An International Baccalaureate World School
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Semper ad meliora - Always towards better things.
Upcoming Events
RAVENSWOOD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS - Open Day Fri Mar 28 @ 9:00AM - 01:00PM [39 Days to go] |
Ravenswood School for Girls is a Uniting Church school from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 with an award-winning Principal, a Positive Education approach and exceptional academic outcomes.
A multi-award-winning Prep to Year 12 Day and Boarding school that aims to equip and inspire girls to participate in and contribute to our evolving global society.
Based in Gordon on Sydney’s North Shore, we are one of Australia’s leading independent girls’ schools, offering holistic education with a strong academic focus.
As a non-selective school, we accept girls of all talents, abilities, faiths and cultures. The uniqueness of our School comes from our personalised approach and our concern with developing the whole person through academic, social, emotional and spiritual growth.
Ravenswood is proud to have been named a 5-Star Innovative School by The Educator magazine six times in seven years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024). The School also won Best Use of Technology Award at the 2024 Australian Education Awards. These accolades recognise the School’s groundbreaking innovations in the areas of Positive Education and STEM. Ravenswood has also been honoured with three Excellence Awards for Best Student Wellbeing Program (2021, 2022 and 2024) and two Excellence Awards for Boarding School of the Year (2022 and 2024) at the Australian Education Awards. Principal Mrs Anne Johnstone was also announced as the winner of Australian School Principal of the Year and School Principal of the Year (Non-Government) at the 2024 Australian Education Awards for her leadership and innovations in Positive Education.
Since 1901, Ravenswood School for Girls has embraced a strong tradition of educational excellence, developing young women of purpose who are empowered and inspired by the highest quality of teaching and learning experiences. We are guided by our Christian ethos and Guiding Principles of Excellence, Respect, Courage, Compassion and Optimism.
Recognised as a leading school in the area of Positive Education, Ravenswood was the first school in New South Wales to adopt a Visible Wellbeing approach. Our girls often refer to the keen sense of belonging they experience and the warmth of the School’s atmosphere.
Ravenswood is located in Sydney’s picturesque and leafy upper North Shore, 15 kilometres from Sydney’s city centre and within five minutes walk of the main train line. Our girls enjoy beautiful, idyllic grounds and award-winning, world-class facilities. Their opportunities are broadened further by our relationship with our brother school, Knox Grammar School.
Ravenswood is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School that uses the framework of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in the Junior School and offers a choice between the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) and the IB Diploma in Years 11-12. It is the only school on the Upper North Shore that offers the flexibility of both the HSC and IB Diploma.
Complementing our curriculum, Positive Education offers a range of evidence-based approaches from the field of Positive Psychology that promote wellbeing. These are delivered through interventions, programs and practices that actively cultivate the dispositions of optimism, resilience, grit and compassion for others, as well as the importance of strengths-based language in our daily interactions.
Our Visible Wellbeing approach and Wellbeing Program form a multi-layered system of support and guidance provided by highly qualified and experienced educators including Class Teachers, Mentor Teachers, Year Coordinators, Stage Assistant Coordinators, Head of Senior School, and the Head of Positive Education. The School Chaplain, Psychologists, Learning Enrichment team, our therapy dogs Penny and Daisy, and the Health Care Unit are also available to our girls for support, guidance and advice.
Our Global Experience and Social Justice Programs provide inter-cultural and service learning through overseas and interstate educational visits, study of languages and exchange programs.
Ravenswood’s sport for all philosophy delivers opportunities for every girl, promoting both inclusiveness and the physical and mental wellbeing aspects of sport.
Ravenswood boarding opened in 1935, catering to girls from wider Sydney, country NSW, interstate and overseas. Ravenswood has received the Excellence Award for Best Boarding School from the Australian Education Awards in 2022 and 2024.
The Ravenswood Residential College (RRC) is a home away from home, providing a safe and caring 'boutique' environment for up to 50 students in Years 7–12. College staff are trained in Ravenswood’s award-winning Positive Education and Visible Wellbeing approach, ensuring the girls develop strong and meaningful relationships, in a family-like atmosphere.
The Ravenswood Residential College is also a first-class learning and living experience, with academic support and an endless choice of co-curricular activities. Staff in the College nurture a passion for learning and include a network of illustrious Ravenswood alumni, who serve as nightly tutors.
TRAIN OR BUS
The school is five minutes walk from Gordon Railway Station and Bus Interchange. Gordon Railway Station is on the North Shore line; five stops from Hornsby, providing access to the Central Coast and Epping Line and four stops from Chatswood, providing access to the City and Epping Line.
Ravenswood also offers a private bus service that provides safe and convenient transport of Junior School and Senior School Ravenswood girls to and from school. The service offers six routes with pickup and drop-off at the School gates, fixed timetables and routes, fully air-conditioned modern buses, and a mobile app to track the location of the bus.
Regular public bus services also operate from Gordon to St Ives, West Pymble, West Gordon, East Killara, Macquarie and the Northern Beaches.
Free Travel Passes are available for train, bus and ferry travel for Ravenswood students to and from home. There are conditions for different aged students
Ravenswood scholarships are:
For Ravenswood Scholarships enquiries, please contact enrol@ravenswood.nsw.edu.au.
Check our
Zihan (Olivia) Jin - Class of 2024
Olivia Jin (IB) was the Dux of the International Baccalaureate Diploma at Ravenswood, with IB score of 44, equivalent to an ATAR of 99.6. She was a member of the 2023 IB Diploma Economics team that won a gold medal in the semi-finals in Hong Kong for their oral defence submission in the prestigious S.T. Yau High School Science Award (Asia) competition. The team also won a Bronze Award at the finals in Beijing.
Olivia also embraced service-learning opportunities at Ravenswood including participating in the Duke of Edinburgh International Award, and was an active badminton player. Olivia plans to study double degrees in law and commence either in Sydney or the United Kingdom.
Esmé Tew - Class of 2024
Esmé Tew (HSC) was the Dux of the Higher School Certificate at Ravenswood, with an ATAR of 98.85. She has also been acknowledged on the HSC All-round Achievers list (achieving Band 6and E4 in 10 units), and achieved 50/50 for English Extension 2.
She has been nominated and selected for the Young Writers English Extension 2 Showcase already too. Esmé was involved in social justice initiatives at Ravenswood and is passionate about helping others, and she has dreams of becoming an English teacher and plans on attending university to study a law double degree. She already has an early offer for ANU for Arts/Law too.
Esmé was involved in social justice initiatives at Ravenswood and is passionate about helping others. Esmé expresses her gratitude to her teachers at Ravenswood, especially those who supported her in Year 12, ‘I am so thankful for all of my teachers – they are so great and passionate.’ She has dreams of becoming an English teacher and plans on attending university to study a law double degree.
Tong (Grace) Zhang - Class of 2024
As a self-described ‘science nerd’, Grace Zhang plans to study Science and Commerce at University. Her favourite memories of Ravenswood consist of spending entire days in the labs performing experiments under the watchful eye of her ‘great Ravenswood Science teachers and technicians’.
Grace is passionate about improving society and the environment, involved in social justice initiatives throughout her time at Ravenswood, and hopes to work in the field of sustainability in the future. Grace also participated in the Duke of Edinburgh International Award, played tennis at Ravenswood and was actively involved in Chinese Debating.
Halle Masters - Class of 2024
Halle Masters (HSC) achieved an ATAR of 98.15 and was acknowledged on the HSC All-round Achievers list (achieving Band 6 and E4 in 10 units). As the recipient of the Caroline Jones Memorial Award (for a Senior student interested in pursuing Journalism and Media) and Ravenswood Dance Captain, her fondest memories from her time at Ravenswood are ‘dancing with friends at Eisteddfods’, and she’s keen to seek a career as a News Anchor once she’s completed a Media and Communications degree. Her English Extension major work was nominated for the Young Writers Showcase, which bodes well for a successful media career, and she was also nominated for CALLBACK in Year 11 when she studied Dance HSC as a Year 11 Accelerant. She has early offers at UTS for double degree journalism/law and Macquarie Uni for media communications/law.
She was on Channel 7 Sunrise this year with Sam Mac interviewed at the Sydney Dance Eisteddfod. Outside of Dance, she played touch football and was involved in a range of social justice initiatives.
Lillyana (Lily) Graham - Class of 2024
Ravenswood’s Boarder and Netball Captain Lily Graham (IB) received an IB score of 44 (an ATAR equivalent of 99.5). She was the recipient of the 2024 Subject Award for Sports Exercise and Health Science. A sporting all-rounder, Lily played Basketball, Football, Netball and Touch Football during her time at Ravenswood. Lily embraced leadership opportunities as Ravenswood including as Dance Captain for Tudor House in the House Performing Arts Festival. She also participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and has reflected on the dedication from her teachers who ‘were always happy to stay behind after class to help.’
Lefeng (Chloe) Zhang - Class of 2024
Lefeng (Chloe) Zhang achieved an ATAR of 99.25 and an HSC First In Course mention, placing first in English EAL/D. She was also acknowledged on the HSC All-round Achievers list (achieving Band 6 and E4 in 10 units). Chloe participated in the Chemistry International Olympiad and various Mathematics competitions during her studies at Ravenswood. She also loved the School’s musical and stage productions because she was an enthusiastic member of the Girls in Black tech team.
Anne Johnstone BA, LLB (Hons), GradDipEd, MAPP (UPenn), CF, MACEBA, LLB (Hons), GradDipEd, MAPP (UPenn), CF, MACEPhD Candidate (Uni Melb), Chair Positive Education Schools Association (PESA), Deputy Chair International Positive Education Network (IPEN)
The Principal of Ravenswood School for Girls since 2016, Anne Johnstone is an internationally recognised educational leader renowned for her pioneering work in the field of Positive Education and the wellbeing of young people.
Anne is Chair of the Excellence in Leadership and Teaching Council for the Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW), Global Chair of the International Positive Education Network (IPEN), and former Chair and founding Board Member of the Positive Education Schools Association (PESA).
In 2024, Anne was awarded Australian School Principal of the Year and School Principal of the Year (Non-Government) at the 2024 Australian Education Awards in recognition of her innovative leadership and exemplary work in the field of education.
The Educator also selected Anne Johnstone for Most Influential Educators 2024, an award she also received in 2023 and one which celebrates inspirational leaders who have had a transformational impact on their students and school communities.
In 2022, the Teachers' Guild of NSW awarded Anne the 2022 Phyllis Evans Medal, a prize that acknowledges a 'distinguished educator of great standing.' It is the second time that Anne has been recognised by the Guild as she received a Teachers' Guild of NSW Award for Excellence in Teaching early in her career.
Anne was honoured with Excellence Awards for Principal Of The Year (Non-Government) in the Australian Education Awards (2022, 2024) and was recognised on The Educator Hot List (2022, 2023, 2024) for her exceptional leadership and contribution as Principal, including in designing and implementing innovative educational experiences.
In 2019, Anne was the only woman among five international educational leaders acknowledged for her pioneering work and leadership at the Positive Education Global Summit in Philadelphia.
In 2018, she received the prestigious Australian Speech and Communication Association Award for Excellence.
Anne was also the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship during which she explored strategies to foster resilience in learning while based at Cambridge University in England.
Anne has just completed and submitted her PhD in Education through the University of Melbourne and holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from an Ivy League university (University of Pennsylvania). She completed her Master’s degree thesis under the supervision of the founder of Positive Psychology, Professor Martin Seligman, and her research was recognised as a Distinguished Capstone. Anne also holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (with Honours), as well as a Graduate Diploma of Education.
An internationally sought-after speaker and presenter, Anne is passionate about helping young people fulfil their potential and flourish in all aspects of their lives.
The Ravenswood school community is comprised of girls from local, national, and global communities covering a diverse range of nationalities. We welcome and celebrate the diverse cultures at Ravenswood and the significant contribution each girl brings to the life of the school.
Ravenswood has also established partnerships with a number of overseas schools in Asia, Europe, Canada, the USA, and New Zealand, providing the opportunity for language and cultural exchange programs.
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