Our School

Heritage Trail Interactive Map

Roll over each marker on the map to see more information.

We are most grateful to the Old Ruytonians' Association for the ORA Heritage Trail which was unveiled on Nov 25, 2012. The details on this map come from the signs around Ruyton which were installed as part of the ORA Heritage Trail.

Aquatic Centre Henty House The Quadrangle Royce Hall Derham House The Derham House Fountain Junior School Little Ruyton Playground Little Ruyton House Hiscock Court L B Jacobs Centre Science Building and Tuckshop The North Verandah Prue Gillies Building Water Tanks The Pagoda The Moreton Bay fig South House The John Bate PE Centre Ruyton Art and Craft House
Selbourne Road Wellington Street Coleridge Street Fitzwilliam Street
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RuytonAquatic

Aquatic Centre

Adjoining the John Bate Physical Education Centre, the Aquatic Centre building was opened in 2008, made possible through the generosity of donors. The centre features a 25 metre heated indoor swimming pool and purpose-built heated learning pool. A strength and fitness room overlooks the pools from a mezzanine level.

Henty

Henty House

Built by Mr Henry Henty (1872), Tarring was purchased by Miss Hilda Daniell, OBE (Principal 1913 -1952) in 1919 as a home for Ruyton. It was used as the boarding-house until 1971.
Since moving to this site in 1920 the Principal’s office has always been in Henty House.

quadgrangle

The Quadrangle

A pleasant retreat for students, the Quadrangle (1956) was completed with the building of the Hilda Daniell Wing. It was demolished in 2004 to make way for the Foundation Building.
Note how the shape of the verandah barrier is still reflected around the School today.

royce

Royce Hall

Named after Mr A L Royce (School Council 1929-1955, Chairman 1949-1955). The hall (1960) was rebuilt and opened as The Royce Theatre by Mr Geoffrey Rush in 1998. The Menzies Gallery was named in recognition of a generous gift to the School by the Menzies family.

derham

Derham House

Mount View (1888) was built by architect Mr Frederick deGaris as his own home and purchased by Ruyton in 1959.
In 1961 it was renamed Derham House after well-loved English and French teacher Mrs Dorothy Derham who taught for 42 years at the School.
Generations of Derhams attended Ruyton.

derhamFountain

The Derham House Fountain

Thought to be contemporary with the house (circa 1888), the cast concrete fountain was
manufactured by Mr E Murphy of City Road, South Melbourne. While no longer flowing with water it is still a feature of playground space in the Junior School.

juniorschool

Junior School

On May 24 2017, the Junior School girls celebrated the official opening of the Junior School redevelopment, sharing with us their reflections, hopes and dreams through song and speech, along with their thanks for this amazing place of learning.

Mr Peter Kanat, President of the Ruyton Board, and Mrs Fiona Griffiths, Chair of the Ruyton Foundation, formally opened the redevelopment of the Junior School in the presence of students, staff, parents and board members.

A time capsule including mementoes and reflections from this day will be opened in 2037, and we trust that our future students and staff will appreciate the opportunity to share this important time in our history.

ruytonPlayground

Little Ruyton Playground

(1984) Little Ruyton was established in 1920 and moved to 88 Wellington Street in 1984.
The playground has been enjoyed by generations of Ruyton students.

littleruytonhouse

Little Ruyton House

Opened in 1984 as an Early Learning Centre, at times it also incorporated Junior School classrooms. In 2010 Little Ruyton merged with Ruyton Early Learning Centre (Fitzwilliam Street) and the house was demolished to make way for the new Junior School Building.

HiscockCourt

Hiscock Court

Opened with the Margaret McRae Centre, also in 1989, it was named in recognition of the substantial contribution made to the School by the Hiscock Family

JacobsCentre

L B Jacobs Centre

(1973) Named after Mr Leonard B Jacobs, Chairman of the School Council from 1957
to 1973, substantial alterations were made during the construction of the Prue Gillies
Building (2005).

Tuckshop

Science Building and Tuckshop

The Science Building (erected 1927) and the Tuckshop were demolished to allow for the building of the L B Jacobs Centre completed in 1973.

NorthVerandah

The North Verandah

The boarding-house began in 1882 when the School moved to Edgecomb and grew to 25 boarders in the early 1900s. In 1920 the sleeping out balcony was built on top of the North Verandah, Henty House, to accommodate the Senior boarders.
It began as an open balcony before being fitted with canvas blinds and later, louvred windows. The boarding-house was closed in 1971, and in 1995 the dormitory was demolished and the North Verandah restored.

Gillies

Prue Gillies Building

(2005) Named after Mrs Prue Gillies, AM who was the Principal at Ruyton from 1985 – 1999. Mrs Gillies is fondly remembered at the School (along with her dog Jasper).
As well as learning spaces, this building is home to the Year 12 Penthouse.

WaterTanks

Water Tanks

The rainwater tanks alongside the oval were designed to represent the molecular
structure for water, H2O.
Each group of three tanks symbolise oxygen (silver) and hydrogen (dark grey), with the brickwork representing the bond each hydrogen atom has with the oxygen atom.
There are three water molecules in this garden.

Pagoda

The Pagoda

The Burmese Pagoda (1880) was purchased by Mr Henry Henty at the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880. It was installed as a summer house at the south-east end of Tarring (Henty House) where the Prue Gillies Building meets the oval.

fig

The Moreton Bay fig

The fig tree (Ficus Macrophylla) has long been synonymous with Ruyton. In 1988 the National Trust classified the tree as significant.
There is no official record of its planting but it is fondly remembered by Ruytonians, young and old.

southhouse

South House

Frome(1911) was purchased in 1966 from the Shew family whose girls attended Ruyton.
Renamed South House it has served as class and craft rooms, Senior humanities and drama, the swap shop, the Year 12 Centre, a space for Questers and the Development Office.

JohnBatePE

The John Bate PE Centre

(1992) Mr John Bate was Chairman of the School Council from 1978 to 1992, and the Bate family have a long history at Ruyton. The Aquatic Centre adjoining this building was opened in 2008, made possible through the generosity of donors.

CraftHouse

Ruyton Art and Craft House

Opened in 1979, it was used by students until 1992. From 1993 it was a Pre Prep school. In 2010, extensive renovations enabled Little Ruyton (Wellington Street) to also be accommodated on this site.
It is now known as the Ruyton Early Learning Centre.