News and Events 2011

2008 Questers' Heritage Quilt - Celebrating Ruyton's 130th Year

One of the wonderful things about Ruyton is the artwork which appears in so many places around the buildings and grounds. In this way, we have an environment through which the girls learn to appreciate and value art as part of every day.

One Ruyton Parent Group, Questers, has provided the funds to either donate beautiful works of art to the School or commission the talent to create them.

To mark Ruyton's 130th Year, Questers commenced work on a commemorative quilt which is now completed and mounted on the wall of Henty House. This beautiful and intricate piece of art captures moments in time from Ruyton's past - from the Kia-ora Club (an interschool sports competition between independent girls schools established in 1902) to the recent opening of the Aquatic Centre in 2008.

One particular section of quilt portrays The Pagoda - an Indian tea house purchased by Henry Henty at the 1880 Melbourne Exhibition. In 1920, Ruyton Girls' School purchased Henty's land and house. The existing tea house was subsequently christened The Pagoda by the girls. This structure disappeared in the 1930s possibly to have made way for an enlarged hockey field. Remnants of the Pagoda have survived however, and are framed outside the Senior School Office.

Ruyton thanks Questers for this beautiful gift to the School.