lunches and author lunches.We provide a range of
leadership opportunities for our Junior School Library
Captains and within Senior School Lit Club.
Our growing online resource collections, tailored carefully
to our students’ education needs, can be reached via the
newly developed Library Coneqt portal. This single platform
provides access to the Library catalogue, eBooks and
databases. Library staff members are always available to
assist students to manage the digital information they
retrieve from these sources.
We have been involved in a significant cleaning up of our
metadata and are the second school nationally to actively
align cataloguing practices to embrace the Australian
Curriculum, particularly in relation to the cross-curriculum
priorities.We continued to weed and reorganise our
collections in order to maximise student access. Good
quality items, deemed no longer useful to our School
community, have been donated to either the Fitzroy
Learning Network or sent to Cambodia as part of a project
to rebuild the libraries destroyed by the Pol Pot regime.
The Library does not function in isolation; we consistently
seek links and partnerships beyond our doors.We nurture
our strong partnerships with classroom teachers and
curriculum specialists, seeking to work collaboratively with
all teaching staff in relation to the development of
curriculum.We also offer a commitment to hosting Duke of
Edinburgh volunteers and work placement students from
Box Hill Institute.We were again involved in theWriters in
Schools Programme run through the City of Boroondara.
During the month of October we celebrated International
Schools Library Month by exchanging letters, video footage
and bookmarks with students from a range of countries
including Canada, the USA, Romania and Croatia.We also
engaged in an online Skype discussion on books and
reading with the students of Southwell School in Hamilton,
New Zealand.
Being mindful that information is not knowledge, we
recognise that our role within the School stretches far
beyond being custodians of the library collections.We are
committed to serving the needs of our School community
in the development of information literacy skills and an
appreciation of literature.We continue to provide the best
resources, in the most appropriate format, while also
supporting our students as they use information to create
new and personal understandings.
Mrs Julie Purcell,
Director of the Library Resource Centre
Chinese
‘
! I hope that you will remember me… I am
working in the tourism industry, specifically promoting
Melbourne as a business events destination at Melbourne
Convention and Visitors Bureau where I have been for four
and a half years. As you may be aware, the Chinese inbound
visitor market to Australia is booming and so there is a lot of
focus on this market, meaning that my Chinese culture and
language skills are advantageous to my career.’
Ms Jenna Lipshut, 19 December 2012
This was an email from Jenna who was in my Year 12 class
in 2002. As teachers, one of our goals is to inspire younger
generations to pursue their studies and to help them to
build the foundation for the future. The School has
established a dynamic atmosphere for learning and many
opportunities have been provided to achieve this.
2013 has seen a number of significant events in Chinese.
First, online resources have been embraced by the students
to improve and expand their learning. The younger
generation consists of natives of the digital world and
the availability of plentiful online programmes has added
a new dimension to teaching and learning. The use of
Language Perfect, Quizlet, Languages Online and the
electronic games attached to textbooks are both enjoyable
and helpful to students’ learning. One Year 7 Accelerated
student answered more than 1600 questions online to win
a Bronze Certificate in Language Perfect’sWorld
Championship. Ruyton was placed fourth in Australia in the
1–50 Students Category of this competition.
Secondly, the visit of Yu Xin School to Ruyton in Term 3 has
strengthened the relationship between the two schools.
Their student, Zirui, and their Head of Junior School, Mrs Qi,
spoke at the Senior School Assembly and both Ruyton and
Yu Xin School value this programme, as it expands the
mutual-understanding of each other’s school system,
society and cultures.
Thirdly, ChineseWeek was held in Term 4, when the
students from Year 5 to Year 10 participated in workshops
featuring Chinese acrobatics and Chinese musical
instruments, and enjoyed a Chinese feast to celebrate their
learning. Learning about Chinese culture has always been
a component of our programmes. Students have
opportunities to try Chinese painting and calligraphy,
knotting, paper-cutting, singing and dancing.
Annual Report 2013
12
