English

Public Speaking
Orator of the Year Award Years 7-10

All students in Years 7-10 deliver a formal oral presentation to their class as part of the Orator of the Year Awards. The two best presenters from each class are chosen to participate in the final of the Orator of the Year Award at each Year Level. Each final is judged by two teachers and the English Department thanks all those members of staff who acted as adjudicators for this year’s competitions. Once again, Ruyton students demonstrated outstanding poise and great eloquence when delivering their presentations. All girls are to be congratulated on their magnificent performances in the 2010 Orator of the Year Awards.

The Suzanne Northey Award (Year 11) and the Alan Patterson Award (Year 12)

In Years 11 and 12 competitors are required to deliver a prepared speech on a current issue or topic of their choice and a two minute impromptu speech which they have six minutes to prepare. This year’s impromptu topics were What The World Needs Now... (Year 11) and It’s Time ... (Year 12). This year’s competitions were co-adjudicated by Mr Sam Bryant and Mr Walter Zavattiero.

As has occurred in previous years, the Suzanne Northey and Alan Patterson Finals were celebrated and awarded at the Senior School Public Speaking Finals on the last day of Term 3. This year’s Grand Final of the Alan Patterson Award was co-adjudicated by Ms Julie Purcell (Head of the Ruyton LRC) and Ms Suzanne Northey (Ruyton Patron of Public Speaking). Congratulations to all girls who participated in this year’s competitions.

Year 11: The Suzanne Northey Award

• Winner – Georgina Baker
o Finalists
Nicaela Dwight (11CR) - Highly Commended Impromptu Speech
Claire Seton (11TY) – Highly Commended Impromptu Speech
Jacqui Evans (11CR) – Highly Commended Prepared Speech
Kate Elkington (11 CR) – Commended Prepared Speech
Kirsty Ha (11GC) – Highly Commended Prepared Speech
Lauren Markopoulos (11JK) – Commended Prepared Speech 
Hannah Maxwell (11JK) – Commended Impromptu Speech

Year 12: The Alan Patterson Award

o Winner – Madeleine Relly
o Finalist – Beryl Yan
o Finalist – Claire McBride
o Semi-Finalists
Sarah Bush (12DM)
Tamsin Gloster (12KG)
Julia Hendy (12KG)
Lucy Rimmer (12LK)

Plain English Speaking Award (PESA)

The Plain English Speaking Award is a prestigious competition which is run at State, National and International levels. Since 2003, the VCAA has been co-ordinating the event for Victoria. Students are required to present a prepared speech of six minutes on a subject of their choice and an impromptu speech of three minutes on a subject chosen by the VCAA. In 2010 two students competed in the Regional Finals, Beryl Yan (Year 12) and Nicaela Dwight (Year 11).

Rotary Club of Richmond Ainger Public Speaking Competition

This effective speaking contest, now in its twenty-first year, is open to secondary school students from interested schools in the Metropolitan Area. In 2010 Claire McBride (Year 12), Ella Pleasant (Year 12) and Jacqui Evans (Year 11) represented Ruyton in this competition.
 

Creative Writing
The Isobelle Carmody Award for Creative Writing

As they have for the previous 16 years, students in Years 7 to 11 participated in the annual Isobelle Carmody Creative Writing Competition. Once again, the quality of the writing was extremely high. The judge, professional writer Sue Lawson, was thoroughly impressed with the imagination and flair displayed in the short narratives and commended the students’ dedication to the craft of writing. Awards are given by the judge for the best writing at each year level and the Isobelle Carmody Award for Excellence is given for the overall School winner. We can look forward to seeing the winning stories published in Scripsi, the English Department's Literary Magazine.

Year 7
Winner Emma Bannister Faces in the Forest
Highly Commended Lucy Fowler Ronald's Bad Day
Commended Niamh McCarthy Lost

Year 8
Winner Deanne Xu Blind Love
Highly Commended Joanna Cookson Stormy Picture
Commended Gillian Lim Dollhouse

Year 9
Winner Zoe Hutton Hide and Seek
Highly Commended Bethany Hosking An Arrow of Remorse
Commended Kaitlin Fletcher Black Blood

Year 10
Winner Lucy Green Change
Highly Commended Giselle Reilly The End of Ennui
Commended Rylie Wallace Man's Best Friend

Year 11
Winner Jacqui Evans Seasons
Highly Commended Hannah Maxwell Possibilities
Commended Claire Seton Greenfinch

Overall Winner of 2010 Isobelle Carmody Award
Winner Lucy Green Change

Boroondara Literary Awards (BLA)

Since 1998, the City of Boroondara has run a prestigious Literary Competition in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Balwyn and Leader Newspapers. Every year since the competition’s inception, Ruyton students have been recognised with awards. In 2010, Ruyton students achieved outstanding success and achieved the following awards:

Junior Prose Division: 

Second Place Betty Xiong Family Portraits
Third Place Lauren Yip Roundabout

Senior Prose Division:
Third Place Giselle Reilly The End of Ennui

Highly Commended Jess Wat Remembering Home
Highly Commended Raine Giderson Leave the Shadows Behind Us
Highly Commended Angela Liu Shattering Reflections

Mr Sam Bryant  Dean of English

English Learning Curriculum and Learning

English Learning School Comparative Results

English Connecting Partnerships