Campus News
What a Relief!
VCE Units 3 and 4 examinations were finished on Wednesday, 17 November and all examinations for Years 9 to 11 subjects have also been completed and returned to students.
I would like to thank all students for the way they conducted themselves throughout the examination period. Thanks also to the teachers who marked papers and provided feedback in a timely manner.
It is, of course, important that all students reflect on their exam performance and begin to set some strong academic goals for next year. If you feel that your son or daughter needs any help with goal-setting, in the first instance, contact their relevant Head of Pre-Senior or Head of House.
Welcome to the New Academic Year
Haileybury’s 2022 academic year began on Monday, 15 November 2021, with all students commencing their 2022 classes.
In most cases, students began the day with the teacher who will take them throughout the year. However, some teachers may change at the beginning of the new calendar year in January. Haileybury does its best to limit these changes but it is rare for teachers who are new to the School to be able to start in November, so some changes are unavoidable.
Haileybury has been running its Term 1A Program for 15 years as we believe the extra teaching time provided gives our students a competitive advantage, especially in their Units 3 and 4 studies.
Options and Expeditions
We were so excited to have been able to FINALLY send our Pre-Senior students on an Option and Expedition after 18 months of battling lockdowns and ever-changing COVID restrictions.
The smiles on students’ faces were as large as the entrance of Luna Park, knowing they were finally able to explore the environment outside the four walls of home and school while spending some much-needed face-to-face time with their friends.
As part of this revised Program, students completed a four-day Option which saw them have a reely good time on a fishing charter, getting their dose of vitamin sea at URBNSURF, working on their koalafications to drive, getting the seal of approval from our fish friends of the sea while snorkelling and having a tumbling good time learning the tricks of the circus.
Students also completed a four-day Expedition where they camped under the stars and completed activities including adventure and overwater initiatives, cycling and bushwalking as far as the eye could see!
While COVID still continues to impact what we can and cannot do, I am so grateful our students were able to have an off-site experience. Our Options and Expeditions have always been a highlight for students throughout their entire Senior School experience—now more than ever given the current climate.
Marco Cudizio
Pre-Senior Options and Expeditions Coordinator
Straight Outta Lockdown
We were delighted to welcome back our Year 10 students last week and we celebrated their return with a mix of academic, social and industry activities.
Students began the week working in their House groups to make a film called Straight Outta Lockdown. It’s a record of their experiences over the various COVID-19 lockdowns that will be replayed at the end of their Year 12 and will hopefully remind them of a time that is well past.
Inter-House competitions saw the Boys and Girls houses combine for a hotly contested mixed netball competition that was won by Jackson and Berthon. There were also trivia, tennis, dodgeball and more.
Several lunches, quad parties and Mr Whippy serving up 500 ice creams at the rate of one every six seconds kept the masses fed and allowed for some much-appreciated time to relax and socialise with peers.
The Work Experience Program was run as a Virtual Industry Program, providing authentic insights into a range of industries. It was exceedingly well attended by students who were obviously engaged.
A visiting lecture from the Drug Education Project gave our young people empowering advice on harm minimisation and help-seeking in social situations and gave them the opportunity to hear from a highly experienced, knowledgeable speaker.
Award winning Australian author Alice Pung also paid a virtual visit and delighted the audience with her sometimes funny and sometimes poignant stories about her experiences and those of others featured in the Year 10 text Growing up Asian in Australia. She also shared tips for writing authentic short stories which gave students a head start for their first Year 11 English/EAL task beginning this week.
Working on Their A Game
To conclude their year as Year 11s, our 2022 Year 12 cohort took part in some transition sessions in preparation for Term 1A. This group of students has experienced an incredibly challenging two years, so the week was an opportunity to come together and get excited about their final year of schooling.
The sessions covered how to perform at their best with the introduction of the High Performance Mindfulness program by accredited mindfulness and meditation teacher Emma Murray. Emma has worked with elite sportspeople including Olympic athletes and AFL Premiership teams.
The students began to build a profile of when they are in their ‘A Game’ and ‘B Game’ to become more aware of unhelpful thoughts and feelings that can impact their performance. The program will continue in 2022 with resources available for students to access.
Other sessions focused on caring for mental and physical health, academic preparation and a snapshot of the year ahead with regard to careers, expectations, responsibilities and some of the privileges they obtain when they begin Year 12.
We look forward to the latest Year 12s embarking on their new roles as leaders and mentors to the Senior School students.
Science Takes Some Interesting Twists
Our Science students have been busy this term. Systems Engineering student James Richards (Year 11) built a working model of an automatic dog door that is triggered by a chipped RFID tag on the pet’s collar. It allows a dog to enter and exit the secure door with sensors ensuring the door doesn’t close if it is blocked.
Dominic Rowe (Year 11) has prototyped and built an autonomous tennis ball-seeking vehicle during Systems Engineering. It contains a complex set of systems, with sensors, servers and many moving parts and the ball collector does not start rotating until the ball is detected.
Dr Megan Thornton has been studying food chemistry with her Year 9 Science City class. They have all been baking at home during home learning.
Work Experience Gets a Virtual Update
The final week of the 2021 academic year saw our Year 10 cohort complete a group-based ‘Virtual’ Industry Brief in place of work experience. After another year of missed opportunities due to COVID-19, Haileybury was optimistic about delivering a program that provided every student with ‘work-like’ experience.
Our Year 10s were fortunate to engage with The Careers Department in Sydney which provided information relevant to workplace industries of the future. Students selected an area of interest and were then placed in groups and given a Virtual Industry Brief to research and complete by the end of the week.
The students presented their brief in House groups last Friday and have uploaded their projects to The Careers Department to await feedback from industry professionals. We would like to congratulate all students for their enthusiasm and engagement with the Program and for remaining focused on completing their brief.
Lest We Forget
Keysborough Senior School marked Remembrance Day with a minute of silence in the Frank Elmore Chapel Forecourt.
My best wishes to all students who started their new academic year last week. I hope that you have a fantastic year. I also wish all our Year 12, 2021 students the very best for 16 December which is VCE results day.
Pamela Chamberlain
Senior Vice-Principal
Head of Haileybury Senior Schools
