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History of Foundation
The Lauriston Foundation was established in 1984 as the first foundation created within a girls’ independent school in Melbourne. Its initial purpose was ambitious: to raise $800,000 for a new swimming pool complex. The inaugural Board brought together a committed group of community leaders: Grahme Dixon (Chairman), Claude Ullin AM (Deputy Chair), Ruth Tideman AM (School Principal), John Calvert‑Jones AM, Evelyn Danos, Ian Goodwin, alongside representatives from each Foundation membership level.
From these beginnings, the Foundation has played a pivotal role in strengthening Lauriston’s reputation as a leading girls’ school in Australia and abroad. It has fostered meaningful engagement across generations of parents, staff, Old Lauristonians and friends, building a culture of philanthropy that continues to shape the School’s future.
The Foundation operates within Lauriston’s Advancement Office, with its administrative costs funded by the School. Its creation marked a turning point in Lauriston’s financial evolution: a new structure designed to secure long‑term stability, support major projects and ensure the School could continue to grow and thrive. As the first girls’ school in Melbourne to establish such an entity, Lauriston set a precedent for strategic, community‑driven investment in education.
Long before the Foundation was formally established, the spirit of aspiration was already alive in the School community. In December 1940, student Judith Malan captured a dream that would echo across decades:
Just think of it? If we could have a school
Composed of all the modern arts of man,
And built the way it looked upon the plan,
With buildings not too hot, yet not too cool.
And best of all we’d have a swimming pool,
Though some of us may even live to see
A school just like the one that I have seen
While in my sleep. And someone yet may deem
It fit to build a school for you and me
The most unique that there has ever been.
Her words foreshadowed the community’s future achievements, a reminder that Lauriston’s progress has always been fuelled by imagination, generosity and shared purpose.
