Ravenswood School for Girls

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Ravenswood

Ravenswood School for Girls (often referred to as Ravenswood or Ravo) is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for Prep to Year 12 girls, situated in Gordon, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1901 by Mabel Fidler (1871–1960),<ref name="Fidler">Template:Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography</ref> Ravenswood currently caters for over 1400 students from Prep to Year 12, including 50 boarders from Years 7 to 12.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school has been an IB World School since June 2004, and is authorised to offer the IB Diploma Programme.<ref name="IB" />

Ravenswood is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),<ref name="AHISA">Template:Cite web</ref> the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA),<ref name="ipsha">Template:Cite web</ref> the Australian Boarding Schools' Association,<ref name="ABSA">Template:Cite web</ref> the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia,<ref name="AGSA">Template:Cite web</ref> and is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).<ref name="AHIGS">Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards

Ravenswood has been named one of Australia’s most innovative schools<ref name="Innovative Schools 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> for the sixth time in seven years by The Educator.<ref name="Innovative Schools Australia 2025">Template:Cite web</ref> Ravenswood was named on The Educator 5-start Innovative Schools list in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 for its work in the areas of Positive Education and STEM.<ref name="Innovative Schools 2024">Template:Cite web</ref>

Ravenswood won the Best Use of Technology award at the 2024 Australian Education Awards<ref name="Australian Education Excellence Awards 2024">Template:Cite web</ref> and was awarded an Excellence Award for Primary School Teacher of the Year in 2022.<ref name="Excellence Award 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> Ravenswood also won Excellence Awards at the 2022, 2024 and 2025 Australian Education Awards for Boarding School of the Year, and an Excellence Award for Best Professional Learning Program in 2025. The School achieved its fourth Excellence Award for Best Student Wellbeing Program in five years (also in 2021, 2022,2024 and 2025).<ref name="Australian Education Awards">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Ravenswood was established with eight students on 28 January 1901 by the first Headmistress, Mabel Fidler, as a non-sectarian private day school for girls, with preparatory classes for boys. The first classes took place in a schoolroom erected on the block adjacent to Fidler's home, "Ravenswood", in Henry Street, Gordon. The school remains on this site.<ref name="History">Template:Cite web</ref>

Fidler retired from Ravenswood in 1925, a year after the school was purchased by the Methodist Ladies' College, Burwood, thus becoming a school of the Methodist Church. Subsequently, the school name was changed to Ravenswood Methodist Ladies' College.<ref name="History" /> At this time, Ravenswood was the largest non-residential, private secondary school in Sydney, with an enrolment of 180, and was highly regarded for the quality of its teaching and its achievements in sport.<ref name="Fidler" /> Ravenswood became a day and boarding school in 1935, with the enrolment of the first two boarders.<ref name="History" />

The 1960s saw the introduction of the school anthem, Kindle the Flame and a fourth school House, all houses being named by the students after Royal Houses of Britain: Stuart, Tudor, Windsor and York.<ref name="History" /> In 1977, as the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches came together to form the Uniting Church, the school name changed to the current Ravenswood School for Girls. The royal blue and gold uniform was also introduced at this time.<ref name="History" />

In 2015, the head girl of the school used her end-of-term speech to accuse the school of peddling an "unrealistic image of perfection", and providing some students with more opportunities than others because "schools are being run more and more like businesses, where everything becomes financially motivated, where more value is placed on those who provide good publicity or financial benefits."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She claimed that the school had attempted to censor her speech by requiring prior copies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Campus

File:Ravenswood School for Girls.jpg
Mabel Fidler Building, Ravenswood School for Girls by BVN Architecture

Ravenswood is located on its original site, a single campus in suburban Gordon. The school has progressively expanded since 1901, with the acquisition of new properties and the upgrading of facilities.<ref name="Facilities">Template:Cite web</ref>

The school grounds feature quadrangles and courtyards, a multi-purpose complex with heated swimming pool, gymnasium, a "Strength and Conditioning centre" and an Athletics Field. The Ravenswood Centenary Centre includes a Performing Arts theatre, music centre and exhibition areas.<ref name="Facilities" /> Junior School students are catered for within the Junior School centre with a Resource Centre, playground and play equipment area, adventure playground and Assembly Hall.<ref name="Facilities" />

Curriculum

In Years 11 and 12, students may choose to take either the Higher School Certificate (HSC) course or the International Baccalaureate Diploma Course (IB).<ref name="IB">Template:Cite web</ref>

Co-curriculum

Debating

Ravenswood has a tradition of debating, and students are offered opportunities to participate at competitive or social levels. Ravenswood competes in three inter-school debating competitions: the Independent Schools Debating Association (ISDA), the Archdale Debating Competition and the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA). Girls may also participate in House debating.<ref name="CoCurricular">Template:Cite web</ref>

Sport

Primary School students may partake in competitive sport through the Ravenswood's membership of the Independent Primary Schools Association of Australia (IPSHA). These competitions are usually held on Saturday mornings and include sports such as: Softball, Tennis, Netball, Cricket, Hockey, and Soccer. Secondary School students compete against 28 other similar type schools in the Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association (IGSSA) competition. These competitions occur on Saturday mornings or in the form of carnivals and include sports such as: Softball, Swimming, Diving, Cricket, Tennis, Hockey, Soccer and Gymnastics. Students who perform well at IPSHA or IGSSA level may be invited to compete in NSW Combined Independent Schools' (CIS) competitions.<ref name="CoCurricular" />

Community

It has been nominated for an "Employer of Choice for Women" classification by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).<ref name="EOWACaseStudy">Template:Cite web</ref>

Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize

The Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize is an initiative led by Ravenswood School for Girls, which aims to address the paucity of art prizes available for female artists in Australia. It has been run since 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is an acquisitive prize, Template:As of offering the following prizes:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Professional Artist Prize — $35,000
  • Emerging Artist Prize – $5,000
  • Indigenous Emerging Artist Prize – $5,000
  • People’s Choice Award – $2,000 (non-acquisitive)

Winners

Professional artist prize

Principals

Period Details<ref name="AHIGS" />
1901–1925 Mabel Fidler, Founder
1926 Ethelwyn Potts
1927–1928 Clarice Ashworth
1928–1931 Francis Craig
1932–1961 Kathleen Crago
1962–1986 Phyllis Evans
1987–1992 Coral Dixon
1993–2004 Lorraine Smith
2005–2015 Vicki Steer
2016–2025 Anne Johnstone
Present Sarah Guy (Acting)
Incoming Suzanne Floro

Notable alumnae

Media, entertainment and the arts
Medicine and science
Politics, public service and the law
Sport

See also

References

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Template:UCA Schools Template:AHIGS Schools Template:Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia schools Template:Authority control

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