, motto_translation = Upright and Faithful , established = 1878 , type =

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, single-sex,

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when comp ...

, denomination =

Non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

, key_people = , chairman = Kathryn Watt , city =

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, state =

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

, country = Australia , coordinates = , gender = Girls , enrolment = ~850 , grades = P-12 , grades_label = Years , num_employ = ~120 , colours = Navy blue, white and gold
, affiliation = Girls Sport Victoria , website
ruyton.vic.edu.au
, logo = Ruyton Girls' School logo.svg , principal = Linda Douglas Ruyton Girls' School, commonly referred to simply as Ruyton, is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

for girls, located on Selbourne Road,

, an inner-eastern suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metrop ...

, Australia. Ruyton was established in 1878 by its first principal, Charlotte Anderson, who named it in honour of the parish in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England,

Ruyton-XI-Towns Ruyton-XI-Towns ( "ry-tən eleven towns"), formally Ruyton of the Eleven Towns or simply Ruyton, is a village and civil parish next to the River Perry in Shropshire, England. It had a population of 1,379 at the 2011 Census. The preparatory scho ...

, where her great-great-grandfather David Evans had been vicar. Its motto is ''Recte et Fideliter'', meaning "Upright and Faithful", which is also the name of the school song. Ruyton caters for approximately 850 students from three-year-old

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

and Pre-Prep, to Year 12, with boys being enrolled in Kindergarten and Pre-Prep. In 2008, Ruyton was ranked second in the state of Victoria based on its VCE results, with 40% of study scores over 40. The school is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the

Junior School Heads Association of Australia The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia. Officially established in Septem ...

(JSHAA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV), and is a founding member of Girls Sport Victoria (GSV).

Curriculum

Ruyton offers students the

Victorian Certificate of Education The Victorian Certificate of Education (often abbreviated VCE) is one credential available to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian state of Victoria. The VCE is the predominant choice for students ...

(VCE) program, as well as the

Vocational Education and Training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

(VET) course.

Co-curriculum

The school also offers co-curricular activities such as

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

and

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

. Ruyton is involved regularly in intra-school and inter-school activities, competitions and events, including the Debaters Association Victoria (DAV) debating program, Girls Sport Victoria (GSV) sporting carnivals, the Tournament of Minds (TOM) cross-curricular competition, the

Alliance française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

French speaking, reading and writing competitions, the Boroondara Literary Award, an extensive range of academic competitions and honours and the

Duke of Edinburgh Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

. Ruyton also hosts the inter-school Performing Arts House Festival (PAHF), the Alan Patterson Prize for Public Speaking, the Suzanne Northey Award for Public Speaking and the Isobelle Carmody Award for Creative Writing.

Sport

Ruyton is a member of Girls Sport Victoria (GSV).

GSV premierships

Ruyton has won the following GSV premierships. * Athletics (4) - 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 * Cross Country (16) - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 * Hockey (3) - 2005, 2006, 2011 * Softball - 2017 * Swimming - 2013 * Triathlon, Sprint - 2019

External programs

In Years 11 and 12, students of Ruyton may study their chosen courses with students from the nearby boys’ school, Trinity Grammar. These classes are shared between Ruyton and Trinity. The two schools also collaborate in the annual Trinity-Ruyton

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

. Ruyton also performs plays with

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

. Another of Ruyton's features is its international program, providing international opportunities and

student exchange A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but doe ...

visits through the Sister School Network, a regime created in 1989 that has expanded over the years to include 16 schools throughout Canada,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, China,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

, France and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. An Expanding Horizons Programme is run for each year level from Year Three to Year Eleven. The program consists of an educational and challenging camp, which visits various parts of Australia, depending on the year level. Camps such as ski camp, surf camp, a political journey to Australia's capital

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...

and a two-week camping tour of Australia's

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aus ...

are included in the program.

Exchange

Exchange runs from Year's 10 and 11 for girls who want to go overseas and visit sister schools or the schools around the area of the continent the girls visit. Sometimes girls from other schools around the world have a couple of girls come and visit Ruyton on their exchange. Girls from Years 3 to 11 are all taken on an annual camp, while other camps available include music camps and international study tours.

House system

As with most Australian schools, Ruyton utilises a

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

. Girls from Prep to Year 12 are divided into four houses, each named after a former Principal of Ruyton - Anderson (Red), Bromby (Navy), Daniell (Sky Blue), and Lascelles (White). The houses are primarily sporting houses, competing annually in athletics,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and cross-country carnivals. They are also involved in inter-house debating and performing arts (PAHF) festivals.

Associated schools

Ruyton's brother school is Trinity Grammar in Kew. At VCE level, they conduct co-educational classes. Girls also may go to Trinity for classes and vice versa. From years 9-12 students from both schools are able to take part in the senior musical. Middle school plays are also held in conjunction with Scotch College.

Alumni

Alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of Ruyton Girls' School are known as Old Girls or Old Ruytonians, and may elect to join the school's

alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students ( alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), ...

, the Old Ruytonians' Association (ORA). The Association was founded in 1908, as a way of keeping former students in contact with each other and the School, through social and sporting activities. The current membership of the ORA exceeds 1,300. *Dame

Zara Bate Dame Zara Kate Bate (; previously Fell and Holt; 10 March 190914 June 1989) was an Australian fashion entrepreneur. She was best known as the wife of Harold Holt, who was prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his disappearance in 1967. ...

DBE – fashion designer and wife of

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in ...

, former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principl ...

(also attended Toorak College, Mt Eliza) *

Judith Durham Judith Durham (born Judith Mavis Cock; 3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian folk music group the Seekers in 1963. The group became the first Australian p ...

AO – singer, actress, composer, pianist and author; lead singer for

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

group ''

the Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...

'' (also attended The Fahan School) *

Michelle Grattan Michelle Grattan (born 30 June 1944) is an Australian journalist who was the first woman to become editor of an Australian metropolitan daily newspaper. Specialising in political journalism, she has written for and edited many significant Aust ...

AO – political reporter for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' * Kim Crow- Olympian rower * Nicola Xenos- AFLW Footballer * Eleanor Price - Australian representative rower * Jean Mitchell - Australian representative rower

References

External links

Ruyton Girls' School website
{{Authority control Girls' schools in Victoria (Australia) Educational institutions established in 1878 Nondenominational Christian schools in Melbourne Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools 1878 establishments in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia Buildings and structures in the City of Boroondara