The Development Team looks forward to the launch of the
Capital Campaign in 2014 to assist with the provision of the
new Margaret McRae building, being developed over four
storeys to incorporate state of the art Science facilities,
flexible learning areas and classrooms for Years 7 and 8, and
spaces for drama and community events.
We are grateful to over 600 individual volunteers who have
played a part in the Development Team at Ruyton this year.
We value the contribution of each and every one of you.
Special thanks, also, to the talented, friendly and efficient
Development Office Staff who assist in keeping everything
running smoothly. Your ability to juggle many different
tasks simultaneously never ceases to amaze me.
Ms Tonya Peters,
Director of Development
English
Ruyton has a long history of success in the field of creative
writing and 2013 has been no exception. In fact, this year
the English Department has been particularly focused on
providing opportunities both within and outside the School
for the students in this area. In celebration of the twentieth
anniversary of the Isobelle Carmody competition at Ruyton,
and in conjunction with Ms Julie Purcell in the library and
the BoroondaraWriters in Schools programme, we were
fortunate to have Ms Carmody herself visit the School.
This visit was timely as it was organised to complement
the girls’ work in the Isobelle Carmody CreativeWriting
competition and the Boroondara Literary Awards.
Ms Carmody presented writing workshops for Years 7 and
8 and then enthralled the whole School in an Assembly
with her childhood reminiscences.
Once again, the quality of the writing was very high in the
Isobelle Carmody competition. The judge, professional
writer Ms Sue Lawson, was thoroughly impressed with the
imagination and flair displayed in the short narratives and
commended both the students’ and the School’s dedication
to the craft of writing. Furthermore, in the Boroondara
Literary competition, a number of students were recognised
with awards.We also had finalists in state and national
competitions, such as the Time toWrite and Future Leader’s
Writing Prize competitions. The fruit of this ability and
dedication to writing in our students can be seen in the
English Department Literary Magazine,
Scripsi
, in which
Senior School students’ talent for poetry, fictional stories,
autobiographical narratives, essays and speeches is displayed.
In public speaking, all students in Years 7 to 10 participated
in the keenly contested Orator of the Year Awards, and a
number of students chose to participate in the Year 11
Suzanne Northey and Year 12 Alan Patterson competitions.
These competitions were celebrated and the winning
students awarded their certificates at the Senior School
Public Speaking Finals on the last day of Term 3. This proved
to be an entertaining and thought-provoking afternoon.
Thanks must go to Ms Suzanne Northey for her judging of
the Alan Patterson Award.
The continued implementation and consolidation of
elements of the Australian Curriculum this year has
provided the Department with a further opportunity to
enhance our curriculum. This year the Journalism elective
was taught by Mrs Paisley, and we look forward to the
introduction of Literature Unit 1 in 2014 for Year 10 students.
ICT innovations in the presentation and production of work
in English have continued to be a focus from Years 7 to 10.
This has included the use of Prezi for Wide Reading tasks,
blogs, embedded videos for interviews,Wordless, on-line
discussion boards and virtual sticky note boards through
the use of LinoIt.
We feel it is important in our studies of Shakespeare
(Years 8 to 10) and Brecht (Year 12) that we allow our
students to be further engaged through the experience
of a live performance in an intimate setting when the
opportunity presents itself. Years 9, 10 and 12 were
privileged to view the CWTC productions of
Macbeth,
Romeo and Juliet,
and
Life of Galileo.
In the performances,
there was an interactive element with the students taking
assigned roles and discussing features of the plays at the
end. Also, in support of our study of
The Great Gatsby
at
Year 11, the students benefitted from a visit to the cinema
for the sumptuous Baz Luhrmann version. Finally, as part
of their learning outcomes, Year 12 Literature students
performed a play-reading of Tom Stoppard’s
Arcadia
at the
home of Literature teacher, Mrs Di Berold.
In addition to those detailed above, stand-out
achievements for the English Department in 2013 have
included excellent results in the national ICAS competition
for students in Years 7 and 8. This competition assesses
reading and language skills in a range of contexts. More
than this, however, are the achievements of the girls in each
of their English classes, which can be seen in their
commitment to do their best, and their enthusiasm for
both English and Literature. These achievements can only
happen with the skills and zeal of the staff of the English
Department, to whom I give my thanks.
Ms Georgina Canty,
Dean of English
Annual Report 2013
9
