Stratherne Presbyterian Girls School

Received a lovely gift from Diane Rose of our very flash blazer badge, and a heading from her Mothercraft book, 1958.
Thank you Diane. 🙏😊

Hello Old Girls!
Thanks to a reminder from another old girl, June Anderson, I was prompted to announce the sad news of Helen Reddy's passing. Helen attended Stratherne briefly in the 1950's after her previous school, Tintern, moved location.
Coincidentally, I knew her Mum and Dad, Max Reddy and Stella Lamond. They were great fun and terrific variety performers. Variety shows were 'big' those days. They also enjoyed the odd drink or three! Terrific show biz people.
I wonder if any old girls remember being at Stratherne when Helen was there. She didn't stay long. Helen wasn’t the studious type. She left Stratherne at only fifteen.
Here's a bit from the SMH which I am paraphrasing.
She was born Helen Maxine Almond Reddy in Melbourne on October 25, 1941, and made her singing debut with her parents' show in Perth in 1946, billed as Baby Helen Reddy. In Melbourne she attended Tintern Church of England Girls Grammar School and dreamed of being a film star. Her mother, dear Stella was her first singing teacher (instilling the importance of the lyric), her sister her first dance teacher and at nine she began learning piano. When she moved to Stratherne Presbyterian Girls School she studied drama, and by the age of 12 was adding voices to her father's radio comedies.
The rest is history really... if anyone has a further comment to make regarding Helen, please feel free.
As her father, Max, would say, "She did alright!"

Hello Old Girls... I mean that in the nicest way, of course.
Someone would like to know what schools our girls attended after Stratherne was closed down. I think that is an interesting query, don’t you?
We know some of you went to Camberwell Girls Grammar and were permitted to continue wearing their Stratherne uniforms. But where did other girls go? Let us know if possible. Thanks in advance...

Greetings fellow Old Strathernians!
I hope you are all well and happy. I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas again!
Just a short update...
I’ve noticed that this page gets a great many views, but almost no one 'Likes' our lovely page. Girls, ladies! Please Like our page and keep it going. That would be terrific, thanks.
Also, this is a callout to any of you who might have photos or articles about our old school to post here. Surely some of you must still have an interesting snippet or story about your experiences at Stratherne, your friends and teachers, or any photos or articles you may have kept in your archives.
Does anyone have a photo of Miss Muriel Horlock? Or their teachers or school friends?
If you do have something new to add, but are not sure how to go about it, please enlist someone to help you. I’m sure it would be much appreciated by all.

By the way... the Like button I’d love you to press is at the top of the page under the cover photo. 😊
Thanks in advance... Leonie Ganivet (née Puls)

We have been very fortunate to have received some wonderful old photos and other information from Judi Willis-Robson, whose grandmother, Ethel Hazel Swyer, (known as Hazel) attended Stratherne from 1907 - 1911.
Thank you so much Judi!
Note: We have re-processed the old photos and transcribed all the other information such as, "Teaching Staff" and "Fees Per Term" for easier perusal. Enjoy!

THE ARGUS - MELBOURNE VICTORIA, 1848 – 1957
Issue Tuesday the 11th of December, 1934.
STRATHERNE PRESBYTERIAN GIRLS' GRAMMAR SCHOOL
EMPHASIS ON STRENGTH OF CHARACTER AND THE SCHOOL'S HIGH IDEALS.

The Misses B.S. & J.A.THOMSON - Founders
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, the Right Rev John Mackenzie, presided at the annual speech night of Stratherne Presbyterian Girls' Grammar School in Hawthorn Town Hall last night. (Monday, the 10th of December, 1934)
In the course of an address the Moderator recalled that the school buildings had been presented to the Presbyterian Church by the late Mr Hunter Patterson. The Church had always been distinguished he said, by its emphasis upon the right kind of education as a factor of supreme importance in the development of character and in the true progress of nations. He wished that modern Presbyterians were as convinced upon this point as some of the pioneers and that they would remember that while charity may be ministered to the needs of the moment, a wide and generous system of education would largely eliminate the necessity for charity. In the last century women had played a larger part in public affairs than ever before. The athletic life for women in every age and land was to be found not so much on the racing track and the sports ground as in the many spheres of science to which women obviously had a special call and for which they had been given a special endowment.
In the principal’s report which was read by the Reverend A. Irving Davidson, chairman of the school committee, the Misses B. S. and J. A. Thomson pointed out that to obtain the best results in character building and balance in life, it was essential that school and home must work together. The ideal of strength and beauty of character must be kept before the children. Teachers and parents must aim at the cultivation of strength of character in the children through an ever broadening interest in the activities and concerns of the world around them and the cultivation of a sense of beauty, which is really beauty of character through the ideals that are placed before them.
According to the report the year’s work has been of a very high standard. In public examinations 1934, six candidates completed the intermediate certificate and two others passed in five subjects each. One leaving pass as well as one partial pass was obtained. Though we do not hold that public examinations are the be all and end all of school life we believe they have a very definite use for those who are capable of passing in them. It must be remembered however that there is a large number of girls whose talents lie in other directions. Such girls may obtain the cultural training they need for proper balance in the senior classes, and at the same time, may develop the practical or artistic side of their natures by such interests as domestic science, needlework, nature study, music, drawing and sketching, the report continued.
The house system which is worked out on the basis of work, sport, and general usefulness to the school, does much to foster school spirit, and is thereby a preparation for the wider community life that comes when school days are over, and that year by year calls for more devoted service and faithfulness.
At the beginning of the year we opened a Branch Kindergarten and Primary school in the Hawthorn Presbyterian Sunday school. Although numbers have not been large Little Stratherne shows signs of growth and we would ask for the interest and support of all who can recommend it to parents of young children in that neighbourhood.
Prize List

Hello Girls...
A PDF copy of the 1930's Stratherne Echoes is now available. It includes photos of the sports teams and other interesting information. Anyone interested in a free copy can email me at: [email protected]. It will be sent to you as an attachment which you can open and read on your computer, iPad or phone.
Cheers, Leonie.

THE ARGUS – MELBOURNE
Thursday, the 20th of October, 1938.
STRATHERNE SCHOOL PRESBYTERIAN GIRL GRAMMAR SCHOOL
New Head Mistress
Miss Elizabeth Macfie, who is at present on the staff of the Launceston Methodist Ladies' College, has been appointed head mistress of Stratherne Presbyterian Girls' Grammar School, Hawthorn.
Miss Macfie succeeds the Misses Thomson, who have been in charge of the school for 24 years.
Miss Macfie was selected from a number of applicants by the board of education of the Presbyterian Church as being, eminently suited for the organisation of the new developments in education. The plans of the school aim particularly at the training of girls at the primary and intermediate stages.
Miss Macfie has held posts in India, where she was head mistress of a school in Aurangabad, and at a boys' school in Rhodesia, where for nine years she was at the Ruzawi School, Marondellas. Later Miss Macfie went to Great Britain, where she took a refresher course before returning to Australia. At the beginning of 1938 she was appointed to the staff of Launceston M.L.C.
Miss Macfie trained as a teacher in Melbourne at the Training College under a former Director of Education (Mr. J. McRae). Her first appointment was to the Kew Preparatory School.
Miss Macfie's hobbles are pointing in water-colour, gardening, and golf. She will be in Melbourne at the end of the year.
Today, 3 p.m. - Women's "Hospital auxiliary, Brighton Beach branch, Australian tea at the home of Mrs. Norman Harris, 13 Park Street, Brighton.

THE ARGUS - MELBOURNE VICTORIA, 1848 – 1957
Issue Tuesday the 11th of December, 1934.
STRATHERNE PRESBYTERIAN GIRLS' GRAMMAR SCHOOL
EMPHASIS ON STRENGTH OF CHARACTER AND THE SCHOOL'S HIGH IDEALS.

The Misses B.S. & J.A.THOMSON - Founders
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, the Right Rev John Mackenzie, presided at the annual speech night of Stratherne Presbyterian Girls' Grammar School in Hawthorn Town Hall last night. (Monday, the 10th of December, 1934)
In the course of an address the Moderator recalled that the school buildings had been presented to the Presbyterian Church by the late Mr Hunter Patterson. The Church had always been distinguished he said, by its emphasis upon the right kind of education as a factor of supreme importance in the development of character and in the true progress of nations. He wished that modern Presbyterians were as convinced upon this point as some of the pioneers and that they would remember that while charity may be ministered to the needs of the moment, a wide and generous system of education would largely eliminate the necessity for charity. In the last century women had played a larger part in public affairs than ever before. The athletic life for women in every age and land was to be found not so much on the racing track and the sports ground as in the many spheres of science to which women obviously had a special call and for which they had been given a special endowment.
In the principal’s report which was read by the Reverend A. Irving Davidson, chairman of the school committee, the Misses B. S. and J. A. Thomson pointed out that to obtain the best results in character building and balance in life, it was essential that school and home must work together. The ideal of strength and beauty of character must be kept before the children. Teachers and parents must aim at the cultivation of strength of character in the children through an ever broadening interest in the activities and concerns of the world around them and the cultivation of a sense of beauty, which is really beauty of character through the ideals that are placed before them.
According to the report the year’s work has been of a very high standard. In public examinations 1934, six candidates completed the intermediate certificate and two others passed in five subjects each. One leaving pass as well as one partial pass was obtained. Though we do not hold that public examinations are the be all and end all of school life we believe they have a very definite use for those who are capable of passing in them. It must be remembered however that there is a large number of girls whose talents lie in other directions. Such girls may obtain the cultural training they need for proper balance in the senior classes, and at the same time, may develop the practical or artistic side of their natures by such interests as domestic science, needlework, nature study, music, drawing and sketching, the report continued.
The house system which is worked out on the basis of work, sport, and general usefulness to the school, does much to foster school spirit, and is thereby a preparation for the wider community life that comes when school days are over, and that year by year calls for more devoted service and faithfulness.
At the beginning of the year we opened a Branch Kindergarten and Primary school in the Hawthorn Presbyterian Sunday school. Although numbers have not been large Little Stratherne shows signs of growth and we would ask for the interest and support of all who can recommend it to parents of young children in that neighbourhood.
Prize List
The prizes which were distributed by the Moderator were -
FORM PRIZES-Form VI A Townshend of school (A H Dare Memorial Prize) Form V Intermediate L Cadsdon Form Va S Sim» Form Vb J Philip Torm IVn B Phillp Form IVb P Corben Form Illa B Paterson Form Illb D Thompson Form Ila W coates Form nb B Smith
SUBJECT PRIZES - Scripture A Towns (Wilson Bequest Presbyterian Church of Victoria) B Leonard h Thompson S Sha» J Phillp B 1 hlllp JE es, B Paterson D Thompson english Histor) Geography Group A Towns I, Thompson S shaw J Phillp B Phillp P Corben Languages L Oadsden K Ague»1 J Phillp B Philip French and Arithmetic P Corben
Mathematics Ia Oadsden B Milne J Philip B IV lllp Mathematics and Science B LeonnnJ Botany L Thompson N Muir J Phillp B Philip Geography and Nature Study P Corben PInnoforto E Bosse M Lawson I Cameron M Iiiuka B Phillp A Scott Singing E Bosse Dru ving L Craw ford N Cole B Paterson D Thompson Needlework B Davidson M Ilzukn J Hocking M Renouf P Cm ben B Paterson Physical Culture P Robinson B Phillp
Dancing L Thompson P Corben Dramatic M Brodribb Dressmaking O Mcclelland I Cameron M Bcenle Best Kept Books " Muir
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE SHIELD J Phillp IF2 9 on years work) Mirrie Vaughan Cup (Work ind Sport) L Thompson Ailsa Mactlcr Cun (I nprovement Senior School! M Brod- ribb Alma Pedersen Cup (Improvement Junior School) B Dawborn
SPORTS - Tennis Champion U Hutton Runner up M Bcenle Junior Tennis E Cole Basket ball L Thompson
PREFECTS -L Thompson (head) B Leon and P Robinson A Towns
CERTIFICATES -Honours (BO Per Cent) A Towns L Gadsdon 8 Shaw N Muir B Milne K Agnew J Hocking M Ilzuko J Phillp B Phllin N Cole M Renou! P Corben M Coates B Paterson N Pntrlkcos D Thompson W Coates J McNaughton M Patrll eos B Smith
Credit (70 Per Cent I B leonard P Robin son I Thompson S Robinson D Ballour B Reid
Pass (00 Per Cent ) O Mcclelland M B Ills E Bosse P Acklom M Luwon O Irving A Terome J Wothersnoon M Brodiibb L Crass ford A Dayncs L Hooper B Johnson R Llnncv J Launder
Music- Grade v B Phillp A Scott P Cor ben M Iizuka Grades IV and III M I aw *rr\ r Bosse I Cameron Physical Culture N Muir D Balfour B Dswborn A Holt Needle oik F Colo A Davnes M Farrell 1 Hocking I Hooper M Ilzuko B lohnson J Phllin M Coatrs B Patterson N Pntrlkcos

We would love to receive more photos and comments from Old Girls. Or any information that may be of interest.

Photo taken by David Holmes at Stratherne's last Speech Night, December 1968.

Another one...