Creativity, learning and wellbeing at Haileybury
The brain is an extraordinary asset. It is a powerful, agile engine that thrives when it is challenged, engaged and stretched in new directions. Our brains are designed to take in countless ideas, images, questions and experiences, and then do something remarkable: it makes sense of that for us.
This is how we learn, how we grow and how we come to understand the world around us.
Billions of neurons are constantly firing in our brains, particularly for our students in classes, exchanging information and building connections. What happens in their brains may sometimes seem messy or unconnected at first, and it often is, but then their minds assemble ideas, facts and concepts to create meaning that did not exist before.
This is such rich, creative thinking, and it sits at the heart of a Haileybury education.
Recently, I had the privilege of attending Haileybury’s Encore of Excellence evening, which was a showcase of the extraordinary talents of some of our highest-achieving 2025 VCE Arts students. The show was a joy. What I saw on stage that evening was precise technical skills and deep thinking, along with the joy of creativity in its fullest expression.
These students showed courage, imagination, persistence, and the ability to translate their thinking into something beautiful, challenging and moving.
Through their commitment to these creative pursuits, these students are also nurturing their wellbeing, learning content they love, performing pieces they are passionate about, and collaborating with like-minded peers and teachers who challenge and support them.
Watching our students perform and exhibit that evening reminded me again that creativity is inseparable from wellbeing. When our students feel supported and connected, when they trust the adults and peers around them, they take creative risks. They explore new perspectives. They try, fail, try again, and ultimately produce work that is astonishing.
Creativity thrives when wellbeing thrives.
This is why at Haileybury we place such emphasis on supporting our students’ whole development. Our commitment to the whole child is real and is lived through our commitment to ‘every student matters every day.’ This means that we absolutely prioritise academic achievement, but we are equally as focused on wellbeing, connection and respectful relationships.
A key aspect of this work is SOAR (Safe Online Actions and Relationships), our comprehensive online resource for families. SOAR equips parents and guardians with the tools and knowledge to help young people navigate the digital world safely and confidently.
In many ways, SOAR is about creativity too. At Haileybury we nurture students’ creativity on a global scale, and we commit to doing that safely and ethically. When students use technology safely and responsibly, they are freer to explore its creative potential to design, compose, code, collaborate and innovate, without fear or unnecessary risk.
Safe online behaviours build the foundation on which further creative thinking can flourish.
At Haileybury our commitment to teaching a genuine love of creativity in our students is essential to how we learn, how we solve problems, and how we contribute to our communities. It is also essential to our wellbeing.
When students’ minds are buzzing with ideas and questions, and when they feel supported to pursue them, their creative potential is extraordinary. The brilliance I saw at the Encore of Excellence is just one powerful example of this.
Our goal is to continue nurturing that vital combination of learning, wellbeing and creativity in every student, every day. It is how we ensure each Haileybury young person grows not only into an exceptional learner, but into a curious, confident, resilient and compassionate human being.
Albert Einstein often expressed that “creativity is intelligence having fun.” At Haileybury, we want every student to experience that joy, and we want families to feel equipped, through initiatives like SOAR, to support them on that journey.
Nathan Chisholm
Deputy Principal Wellbeing
