COMMUNITY

HOUSE QUA-RUN-TINE 2.0

In 2021 we planned and then cancelled the Senior School House Athletics carnival three times. Collectively flattened by the announcement of lockdown six, it only seemed right to find another event to put in its place. Harnessing all the House spirit amongst the community, we announced our virtual running competition, Qua-RUN-tine 2.0. Held over three days at the end of August, over 500 registered participants ran, jogged or walked to contribute points to their House. Unlike the year previous, the invitation to participate in Qua-RUN-tine was not only open to all staff and Senior School students to compete, but extended to include girls in Years 4 to 6 and their families. Embracing the event, participation numbers were bolstered by fantastic weather and helped along by theenthusiasm of the House Captains. There was a bit of friendly competition amongst the fun at Qua-RUN-tine 2.0. Staff andSenior School students timed their 3km runs and special note must be made of the many Ruyton staff that clocked impressive speeds. These runners come from a variety of areas within the School, including administration and music but the fastest staff member in 2021 was MrHarrison from the PE Department. With the emphasis on participation rather thanresults the event was enjoyed by all. However, there had to be a winner… Congratulations Bromby! House at Ruyton can truly bring people together even when we are apart. The sense of belonging begins in Prep and is fostered all the way through Junior School. In Senior School entireSchool events are held with a sense of House tribalism.

I feel that being able to represent our Houses while at home, in a very strict lockdown, every Ruyton staff member, student and parent felt alittle bit of virtual freedom.

Angela Allen House Coordinator and PE Teacher

Stephanie Stamopoulos (2011)

life after royce

Having performed to tens of thousands of people in her career as a concert cellist playing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North in the UK and to audiences across Europe, Stephanie (Steph) Stamopoulos has treasured memories of being in Royce Theatre. In fact, Steph’s earliest recollection of Ruyton is of Royce. Arriving at our school as a Year 1 student with her cello, Steph nervously performed at Junior School Assembly with the encouragement of her teacher. ‘I came back to the classroom and the other girls were all cheering and clapping for me. I just remember feeling supported by everyone and knowing Ruyton was a nice place to be’. Other memories include having a pregnant teacher feel her baby kick as Steph played the cello and being challenged by Paul Smith to perform ‘a really tricky piece of music’ (Dance of the Elves by Popper) to thunderous applause at Senior School Assembly. Smiling broadly while recalling these moments, Steph pauses to reflect, ‘effort and achievement were both supported at School – particularly the effort. Anyone who was really putting themselves out there was given the opportunity to succeed’. Attending Ruyton on a music scholarship and holding the position of Music Captain in 2011 ‘meant everything’ to Steph. ‘I had a great education and the scholarship meant I was able to get specialist opportunities I wouldn’t have ordinarily’. The captaincy pushed her definition of performance beyond the cello and into public speaking where she transformed from feeling uncomfortable to developing new skills at the lectern. Her Ruyton education also provided opportunities to ‘get on stage and just have fun’ through events like the Performing Arts House Festival (PAHF). The confidence and sense of enjoyment gained through performing hasn’t left Steph and looking back it seems as though ‘maybe the experiences were more valuable than I had known at the time’. Participating in School life outside of music, Steph trained with Stephen Ellinghouse and became a runner, an experience she attributes with enhancing her musical ability. ‘In running you have to be relaxed whilst focused. It is the same for cello’. ‘Steve always told me to “keep going” and that has stayed with me into my adult life’.

Since leaving School, Steph and her cello have travelled the world. Moving to Manchester shortly after completing VCE, Steph completed a Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Cello Performance at the Royal Northern College ofMusic (RNCM) and undertook additional study at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna with world famous cellist Natalia Gutman. Winning awards and accolades and with a global reputation as a concert cellist, Steph has recently returned to Melbourne after spending a decade overseas to be closer to family. In a full circle moment, Steph is now teaching cello to school students. Providing individual tuition and conducting astring quartet, Steph draws inspiration fromher own Ruyton teachers in her practice. ‘I just remember at School, everyone was so supportive. There was never a bad question. I want to create the same feeling for my own students’. A proud Old Ruytonian, Steph’s years as aRuyton girl have left an imprint on her for life. ‘When I think about Ruyton and my final years as a student, it is the fearlessness to try new things and give it a go that has remained with me. There is always a benefit to trying somethingnew’. Her advice to any current Ruyton students reading this article? ‘Giveitago. You will have fun!’. Brigid Steele Marketing and Publications Manager

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

www.stephaniestamopoulos.com www.easyweddings.com.au/ WeddingMusic/Melbourne/StephanieSarah

chatting with Dr. Pip Inge (2006)

chief meDical officer at the2021 paralympic games

Dr. Philippa (Pip) Inge was in quarantine when we chatted via Zoom last year, having just returned from the Tokyo Paralympic Games, where she worked as the Australian team’s Chief Medical Officer.

From ‘hotel quarantine’ in Melbourne straight to Queensland, Pip was off to work as the team doctor for the Australian Women’s Cricket Team who were playing against India in Mackay and the Gold Coast. Having completed 14 days of compulsory isolation after the Paralympics and due to Victorian COVID regulations at the time, she was unable to meet with family, friends or her fiancé before heading into her next role. She’s clearly a talented and very busy health professional whose only communication with loved ones at the time was via telephone, Zoom or a wave to her parents through the window ofher hotel whilst in quarantine. A sports medicine doctor who works with athletes at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), AFL and cricket, Pip’s professional passions can be traced back to Ruyton where in Year 12 she was Sports Captain and also had a penchant for maths and science. This proved to be the perfect combination for becoming a leading sports medicine doctor. At School Pip loved hockey and running and according to her own 2006 Ruytonian Sport Report, the hockey team she was in from Year7to Year 12 won an impressive 37 matches, (they drew and lost only one game a piece) andthe 2006 cross country team were crowned State Cross Country Champions. She fondly remembers Ruyton sport staff Louisa Burbury, Angela Allen (Lipshut) and Stephen Ellinghaus as being hugely supportive and wonderful role models enabling all girls, and not just the sporty girls, to achieve their very best. Being a Ruyton girl from Prep, Pip had 13 years to try everything that the School offered. Sheplayed in the Henty Orchestra and won anaward for sport, music and the Bromby House award. This might have been a tough actto follow for her younger sister Charlotte, who graduated six years later in 2012 however clearly this was not the case as Charlotte was a Ruyton Co-Captain in her graduating year. Charlotte remembers:

'Pip was a real go-getter at school - always keen to have a crack at everything Ruyton had to offer – even if it wasn't her forté (sorry Pip!) – and encourage her peers to do the same. Shewas a great role model for me, and I definitely tried to replicate her positive and inclusive attitude when I went through Senior School six years later. Pip is still very similar inthis sense.'

It’s taken more than ten years of study and incredibly hard work for Pip to become a doctor specialising in sport. Working with elite athletes is something that Pip adores. She has worked at the Australian Open Tennis Championships alongside Dr Tim Wood (former Ruyton parent of Mia Wood, 2020); and alongside fellow Old Ruytonian Dr Susan White (1983) who has been a wonderful role model and supporter formanyyears. While gender should no longer be an issue in the workplace, it is wonderful to see women and a former Ruyton student, excelling in what is still a speciality that is dominated by men; less than 25% of sports doctors are female. According to Pip, the growth of professional women’s sports has created more opportunities for female doctors. In a recent interview with Paralympics Australia, she reflected 'WhatIdislike about that is the expectation thatbecause you’re a woman you work infemalesport,” she said. “I love working infemalesport, but I think that expectation isgender stereotyping'. Taking the Australian Paralympic Team to Tokyo is a career highlight for Pip. Navigating COVID restrictions and getting athletes from all over Australia to meet at one destination for departure to Japan is an achievement in itself. Japan was hot, COVID was rampant in Tokyo and so it was remarkable that no team members or staff caught the virus. Military-like planning from Australia’s management team assisted in a really successful Games with the focus on participation and trying your best rather than winning medals. Pip is one of the few Australians who was able to travel in 2021 and it looks like there will be a lot more travel in the years to come. Maybe this year she will also find time to participate in some long distance triathlons and running events which are a favourite pastime; and enjoy life out of quarantine with her new husband Nick Collins.

Kate Nixon Alumnae Relations and Bequest Manager

for more information:

www.paralympic.org.au/2021/03/on-theshoulders-of-giants-the-women-makingtokyo-possible/

Margaret Clarke (Menzies, 1957)

Born in 1940, Margaret Clarke (Menzies, 1957) started at Little Ruyton in 1946. Her older sister Patricia Waters (Menzies, 1951) and cousin Heather Henderson (Menzies, 1946) were already Ruyton girls and younger sister Judith Kuehne (Menzies, 1967) joined them a few years later. With two brothers attending Little Ruyton before heading to Trinity Grammar School; the family connection to Ruyton was strong and has remained so over time with daughter Kate Clarke (1987) and other family members attending the School since. A lack of facilities in the years after World War Two meant the students made their own fun. Margaret’s early memories include climbing trees, notably the Fig Tree and constructing cubbies in the ‘rough area of the School that was a bit neglected’. Physical activity was big at Ruyton and Margaret did her best to keep up with the sporty girls. The hockey sticks were a bit battered, but they made do and playing hockey and tennis were her favourite sports. Ruyton had an excellent reputation with Miss Hilda Daniell at the helm, even at Little Ruyton she was known with great affection. Classes were small and Margaret was a keen student. In one school report towards the end of Margaret’s primary schooling, Miss Daniell noted: ‘Margaret has powers of leadership which she needs to curtail. Am I asking too much?’ Harnessing these leadership skills, Margaret was later appointed School Captain and one offive girls to complete her Matric in1957. Margaret remembers her teachers as being excellent and especially recalls liking the younger staff due to their interesting fashion sense. Miss Luke was a clear favourite. She went out of her way to make learning fun and took the girls on a picnic to the Dandenongs to farewell fellow student and great friend Sandy Crozier (Irwin, 1957) who was returning to the USA. Margaret’s older cousin Heather returned to Ruyton to teach Musical Appreciation. Amazingly, Margaret was her student and was once awarded a prize. Heather is the daughter of Sir Robert and Dame Pattie and the Menzies name was well known at the time. Having the famous surname might have accorded Margaret a little recognition but it made no difference toher schooling. After graduation and completion of an Occupational Therapy course, Margaret moved to the UK in 1965 which was the ‘done thing’ atthe time. Through her cousin Graham she met Richard Clarke, an ex-ships officer who would soon become her husband. Richard wasvery dashing but also an unemployed Irish university student living in Belfast studying Economics and Accounting. However love prevailed and in 1967 Richard emigrated to Australia and married Margaret in Melbourne, continuing his studies at the University of Melbourne. Daughter Kate was born in 1969 followed byson James in 1972.

Margaret and Richard have lived a full life. Spending the early years of their marriage abroad in Tokyo, Hong Kong and another London stint with a young family was exciting but not without its challenges. Eventually the Clarke family moved back to Melbourne where Kate commenced at Ruyton and James at Trinity. Describing herself as a ‘20 years out of date OT’ she got back to work with a sympathetic employer who recognised that ‘younever lose your skills’. Later she specialised as a horticultural therapist and finally volunteered her services to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne. Richard is stillthe Treasurer of theCranbourne Friends at thegardens. Margaret has always remained close to the Ruyton community. Sitting on the Old Ruytonians’ Association (ORA) committee for many years after finishing School, she became their President for three years in the early 1970s. As a parent she was involved as a Class Representative and tuckshop duty. Returning to School many times since with her Class of 1957 cohort, Margaret last visited Ruyton in May2021to attend the Golden Girls and Boarders Reunion.

The Menzies clan are still very close which is something Margaret cherishes. She and Richard now live in Mt Martha next door to her sister Judy and family visit often. Having collectively travelled the world, had great careers and experienced true delight beyond their school years, Ruyton always triggers great memories and rich conversation in the family. It is something they share together. Kate Nixon Alumnae Relations and Bequest Manager Margaret’s uncle, former Prime Minister SirRobert Menzies and his wife Dame Pattie Menzies were significant contributors to the refurbishment of Royce Hall (Theatre) and this icon of Ruyton is soon to have a magnificent facelift. It is important to note here that the generous contribution from the Menzies family will continue to be recognised in Royce’s redevelopment.