, Charlie Bowen, Allegra Brown, Lisette Buckle, Sophia Campagna, April Condon, India Curtain, Philippa Danks, Katia de Bortoli, Portia de Santo, Darcy Deligiannoudis, Lucy Dillon, Annabelle Doan, Florence Edwards, Molly Furey, Olivia Harper, Alice Houlihan, Molly Janes (booked but unable to attend), Ashlee Jones, Mia Jordan, Mia Koulis, Sarah Linley, Deanna Lintzeris, Madeleine Macginley, Anastasia Malamas, Molly McCarthy, Angelyn Neoh, Claire Ong, Laura Pryor, Tamsyn Ross, Olivia Schaefer, Sophie Tadgell, Alice Wallis, Alice Xu.

Ruyton ORA Online will keep you connected with our Alumnae community All Old Girls welcome – networking, reunion updates, photos, reconnecting with old friends – don’t miss out! Register at ruytonora.com.au

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the ruyton reporter

CLASS OF 1970, (BELATED) 50 YEAR REUNION These girls from 1970 were our first Old Ruytonians who were able to be onsite for a reunion in more than a year. 25 girls attended in total and we had five girls travel from interstate; Deb North, Christine Dousset, Jane Porter, Julie Daymond all travelled from NSW and Sue Pearce flew in from Queenland. We had girls from all over Victoria, as far away as Wangaratta and close as Kew. A School Tour was conducted by Linda Douglas followed by lots of chatter and a sit down dinner in the Courtyard Café on a beautiful warm evening. Belinda Burke – thank you; your efforts to track down your classmates was simply wonderful.

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In attendance were: Rosemary Brant (Crockett), Belinda Burke (Hardie), Robyn Cooch (Morison), Julie Daymond (Murphy), Sally Dean, Christine Dousset (King), Jane Duncan, Louise Farnworth, Jane Gilchrist, Gill Gleeson (McKay), Penelope Guy (Daniels), Pam Harris (Brodribb), Joanna Hickey, Helen James, Rob Knox (Brazier), Jill Lewis, Caroline Mellington (Charleston), Deb North (Mercer), Jo Osment, Sue Pearce (Robinson), Jane Porter (Armstrong), Tanya Scott (Austin), Judith Thomson (Bolton), Beverly Wort (Norman), Sally Zalkauskas (Blair-Holt).

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ruyton girls’ school

12 Selbourne Road Kew 3101 Victoria Australia Tel 61 3 9819 2422 ruyton@ruyton.vic.edu.au www.ruyton.vic.edu.au CRICOS 00336J

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