Anne Johnstone, Principal of Ravenswood School for Girls
It is a joy to have been appointed the 10th Principal of Ravenswood School for Girls.
There’s a wonderful old saying: ‘A Teacher Affects Eternity, They Can Never Tell Where Their Influence Stops’ (Henry Adams). Being a teacher, and indeed a Principal, is such an incredible privilege and responsibility. We are part of an altruistic and potentially world-changing profession. I am inspired by our students every day, and I hope that through my role, I can make a positive contribution to their lives every day, too.
So what are my goals as Principal? In essence I hope to help our students, and staff, fulfil their potential and flourish in all aspects of their lives. We have so many rich and vibrant networks in our community and across generations of girls with links spanning from our founding in 1901. We are also a day and boarding school that offers both the HSC and IB Diploma. It is my goal to promote a sense of engagement and belonging across the entire Ravenswood community, locally, nationally and internationally.
At Ravenswood we are dedicated to the pursuit of academic excellence and wholeheartedly committed to the best in education for girls. We offer a multifaceted and balanced curriculum that supports academic, cultural, spiritual and practical areas of learning and development. In experiencing such an education, I hope our students continue to build upon their talents and skills, and also discover new horizons, new areas of interest and passion.
We are also committed to fostering our students’ wellbeing through Positive Psychology. Positive Psychology is often referred to as the science of optimal functioning as it offers a range of evidence-based approaches and interventions that promote wellbeing and resilience. I believe this is vitally important in seeking to provide an excellent education as it not only helps develop character but also promotes learning and achievement.
Applying these strategies in an educational setting (‘Positive Education’) enables us to help our students discover their own strengths and how to harness these to find a greater sense of engagement and flow so as to optimise their learning and their experiences both within and beyond the classroom. Positive Education also encourages students to pursue purposeful goals and meaningful lives; serving causes greater than themselves and in doing so being other-person centred rather than self-focused. It also assists with encouraging girls to see strengths in each other, and offers strategies for fostering good relationships.
In this regard, my aim is to help students experience greater levels of positive emotion and establish optimistic habits of mind that are helpful in propelling them forward in their learning and development; establishing a positive self-concept and building resilience, so they can bounce back from setbacks. I am excited about sharing with our girls the importance of grit, that is, tenacious, dogged perseverance and how important effort and hard work is in terms of becoming a powerful learner, and developing and mastering new skills. A growth mindset is critical – research shows that if we believe that we can improve our abilities with effort, put that effort into our learning then we will see tremendous results!
Philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “what lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what is inside of you”.
I hope at Ravenswood our girls come to recognise that they each have a unique profile of character strengths – be they courage, integrity, kindness, citizenship, love of learning, curiosity, social intelligence, self-control, – or enthusiasm and zest – just to name a few.
Finally, through their education at Ravenswood, I hope our girls will come to realise the wisdom and significance of our school motto: semper ad meliora – ‘always towards better things.’ As Principal, I look forward to helping our students go from strength-to-strength: continually learning, growing and developing in every way – and encouraging them to look to the future with hope, because it really is bright with possibilities!
