Arts

Performing Arts

Dance Spring Challenge

On Sunday 19th October, our Year 5 and 6 dancers had an incredible day at the 2025 Dance Star Spring Challenge. Across all campuses, students delivered outstanding performances, demonstrating not only skill and precision, but also sportsmanship, teamwork, and resilience. We are incredibly proud of the dedication and effort they showed both on and off stage.

This year, Haileybury celebrated the success of 7 teams who medalled, with every campus receiving at least one medal. Congratulations to all our dancers, not only for their achievements on stage, but for the support, confidence, and kindness they showed towards their teammates throughout the day. It was a truly inspiring and memorable experience for everyone involved.

We are also deeply grateful to our coaches and coordinators, whose leadership, creativity, and guidance make these accomplishments possible. Your dedication and passion help our students thrive and bring routines to life.

1st place:

• Grease (Brighton Mega Troupe)

• Shake the Room (Berwick Small Jazz)

• Crew 91 (Keysborough Small Hip Hop)

• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Brighton Small Lyrical)

2nd place:

• Crocodile Rock (City Small Jazz)

• Star Status (Brighton Small Hip Hop)

3rd place:

• Hold On (Berwick Small Lyrical)

We thank all students, coaches, and coordinators for their commitment and hard work in the Haileybury Dance Program.

Nicole Smith
Head of Drama and Theatre Studies

Music

A Remarkable Year for Haileybury's Music Program

2025 has been another outstanding year for the Instrumental Music Department. It’s been immensely rewarding to see our students, families, and staff continue their shared journey of creativity, discipline, and artistic growth. The enthusiasm, commitment, and musical achievement displayed throughout the year have been nothing short of inspiring.

Haileybury now proudly supports more than 1,200 students receiving weekly instrumental lessons — a milestone that reflects the strength and reputation of our program. Demand remains exceptionally high, with many instruments now operating on waitlists. Families considering lessons in 2026 are encouraged to explore the Instrumental Music Handbook early to secure a place.

Across every campus, music continues to be a vibrant and visible part of daily school life. It’s common to see students carrying instruments to and from rehearsals, concerts, and classes — a wonderful reminder of how deeply embedded music is in Haileybury culture.

In the Senior School, the highlights of 2025 have included stunning performances at the Twilight Concert, Aria Night, Concerto Concert, Haileybury in Concert, Jazz Nights and Chamber in the Chapel.

Our Middle School musicians once again impressed audiences at the Term 2 Concert Series, where large and enthusiastic crowds witnessed exceptional performances. In addition to these large multi instrument family concerts each instrumental department also held smaller concerts that were able to focus on their particular instrumental discipline.

At the Junior School level, events such as the combined Scrolls String Concerts highlighted the energy and promise of our youngest musicians. Their performances reflected both the outstanding teaching of our string department and the joy that music brings to early learning. The final String Department concert, the Whole School Year 2 String Recital, is set to take place on the afternoon of November 24. I know this concert will be filled with enthusiasm and energy.

We now look forward to rounding out the year with our traditional Haileybury Carols at St Paul’s Cathedral, a celebration of community and culture that marks the close of another successful year. Families are warmly invited to join us on December 10 for an evening of beautiful music and festive spirit — a fitting finale to 2025.

Congratulations and thank you to every student, parent, and staff member who has contributed to another exceptional year of music at Haileybury.

Rod Marshall
Director of Performing Arts & Head of Haileybury Music

Visual Arts

Congratulations to the students of 2025

A huge congratulations to all Unit 3/4 Visual Arts students who have completed their VCAA final exams in recent days. We are so proud of your dedication, creativity, and growth throughout the year. We look forward to hearing about your next steps and encourage you to stay in touch as you continue your creative journeys.

Congratulations also to our Year 9 and Unit 1/2 students who have ended the 2025 academic year with exceptional folio work and examination results. Across Art, Design, and Media, students have shown impressive development in their ability to think critically, write insightfully, and express ideas visually.

A special mention goes to Zoe (Year 12, 2025), who has been invited to exhibit a selection of works from her Art Making and Exhibiting final series with the Koori Heritage Trust. Zoe’s collages are a powerful layering of “memory, identity, and truth-telling, interweaving family photographs, archival texts, maps, and letters to reflect on personal and collective histories of First Nations people”. As a proud Bidjara artist, Zoe’s work “weaves fragments into a unified narrative. The use of black, white and sepia tones evoke time passing, while painted motifs connect past and present, sharing the many layers of what has come before her and asking viewers to consider their own story”.

Junior and Middle School end of year exhibitions

The recent Castlefield Junior and Middle School Visual Arts Exhibition held earlier this month, and the upcoming Edrington, Newlands and City Exhibitions are a proud celebration of creativity, imagination, and the power of visual expression. Showcasing a diverse range of artworks across drawing, sculpture, design, and digital media, these exhibitions highlight the depth of learning taking place in our classrooms.

Students have explored real-world connections and collaborative projects, developing their own ideas and transforming them into beautifully resolved artworks. Each piece reflects curiosity, skill, and personal meaning, a true testament to the importance of Visual Arts in fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and emotional wellbeing.

These exhibitions are more than displays; they are celebrations of student voice and the creative journey that happens when young artists are encouraged to take risks and express themselves.

Please come along and celebrate our younger students’ creativity:

• Edrington: Friday 21 November
• Newlands: Thursday 27 November
• City: Wednesday 3 December

More details on the Hub.

Looking ahead to 2026

Welcome to our new 2026 cohorts as we hit the ground running for Term 1A. As you head into the summer break, here are some tips to make the most of your creative studies and prepare for a strong start to the new year:

Stay sensitive to your surroundings: Notice details, colours, textures, and light in the environments around you.

Develop good folio habits early: Keep visual and written records of your ideas, inspirations, and processes.

Engage with the creative landscape: Visit galleries, exhibitions, and cultural events in Melbourne and beyond.

Practice regularly: Dedicate time to making, experimenting, and refining skills – not just as study, but as a way to live well and find the ‘flow’ that fuels creativity and wellbeing.

Join the 2026 Art Collective

Calling all creators, curators, and big-picture thinkers! The Art Collective is a vibrant, student-led group open to anyone passionate about the visual arts – whether you study Art Making and Exhibiting, Media, or Visual Communication Design, or simply love being creative. Invitations will soon be sent through class announcements for students in Years 9–12 to join the Senior School Visual Arts Collective, and application information will be included for those looking to develop their leadership skills in this space.

From curating exhibitions and planning school-wide art events to creating murals and running competitions, the Collective brings together students who want to make and celebrate art – together. Led by our Art Captains and Vice Captains (applications welcome from Term1A, due by Mon 1^st December), but open to everyone across campuses (including Pangea), this is your space to collaborate, contribute, and leave your creative mark. Keep an eye out for the coming announcements or chat with any Visual Arts staff for more details.

Visual Arts Societies - Summer Season Launch

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new Visual Arts Societies, now up and running for the summer season!

This year, we welcome the inaugural groups of the Photography and Architecture Societies, and also the Set Design Society – a dynamic collaboration between Visual Arts and Performing Arts.

Led by passionate staff, these societies offer students a chance to explore their interests, learn about creative industries, and develop new practical skills. We can’t wait to showcase their discoveries and creations in Term 1. Here’s an example of the introductory typology task explored by the Photography Society in the weeks leading towards exams as they got to know the cameras: Nine distinct subjects - all linked by the common characteristic of shape - were photographed by the students. These images were then purposefully arranged into a grid. This comparative format allows for a focused study of their similarities and differences, revealing the visual power that repetition and form hold in composition.

Rachelle Rae
Head of Visual Arts Senior School

Pipes & Drums

Pipes & Drums farewell our Year 12 Graduates

The Haileybury Pipes & Drums were once again honoured to perform at the Year 12 Boys’ and Girls’ Graduation Ceremonies. The band proudly marched the graduates out of Aikman Hall for the final time — a moment filled with emotion, pride, and tradition, marking the end of an important chapter for the Class of 2025.

Our two Pipes Leaders, Pipe Major Brandon and Pipe Sergeant Hamish, also had the honour of performing as lone pipers to open the Valedictory Dinner celebrations. Their stirring renditions set a reflective and celebratory tone for the evening. It was a privilege for the Pipes & Drums to be involved in the Valedictory dinners for the very first time, an opportunity that highlighted the growing presence and importance of the band within the Haileybury community.

Pipes Tutor Tom Perry (OHA 2016) performed as Haileybury’s lone piper at the Pangea Graduation, providing a moving musical farewell that beautifully captured the spirit of the occasion. His performance served as a powerful reminder of the role music plays in connecting generations of Haileyburians.

The Haileybury Pipes & Drums competition bands are now in full preparation for their first contest of the season — the Daylesford Highland Gathering on 6 December. This much-anticipated event will mark the debut of several new competition players, who have joined the ranks with great enthusiasm and dedication. The band is working hard to refine its performances and is looking forward to representing Haileybury with pride at this historic gathering.

Haileybury Pipers join World Record attempt

Haileybury’s talented pipers proudly joined musicians from all over Australia at Federation Square for an unforgettable world record attempt! A total of 374 pipers came together to form the largest-ever bagpipe ensemble, playing AC/DC’s iconic anthem ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll)’. What an incredible experience to be part of history and celebrate the power of music with the wider community.

Daniel Staley
Director of Pipes & Drums