the impressive contributions from each of our year level
leaders at 8,9,10 and 11. Each of these students was invested
with the responsibility of liaising with the squads in their
level and assisting to co-ordinate teams for each round.
I am grateful for their efforts and know that the experience
will enrich them.
This year, in order to enhance further engagement with
our debating programme, and to harness the enthusiasm
that is apparent among the students, we also trialled a new
mentoring initiative. Interested Years 10 and 11 students
were offered the chance to coach a Junior team; mentors
were required to assist our Year 8 debaters during our
preparation nights and also to attend debates, providing
positive feedback. I was very pleased with this peer-support
initiative and am confident that it will serve our Debating
community well in the future.
Our Debating Captain for 2014 is Deanne Xu. Having
worked with her for four years and having seen her develop
to become an outstanding public speaker, I know she will
lead Ruyton well.
Finally, I would like to thank all of the students involved in
our 2013 Debating programme for their enthusiasm and
commitment. As always, I challenge them to make the next
year an even more successful year for Debating at Ruyton,
by planning just that little bit more, by pushing themselves
to take risks on the floor as they speak their minds, and by
believing that they can be, indeed, formidable opponents.
Hopefully, they won’t argue with that.
Mr Walter Zavattiero,
Debating Co-ordinator
Development
The Development Office is a busy and dynamic place which
exists to support the thriving Ruyton community. There are
many components which make up this successful team,
including five members of staff and hundreds of volunteers.
Ruyton’s Heritage Collection comprises the Archives of the
School and the Museum Collection. Archives are the formal
records held permanently to document the continuing
history of the School and are transferred from the School’s
administration; they include Board records, correspondence,
photographs, video and audio materials and maps and
plans. The Museum Collection comprises three-dimensional
items mostly donated by Old Girls, although now and again
we receive donations from strangers. At the reunion of the
Golden Girls (50 years plus) a scarf woven by Miss Hilda
Daniell and given to Mrs MargeryWatson when she was
School Captain was donated. Other items received include
photographs, uniforms, badges and a pocket (we would
welcome ‘modern’ pockets). An interesting DVD copied
from a film of the 1928 Diamond Jubilee celebrations was
donated by Mr Norman Marshall.We also acknowledge
with gratitude donations fromMrs Joyce Bruce (Alley 1946);
Mrs Lara Blamey (Stella 1985); Mrs Fee Evert (Dreiheller
1943); Mr Norman Marshall; Mrs Andrea Mollison (Culpan
1958); Mrs MargeryWatson (McAlpin 1949); and Mrs Julie
Yates (Harvey 1961). Forty-one enquiries have been received
during the year, six originating from outside the School;
these external enquiries related to details of past students,
teachers, premises and war service.
This year we celebrated the reunions of the following
groups: 1963, 1973, 1983, 1988, 1993, 2003, 2008, and 2012.
There was also the biennial reunion of the Ruyton Boarders
and the annual reunion of the Ruyton Golden Girls (alumni
from 1930–1962.) We held our first Ruyton international
reunion in the United Kingdom in September at One
Aldwych Hotel, Covent Garden in London, where around
30 alumni attended. There were also reunions in South
Australia and Queensland. Planning is now underway to
hold two interstate reunions every year on a rotation.
Thanks to all the Old Ruytonians’ (ORA) Year Level
Representatives who assist with these events, and also to
the ORA Committee who are unwavering in their support
of the School’s activities.
We value the enthusiasm and help we receive from all
our Parents of Ruyton (POR) volunteers, with 13 active
parent groups within our community this year. Our parents
help support the School in myriad ways, building the
community and supporting their daughter(s) with
co-curricular activities and provide an important link with
their daughters at School.We enjoyed the Ruyton Ball in
August this year and are grateful for the enthusiastic
response from our organisers, donors and the community
overall. Next year we are looking forward to the Ruyton Fair
on Sunday 23 March, the first such event for over ten years.
This year we have published a new Prospectus and are
enjoying the updated website launched in late 2013.
Online enrolment has been particularly successful and
this is emerging as the preferred method of prospective
families registering with the School. Each year we produce
the
Ruytonian,
the School’s annual year book,
Scripsi
, the
Senior School’s literary publication, the
Ruyton Reporter,
our bi-annual round-up of events relating to the
community, and the
WednesdayWeekly,
a newsletter for
current parents.
Annual Report 2013
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