An extraordinary Giving Day on Love RAVO Day

 

On Friday 2 June, Ravenswood hosted its second-ever 24-hour Giving Day appeal on Love RAVO Day, with generous donors playing a significant role in raising an extraordinary $630,000.

Since 1901, Ravenswood 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. Students become part of the RAVO sisterhood, forming lifelong friendships as they ignite their potential and flourish, enabling them to thrive so that they can lead meaningful and purposeful lives.

Educating and empowering young women is at the heart of Ravenswood. Together, on Giving Day on Love RAVO Day, our Ravenswood community made a difference by making a life-changing gift towards the Ravenswood School for Girls Scholarship Fund, and the Building Fund to support the development of the new state-of-the-art Wellbeing and Sport Centre.

‘Thank you for your valuable contribution to the School,’ said Principal Mrs Anne Johnstone. ‘Together you have helped us to continue to provide a depth and breadth of learning experiences and world-class educational opportunities for our students – semper ad meliora – always towards better things.’

Ravenswood Alumni, IB Dux 2021 and Academic Scholarship recipient Laura Zhang (2021), also thanked donors, saying, ‘If I hadn’t received my Scholarship, I don’t think I would be attending the University I am attending, Princeton University in the US because they really value a student who is academic vigorous and someone who has shown involvement in their community and extracurricular. Thank you so much for allowing one more girl to be able to achieve what they always dreamt of achieving.’

Through donating to the Building Fund, generous donors have also played a significant role in the next chapter of the Ravenswood campus development. Donors have supported Ravenswood in advancing the Ravenswood Masterplan of the new Wellbeing and Sport Centre that will create a new state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment for present and future generations of students.

‘The Wellbeing and Sport Centre, a new world-class educational facility with spaces that support and contribute to all aspects of student wellbeing, will be an important visible expression of the School’s multi-award winning Positive Education program and philosophy,’ says Mrs Johnstone. ‘The next phase of our campus development recognises that learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked and that a holistic education offers exciting opportunities both within and beyond the classroom – including through the performing arts and sport.’

Thanks to the generous support of Giving Day 2021 donors, the School also opened a new Wellbeing Path on Giving Day on Love RAVO Day. The Wellbeing Path is an 800-metre loop within the perimeter of our campus promoting outdoor exercise and mindfulness. Students and staff celebrated their love for the School and their indomitable semper ad meliora RAVO spirit, exploring the inspirational quotes on the ground and colourful art installations designed by Alumni Jennifer Turpin (1975) and her team at Turpin Studios.

Principal Mrs Anne Johnstone inspired students and staff at an all-School Assembly on the Oval to celebrate the Wellbeing Path opening, explaining the Positive Education and wellbeing benefits of walking the Wellbeing Path. ‘The Wellbeing Path will provide an opportunity for our students and staff to enjoy the tremendous benefits of exercising in nature which support physical and mental health, along with learning,’ she says. ‘We look forward to encouraging our students to take time during breaks or even through guided lessons to walk and talk together, and to enjoy the beauty of our natural surroundings on campus through savouring and mindfulness.’