# Wenona School

Wenona School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for girls, located in the Sydney suburb of North Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia.
Founded by Miss Edith Hooke in 1886 as Woodstock School, Wenona has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,000 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, including 50 boarders in Years 7 to 12.
The school is affiliated with the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), and the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).

## History

Woodstock School was founded in 1886 by Edith Hooke who was prominent in educational circles at the time. Miss Hooke selected the motto Ut Prosim, that I may serve, which she transferred to Wenona School in April 1913, a preparatory school with the same colours and crest and an enrolment of 40 which she established in place of Woodstock. The close relationship between the schools is reflected in the name Wenona, thought to have been chosen by the school's founder, a devotee of Longfellow, from his poem The Song of Hiawatha, in which Wenonah is a first-born daughter.
When the founder left the school in February 1920 due to an illness in her family, Ms Messiter, a former pupil of Woodstock, stepped in to watch over the school. Another former Woodstock student, Edith Marion Ralston, became Principal and owner later in 1920. In 1922, she moved the school to its current site in Walker Street, North Sydney, through the purchase of an extensive property, and opened the school's first boarding house. In 1930 there were 200 students and Ralston bought three surrounding properties to allow for further expansion. When World War II started she refused to relocate the school deciding that "Business as Usual" should be the school's approach. Ralston was a strong personality and she rose to be the President of the Headmistresses' Association of Australia. When she retired and sold the school to a non-profit in 1959 there were 650 girls in the school.

## Principals

The following individuals have served as Principal of Wenona School:
| Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes |
| 1 | Edith Hooke | 1886 | 1920 | 33–34 years | |
| 2 | Dorothy Messiter | 1920 | 1920 | 0 years | Acting |
| 3 | Edith M. Ralston | 1920 | 1963 | 42–43 years | |
| 4 | Frances M. Mills | 1963 | 1966 | 2–3 years | |
| 5 | Barbara Jackson | 1967 | 1994 | 26–27 years | |
| 6 | Margaret Hadley | 1995 | 2007 | 11–12 years | |
| 7 | Denise Thomas | 2007 | 2007 | 0 years | Acting |
| 8 | Dr Kerrie Wilde | 2008 | 2010 | 1–2 years | |
| 9 | Dr Elizabeth Guy | 2010 | 2011 | 0–1 years | Co-acting Principals |
| 9 | Julie Wiseman | 2010 | 2011 | 0–1 years | Co-acting Principals |
| 10 | Dr Briony Scott | 2011 | 2024 | 13–14 years | |
| 11 | Ms Linda Douglas | 2025 | | | |

## Campus

Situated on Miller and Walker streets in North Sydney, Wenona comprises a junior school (K to Year 6), including Woodstock Infants and Hooke Primary, a middle school (Year 7 to Year 9) and a senior college (Year 10 to Year 12). Up to 50 boarders are housed in the heritage Messiter and Ralston houses.
An evening study centre is staffed by teachers four evenings a week for senior college students. Sporting facilities include a Gymnasium including cricket nets, a tennis court and many more courts and indoor fields; a smaller gymnasium catering to dance and circuit activities; a 25-metre indoor swimming pool; and a weights room.

## Co-curriculum
### Music and performing arts

Music is compulsory in a number of junior and middle school years and for elective music students in Year 9 to Year 12. Music groups include vocal ensemble, senior choir, middle school choir, junior choir, infants choir, contemporary vocal group and petite voices. There are three rock bands which perform in an annual rock concert combining dance, vocals and instrumental music. The school also offers wind symphony, concert band, stage band, brass ensembles, flute, clarinet, and saxophone ensembles as well as string groups and an orchestra.
The school runs a musical in both the senior and junior school which alternates with the Performing Arts Showcase every second year. Musicals have included The Wizard of Oz, Kiss Me Kate, Little Shop of Horrors,High School Musical, and others. Other concerts include an annual choral concert, ensemble concert, carol service, rock concert, elective music concerts, and other events throughout the year.
Independent Theatre still operates in the building opened as the Coliseum Theatre in 1939, now run by Wenona School. The theatre provides the students a high quality venue for the performing arts, as well as being a community facility.

### Sport

Co-curricular sport is not compulsory at Wenona; however, students are encouraged to participate in competitive sport on Saturday mornings and at carnivals. Wenona teams participate in the competitions run by the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) for primary students, and the Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association (IGSA) for those in the secondary school.
Sports offered to junior students (Years 4 to 6) through IPSHA include: Hockey/Minkey, Softball/Tee-ball/Modball, Netball, Tennis, Athletics, Swimming, Diving and Gymnastics. Primary girls may also compete in Skiing and Snowboarding through a separate interschool competition.
Through the IGSSA competition, secondary students may participate in: Rhythmic gymnastics, Artistic gymnastics, Athletics, Cricket, Cross country, Waterpolo, Diving, Swimming, Hockey, Tennis, Netball, and Softball. External to IGSSA, Wenona students may also participate in Equestrian, Indoor hockey, Indoor soccer, Fencing, skiing, and snowboarding and Touch football.

## Notable alumni

Alumnae of Woodstock/Wenona are known as Old Girls or Wenonians, and may choose to join the school's alumni association, the Wenonians Inc. Some notable Wenonians include:

### Academic

* Ann Moyal AM – Author; Biographer; Social Historian of Science, Telecommunication and Technology; Recipient of the Centenary Medal 2003 (also attended Canberra High School)
* Beatrice Lilias Rennie – Headmistress and founder of Queenwood School for Girls

### Entertainment, media and the arts

* Ashleigh Cummings – Actress
* Jacqueline McKenzie – film, stage and television actress, artist and singer.
* Lyndey Milan – food and cooking show personality
* Wendy Paramor – Artist
* April Rose Pengilly – model, actress and daughter of INXS band member, Kirk Pengilly

### Medicine and the sciences

* Judith Dey – Pioneer in paediatrics including developmental disabilities
* Shirley Jeffrey – marine biologist

### Politics, public service and the law

* Hon. Justice Annabelle Claire Bennett AO (née Darin) – Judge of the Federal Court of Australia; Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory; Presidential Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; Recipient of the Centenary Medal 2003
* Peta Seaton – former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

### Sport

* Hannah Buckling – Water polo player
* Alexandra Green – Bronze medallist at paralympics
* Nicole Wickert – rugby union player