Chronicle 2019

Receives Havergal Old Girls Life Achievement Award RATCLIFFE Judy 1952

By Brenda Robson

I t is fitting that, as we celebrate the school’s 125th anniversary, the members of the Awards Committee of the Havergal Old Girls Association (HOGA) decided to bestow this honour on someone who has given her life to the school, been a strong and loyal ambassador for it and maintained contact with the friends she made there. That person is Judith Eleanor Ratcliffe, known to most as Miss Ratcliffe, Judy or Ratty. Judy grew up on Glenview Avenue, attended John Ross Robertson Public School – jeering, with her peers, at the girls in green uniforms heading to the school on the next block. In September 1947, she entered ‘the green school’, Havergal College as a Grade 9 student, following her sister, Nancy, who was in Grade 13.

The school became her second home. She was an excellent athlete, and the school offered a multitude of opportunities to play on teams throughout the year. Not only did her athleticism stand out, but so did her ability to lead. She was elected School Games Captain and was a Prefect in her final year and initiated, developed and ran a weekly Boarder Games with School Captain Gay Sellers. As time blurs the details of my youth, what holds fast in my memory about Ratty was that in her own quiet, observant and humble way, she knew her players: what made us laugh, what challenged us, what motivated us.Without pressure, she coached each of us to achieve our best, whatever it was. I believe that is how she defined victory: each girl would leave the game with a smile and knowledge that she made a valuable contribution.

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Ratty is a legend! - Jane Langford 1988

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