Welcome to Ravenswood
Ravenswood School for Girls is one of the top academic girls school in NSW, and the only school on Sydney’s Upper North Shore to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma to Senior School students.
Ravenswood is a multi-award-winning Uniting Church Prep to Year 12 Day and Boarding school, globally recognised for its leadership and innovations in Positive Education and wellbeing programs. Ravenswood 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.
Electives
Ravenswood students have access to more than 100 diverse co-curricular choices, from Acro Dance to AFL and Theatresports to Tennis. We were the first girls’ school on Sydney’s north shore to offer Cadets with the Knox Ravenswood Cadet Unit, in partnership with our brother school, Knox Grammar School. Further co-educational opportunities conducted with Knox include a Student-Led Wellbeing Conference, Global Exchanges and Immersions and performing arts productions.
Subjects in Years 11 and 12 include but are by no means limited to: Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Community and Family Studies, Design and Technology, Economics, English (Advanced, Standard, EALD, Extension 1 and 2), Chinese Continuers and Extension, Chinese in Context, Chinese and Literature, Ancient and Modern History, History Extension, Drama, Latin Continuers and Extension, Food Technology, French Continuers and Extension, German Continuers and Extension, Geography, Health and Movement Science, Hospitality Curriculum Framework, Japanese Continuers and Extension, Legal Studies, Mathematics (Advanced, Standard, Extension 1 and Extension 2), Music 1 and 2, Music Extension, Physics, Science Extension, Society and Culture, Studies of Religion 1, Studies of Religion 2, Textiles and Design, Visual Arts.
Core Subjects in Years 9 and 10 include: English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Personal Development Health and Physical Education, Religious Education, Science.
Elective Subjects in Years 9 and 10 include: Chinese, Commerce, Computing Technology, Design and Technology, Drama, French, Food Technology, German, History Elective, Japanese, Latin, Music, Photographic and Digital Media, Physical Activity and Sports Studies, Textiles Technology, Visual Arts
Core Subjects in Years 7 and 8 include: English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Music, Personal Development Health and Physical Education, Religious Education, Science, Technology, Visual Arts
Electives and Languages in Year 8 include: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Commerce
Languages in Year 7 include: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin
International Baccalaureate
Ravenswood is the only school on Sydney’s Upper North Shore to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This rigorous two-year course for Years 11 and 12 is recognised internationally and provides access to tertiary education worldwide.
Students in the Ravenswood Junior School from Kindergarten to Year 6 complete the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, an inquiry-based, student-centered, transdisciplinary curriculum framework.
Girls in the pre-kindergarten program Ravenswood Prep, benefit from a curriculum that combines the best of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, Reggio Emilia and Ravenswood’s own award-winning Positive Education approach.
Scholarships
Ravenswood offers a number of scholarships each year to current or new Ravenswood students, covering both full and part tuition fees.
Ravenswood scholarships are conducted by Academic Assessment Services.
Available scholarships include:
• Music Scholarships
• Kim Buchan All Rounder Scholarship
• The Margaret Donaldson Scholarship
• Ravenswood Alumni Scholarship
• The Rural Residential Scholarship
• Creative Arts Scholarships
• Australian Indigenous Education Foundation Scholarship for Boarders
Sport and Extracurricular Activities
Sport Activities at Ravenswood include:
AFL, tennis, basketball, hockey, netball, swimming, athletics, golf, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, diving, trampolining, water polo, cross country, equestrian, football, snow sports, rugby sevens and touch football. Elective sports include aerobics, jazz dance, life-saving, indoor rock climbing, aqua aerobics, surf awareness, football, social tennis, driver education, sports injury and oxy-resuscitation.
Saturday Sport is offered for girls in Years 4-6 at Ravenswood for the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) competitions and for Years 7-12 for the Independent Girls Schools Sporting Association (IGSSA) competitions.
Curricular related lessons are also available for tennis, swimming, golf, diving, trampolining, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics.
Extracurricular activities at Ravenswood: Cadets, Crusaders, coding, VEX robotics, drama, debating, dance, public speaking, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, Year 11 community involvement, theatre technical team, chess club, orchestra, concert band, musicals, choirs, chamber orchestra, ensembles, theatre sports.
Welfare and Personal Development
Ravenswood was the first Visible Wellbeing School in NSW, has won six Innovative Schools awards in seven years and has been recognised in the Australian Education Awards for Best Wellbeing Program three times (2021, 2022 and 2024) for our Positive Education approach. Comprised of curriculum lessons, mentor group sessions, assemblies, chapel services, year group meetings and more, wellbeing at Ravenswood is conducted by a network of class teachers, mentors, year and assistant year coordinators, the School Chaplain, Head of Senior School, Head of Positive Education, psychologists, the Learning Enrichment team, the Health Care Unit and our two therapy dogs, Daisy and Penny.