Wenona School | |
---|---|
Address | |
176 Walker Street , , 2060 Australia | |
Coordinates | 33°50′1″S151°12′32″E / 33.83361°S 151.20889°E |
Information | |
Former names | Woodstock School |
Type | Independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding |
Motto | Latin: Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) |
Established | 1886 |
Founder | Miss Edith Hooke |
Educational authority | NSW Department of Education |
Chairman | Ms Dianna Crebbin |
Principal | Dr Briony Scott |
Staff | 113 (Full-time) |
Years | K–12 |
Enrolment | 1,000 |
Colour(s) | Navy blue, red and white |
Slogan | Empowering young women to serve and shape their world |
Affiliations |
|
Website | www |
Wenona School is an independent, secular, day and boarding school for girls, located in the Sydney suburb of North Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia.
Founded by Miss Edith Hooke in 1886 as Woodstock School, Wenona has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,000 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, [1] including 50 boarders in Years 7 to 12. [2]
The school is affiliated with the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), [2] the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), [3] and the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS). [4]
Woodstock School was founded in 1886 by Edith Hooke who was prominent in educational circles at the time. Miss Hooke selected the motto Ut Prosim, that I may serve, which she transferred to Wenona School in April 1913, a preparatory school with the same colours and crest and an enrolment of 40 which she established in place of Woodstock. [5] The close relationship between the schools is reflected in the name Wenona, thought to have been chosen by the school's founder, a devotee of Longfellow, from his poem The Song of Hiawatha, in which Wenonah is a first-born daughter. [6]
When the founder left the school in February 1920 due to an illness in her family, Ms Messiter, a former pupil of Woodstock, stepped in to watch over the school. [5] Another former Woodstock student, Edith Marion Ralston, became Principal and owner later in 1920. In 1922, she moved the school to its current site in Walker Street, North Sydney, through the purchase of an extensive property, and opened the school's first boarding house. [6] In 1930 there were 200 students and Ralston bought three surrounding properties to allow for further expansion. When the war started she refused to relocate the school deciding that "Business as Usual" should be the school's approach. [6] Ralston was a string personality and she rose to be the President of the Headmistresses' Association of Australia. When she retired and sold the school to a non-profit in 1959 there were 650 girls in the school. [6]
The following individuals have served as Principal of Wenona School:
Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Edith Hooke | 1886 | 1920 | 33–34 years | |
2 | Dorothy Messiter | 1920 | 1920 | 0 years | Acting |
3 | Edith M. Ralston | 1920 | 1963 | 42–43 years | |
4 | Frances M. Mills | 1963 | 1966 | 2–3 years | |
5 | Barbara Jackson | 1967 | 1994 | 26–27 years | |
6 | Margaret Hadley | 1995 | 2007 | 11–12 years | |
7 | Denise Thomas | 2007 | 2007 | 0 years | Acting |
8 | Dr Kerrie Wilde | 2008 | 2010 | 1–2 years | |
9 | Dr Elizabeth Guy | 2010 | 2011 | 0–1 years | Co-acting Principals |
Julie Wiseman | |||||
10 | Dr Briony Scott | 2011 | incumbent | 12–13 years |
Situated on Miller and Walker streets in North Sydney, Wenona comprises a junior school (K to Year 6), including Woodstock Infants and Hooke Primary, a middle school (Year 7 to Year 9) and a senior college (Year 10 to Year 12). Up to 50 boarders are housed in the heritage Messiter and Ralston houses. An evening study centre is staffed by teachers four evenings a week for senior college students. Sporting facilities include a Gymnasium including cricket nets, a tennis court and many more courts and indoor fields; a smaller gymnasium catering to dance and circuit activities; a 25-metre indoor swimming pool; and a weights room. [7]
Music is compulsory in a number of junior and middle school years and for elective music students in Year 9 to Year 12. Music groups include vocal ensemble, senior choir, middle school choir, junior choir, infants choir, contemporary vocal group and petite voices. There are three rock bands which perform in an annual rock concert combining dance, vocals and instrumental music. The school also offers wind symphony, concert band, stage band, brass ensembles, flute, clarinet, and saxophone ensembles as well as string groups and an orchestra.[ citation needed ]
The school runs a musical in both the senior and junior school which alternates with the Performing Arts Showcase every second year. Musicals have included The Wizard of Oz, Kiss Me Kate, Little Shop of Horrors,High School Musical, and others. Other concerts include an annual choral concert, ensemble concert, carol service, rock concert, elective music concerts, and other events throughout the year.[ citation needed ]
Independent Theatre still operates in the building opened as the Coliseum Theatre in 1939, now run by Wenona School. The theatre provides the students a high quality venue for the performing arts, as well as being a community facility. [8]
Co-curricular sport is not compulsory at Wenona; however, students are encouraged to participate in competitive sport on Saturday mornings and at carnivals. Wenona teams participate in the competitions run by the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) for primary students, and the Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association (IGSSA) for those in the secondary school. [7]
Sports offered to junior students (Years 4 to 6) through IPSHA include: Hockey/Minkey, Softball/Tee-ball/Modball, Netball, Tennis, Athletics, Swimming, Diving and Gymnastics. Primary girls may also compete in Skiing and Snowboarding through a separate interschool competition. [7]
Through the IGSSA competition, secondary students may participate in: Rhythmic gymnastics, Artistic gymnastics, Athletics, Cricket, Cross country, Waterpolo, Diving, Swimming, Hockey, Tennis, Netball, and Softball. External to IGSSA, Wenona students may also participate in Equestrian, Indoor hockey, Indoor soccer, Fencing, skiing, and snowboarding and Touch football. [7]
Alumnae of Woodstock/Wenona are known as Old Girls or Wenonians, and may choose to join the school's alumni association, the Wenonians Inc. [9] Some notable Wenonians include:
Ravenswood School for Girls 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.
Abbotsleigh is an independent Anglican early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Wahroonga, on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
For the independent special school see More House School, Frensham
Hornsby Girls' High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for girls, located in Hornsby, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1930, the school's first principal was Sarah Agnes Angus Brewster.
Loreto Kirribilli is an independent Catholic comprehensive single-sex primary and secondary day school for girls, located in Kirribilli, a Lower North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Presbyterian Ladies' College, is an independent, day and boarding school predominantly for girls, situated in Peppermint Grove, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney is an independent Presbyterian single-sex early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Croydon, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy for all years except Year 11, and caters for approximately 1,250 girls from age four to age eighteen, including 65 boarders. Students attend PLC from all regions of the greater metropolitan area, New South Wales, and overseas.
The Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS), is an Australian association for independent girls' schools, founded in New South Wales, Australia.
The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for girls. The school is located in Armidale, a large rural town with a population of 28,000 in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia.
Ascham School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for girls, located in Edgecliff, an Eastern Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Queenwood School for Girls, often abbreviated as Queenwood, is a multi-campus independent non-denominational Christian primary and secondary day school for girls, located in the suburb of Mosman, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Tara Anglican School for Girls is an independent Anglican single-sex, early learning, primary, secondary, day, and boarding school for girls, located in North Parramatta, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
NEGS is an independent Anglican school. Located in Armidale, Northern NSW, NEGS provides an educational experience for both boys and girls in Junior School and a tailored learning environment for young women in Senior School, with boarding houses to facilitate the educational needs of students located outside of Armidale.
Seymour College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for girls, located at Glen Osmond, Adelaide, South Australia.
Kincoppal-Rose Bay, School of the Sacred Heart, is an independent Roman Catholic early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school, predominantly for girls, located in Rose Bay, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association, was established in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1922 with five founding members, all of them independent girls' schools.
St Clare's College is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for girls, located in Waverley, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
St Catherine's School is an independent and non-denominational Christian day and boarding school for girls, located in Toorak, an inner south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Iona Presentation College is an independent Catholic early learning, primary and secondary school. It is located in Mosman Park, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Edith Marion Ralston was an Australian headmistress who owned and expanded Wenona School in Sydney. In 1959 she gave the school away to a non-profit company so that it could continue.