In this video, CEO | Principal Derek Scott shares how the 17 recommendations reflect much of what Haileybury has relentlessly worked on regarding teacher quality over the past 15 years.
At Castlefield, connection is an important focus as we aim for students to feel safe in their environment, to have friends and to have someone they can talk to, sit next to and play with.
We also look to create opportunities for families to make life-long friendships, to be able to organise playdates for their children, and to know who has children in the same sport team or after-school activity so they can carpool.
Recently, I learned more about the health benefits associated with social connections, like lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, greater empathy and a stronger immune system. So not only are we creating a safe and happy community, together we are stronger and healthier.
The last two weeks have included several events for our parents to join together and acknowledge, celebrate and recognise our students and each other. These include a brilliant International Women’s Day Breakfast, our Year 6 Creative Arts Evening and our HPFC-led parent gatherings.
The students also had a fun-filled fortnight with our Years 3 and 4 Swimming Carnival, Arts Week activities culminating in the Afternoon on the Green, and a focus on social justice with our Colour for a Cure World’s Greatest Shave event and our JS ‘Kindness is our Superpower’ Superhero Day.
We are very fortunate to have qualified Early Childhood Educators who specialise in different areas and offer our ELC students learning opportunities beyond their classroom. Each week, classes venture out of their early learning environments to explore and be part of the School.
Across the week, students attend library, creative arts, physical activity, music and environmental learning. The specialist and classroom educators work together and the learning objectives for these sessions are an extension of the classroom curriculum.
The current learning objectives involve children having time to discover the wonderful space and the magical world of books during library and focussing on body and spatial awareness with nursery rhymes to build on language, rhyme, rhythm, visualisation and imagination during creative arts. They also explore hand-eye coordination and ball skills in physical activity.
Our environmental learning sessions vary from class to class and focus on emerging ideas as we acknowledge the Boonwurrung Peoples as the traditional custodians of this land. Caring for Country is a focus that includes sustainable practices like reducing, reusing and recycling.
It was the battle of the pool as students in Years 3 and 4 competed at the House Swimming Carnival. After completing a successful Swim Program during the first half of the term, students showed off their new-found skills with a little healthy competition. House chants and cheering could be heard across the Junior School and a great time was had by all. Special thanks to our PE staff for organising this event.
Without parents present in the balcony, assemblies have looked a little different this term. However, the Junior School has loved coming together with our House Captains. We’ve had beautiful music performances from individuals and from our Scrolls Ensemble and Ukulele Rookies. Students in our younger classes who couldn’t attend assemblies in the past two years are learning how to be great audience members and listen respectfully to those on stage.
In the spirit of coming together, the Arts staff are busily preparing for the first of our Creative Nights. Year 3 students can each attend with one adult on Thursday, 24 March, and it is the turn of Year 2 students to have some creative fun on Thursday, 31 March.
Moving between art, drama and music, students will showcase what they have learned in class. We look forward to seeing you there.
Castlefield Middle School and Brighton Senior School joined together to celebrate International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 9 March, with a breakfast event. It was wonderful to host this for our community with more than 200 parents, special friends and students in attendance. The morning was a huge success.
School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12) and Middle School Girls Captain Cooper Curley (Year 8) shared their thoughts on what International Women’s Day means to them and their ideas on the ‘break the bias’ theme.
Victoria and Cooper reflected on women in the industry, how modern society understands female empowerment and the importance of taking risks and aiming high. The morning was a wonderful celebration and a chance to connect across schools for such a great cause.
Katrina Manson
Head of Castlefield (Brighton)
Thank you to all the families that joined us for the Year 6 Creative Arts Evening. It was lovely to see the community together and parents meeting and reconnecting onsite.
The Prep and Year 5 Parent Evenings, at the newly-renovated Marine Hotel, were well-attended with much discussion around how great it was to meet parents in the same year level. Thank you to the families that came to support these evenings.
Our Year 7 Evening will be held on Tuesday, 22 March, at 7.30 pm at the Marine Hotel.
Recently the School sent out a notice titled Welcome to our Community and many parents expressed interest in learning more about the HPFC and getting involved in some way. There are plenty of opportunities to do so.
Today, Monday, 21 March, at 7.30 pm in the Sholto Black Room, the HPFC will host a meeting to discuss what we do and to answer all your questions. Please come along and join us.
Ian Green
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Castlefield
Our students and staff have been enjoying a very busy few weeks, with the key focus being academic progress across all the sub-schools.
Senior School students have been focusing on their night-study sessions in different departments, including key presentations for the preparation of the UK PhysicsBowl Contest. It has been particularly pleasing to see our new Semester 2 Senior students working hard during these sessions.
Primary School teachers have been focusing on open classes. Our Physical Education teacher, Ms Lily Wei, gave a demonstration swimming class with Year 3. It was impressive to see many of our students using a conventional freestyle stroke and technique. Our calligraphy teacher, Ms Rachel Zhang, gave a demonstration class called Tower Shaped Words with the Year 4 students.
Last week, Middle School hosted our weekly whole school Flag Raising Ceremony which celebrates the students’ Chinese traditional culture and language. The hosts of the ceremony were Tang Siyue (Year 9) and Zhao Tingxuan (Year 9) and the theme was Arbour Day which celebrates the planting, maintenance and preservation of trees.
On this day, people within the government, schools and businesses encourage communities to take part in tree planting activities to raise awareness of the importance of forests, increase forestry resources and improve the ecological environment. Middle School teacher, Mr Robert Wright, gave a special speech to the students.
The ASDAN Australian Mathematics Competition was held for all students across all sub-schools earlier in the year and, last week, we celebrated the success of Haileybury students. The competition is one of the world’s largest in-school mathematics competitions and demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives. It has a 44-year history with over 16,000,000 participants from 32 countries.
In total, 68 Haileybury students won the Proficiency Prize, 16 students won the Credit Prize and five students won the Distinction Prize.
On Tuesday, 8 March, Haileybury celebrated International Women’s Day and recognised the contributions of our female staff and students. During their homeroom periods, all sub-schools discussed the history of International Women’s Day, focused on the importance of women and girls tackling challenges and pursuing their passions, and reflected on how boys and girls can create a better future for women across the globe.
Primary students sent special cards to their female teachers and Middle School students made posters to display in their classrooms. The School followed an annual tradition by giving staff a special gift.
Yanni Galanis
International Principal, Haileybury International School, Tianjin
Storytelling is often considered a lost art. In a world dominated by print and electronic media, sharing a family story, a magical moment, or a challenge we overcame when we were young helps our children learn about us and the world.
On International Women’s Day, staff and student leaders were asked to talk about the women in their life who inspired them and why. It was so powerful to see our Middle School students’ faces as our amazing staff and student leaders shared their stories.
The power of the narrative to engage students is not lost at Haileybury City and I was delighted to see all our students join with their peers in deepening their understanding on this special day.
We are achieving our goal in 2022 through intentional teaching and planned experiences. To be outward looking and future focused requires us to light up our thinking, open our lens and be curious, and take action to make a difference in our School, community and world. This newsletter is full of some of the wonderful opportunities our students experience as they hear, see, learn, question, ponder and are challenged to think beyond our gates.
We love rewarding reading at City. If you have read this, your child can enter the Insight Trivia Challenge and one winner in each School will go into a draw for a prize. Students can submit their entry in the boxes in the ELC, JS, GMS or BMS by the end of next week.
The questions are:
ELC: Where will the Pre-Prep children meet Ranger Jim?
JS: What is the name of the teacher who presented at the Prep Numeracy session?
MS: What is the name of the city that our guest presenter’s parents fled from after the Nazi invasion?
Reception children have started our engaging Road Safety Program ready for our Out and About Program later next term. The Level 1 running track has been transformed into a busy road with trikes zooming around. This supports gross motor development while also teaching the importance of road safety. Using traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, checking for cars and making eye contact with drivers are all aspects of road safety that we are introducing to Reception children.
We look forward to welcoming families to our ‘out and about’ trips later in the year as children practice their road safety knowledge and skills.
After a much-anticipated wait, the Pre-Prep children were delighted when our beautiful butterfly emerged from its chrysalis. Following many discussions, observations and drawings, it was wonderful for children to see the life cycle process of these majestic creatures in action.
As we continue our investigations into creatures, great and small, we are excited to be visiting Flagstaff Gardens on Thursday, 31 March to meet with Ranger Jim, our local Melbourne City Council ranger. He will introduce children to the mammals that live in our urban setting and explain how to find them. We invite families to come along to this session.
Our Prep parents were ‘wowed’ as they saw Prep students learning numeracy during Week Seven, and they also listened to some insights from our Deputy Head of Teaching and Learning, Ms Lizzy Gibney. From how the language used at home can support a growth mindset in mathematics to understanding Friends of Ten, our parents took plenty away from the session.
Afterwards, Prep parents immersed themselves in a classroom experience on Level 3. Our students were thrilled to demonstrate their ability to use multi-base arithmetic blocks or MAB to represent two-digit numbers, and parents worked with their children during the You Do part of the lesson. It was fantastic to see our parents and students engaged in the session and they particularly enjoyed learning new card games that boost mathematical understanding too.
Our Junior School students have all been working towards becoming brilliant writers this term. In Year 3, our students have been writing persuasive and narrative texts. In their persuasive writing, they are focusing on finding ways to connect and link their ideas to communities beyond Haileybury. This aligns with our 2022 goal for our students to be ‘outward looking and future focused’.
Some of their writing is shared here:
‘Moreover, Mr Scott must definitely believe that Haileybury should not provide free lunch orders because trees are being chopped down every day for the paper bags. This is essential because it maximises the chance of even worse global warming. It is appalling to think that gardens will be a barren wasteland in the future.’ Florian Inkmann
‘Moreover, Mr Green must unquestionably support that students shouldn’t be provided with a free lunch order because the lunch order bags come from nature. This is fundamental because when you knock down or cut down trees, it hurts nature and could affect the air around us. It is appalling to think that our future generations will have horrible air.’ Will Weir
On Thursday, 3 March, the Year 8 students welcomed Courage to Care for an incursion as part of their English study of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. George, a Holocaust survivor, spoke to the students about his experience. His parents were forced to abandon their lives in Vienna following the Nazi occupation and George was born in France during WWII. He spent his early years in hiding. He told students that his life in Australia was due to a series of courageous upstanders who risked their own lives to help his family.
Students also learned about other upstanders throughout history, including Oskar Schindler and William Cooper, and they discussed how they could be upstanders in their own lives.
“We were gifted the opportunity to take part in an unforgettable experience to understand the first-hand impacts of the Holocaust. The session was educational and interactive, giving everyone an opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions”Sean Cunningham (Boys Middle School Captain)
The Middle School was abuzz on Tuesday, 8 March, as we celebrated International Women’s Day. This was an opportunity to celebrate the women around us and to honour the achievements of women who have come before.
Purple ribbons were sold to Junior and Middle School students to raise money for Melbourne City Mission. In total, $374.20 was raised and will go directly to women in need.
Middle School students were involved in a series of workshops run by inspirational women that showcased magic, dance, art, sport, comedy and improv. Students heard personal stories of motivational women from Middle School staff and reflected on the women in their own lives who motivate and inspire them.
The day was also an opportunity to reflect on the work that is still required to achieve gender equality and students ended the workshop sessions with a special purple cupcake to commemorate the day. Thank you to all staff and external presenters for making the day such a special one for our Middle School students.
“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.”Serena Williams
Caroline Merrick
Head of City
Rooftop drinks are back! Held atop the beautiful City Campus, 170 parents, guardians and friends were able to engage and reconnect for the first evening event of 2022.
We were honoured to have CEO | Principal, Derek Scott, Vice Principal Community Engagement and Advancement, Scott Doran, and Diane Furusho, Deputy Principal Respectful Relationships and Consent, in attendance.
Derek gave words of encouragement, wisdom and positivity for our students and community and highlighted the value of a great education. However, the speech that stole our hearts was that of our Year 10 student, Faith Mapalo Kauseni, who shared her personal journey of being able to attend Haileybury thanks to the Haileybury Foundation Staff Giving Scholarship. Faith reminds us of the extraordinary opportunity that Haileybury provides our children and the lifelong changes this makes.
HPF City has a long-term fundraising goal to provide a scholarship to support a student like Faith. We appreciate this may take time but, with our community’s support, we feel this is an admirable aim. If you would like further information, please get in touch.
Our next event is the Cocktail Party on Thursday, 26 May. Pop the date in your diaries and join the fun. Details will be available on the myHaileybury app soon.
For the remainder of this term, individual year levels may hold their own social functions. Please get in touch with your year level Social Rep to find out what’s happening.
We also look forward to our end of term raffle and Easter Egg Guessing Competition, which provides great excitement for the littlest to biggest Haileyburians—especially those with a sweet tooth! This term, all proceeds raised will benefit the Royal Children’s Hospital.
If you would like to be in touch, please reach out to us at hpfcity@haileybury.vic.edu.au. We welcome your feedback and contributions.
Have a wonderful fortnight ahead!
Nina Brooks and Nadine Bissland
Co-Presidents, HPF City
It has been wonderful to see our community together again for campus events. The ELC and Junior School children loved every minute of the House Athletics and we had well over 100 family members in attendance. The students tried their very best and enjoyed cheering each other on.
A highlight of the afternoon was the Parent Race. We certainly have some very fast parents! The Middle School students also had a very enjoyable track and field when they took part in their House Athletics event. There was a great sense of competition, as well as encouragement, for fellow competitors.
The parents of Prep children enjoyed catching up with each other over coffee last week. It has been a very smooth and successful start to the year for our Prep children and the parents were so glad to be able to meet with each other on campus.
The ELC and Junior School children are very excited about welcoming their grandparents and special friends to Edrington. This day will be held on Tuesday, 22 March, from 8.45 am – 11.00 am.
All ELC, Junior School and Middle School families are welcome to attend the Edrington Family Picnic on Friday, 1 April, from 3.30 pm – 6.30 pm. Bring along picnic rugs and chairs and enjoy the rides, food trucks and simply being together.
Healthy eating is a key focus in the ELC as children need the right foods to sustain them throughout the day. In the ELC, we discuss a rainbow of foods and encourage children to identify different coloured fruits and vegetables and eat a rainbow of foods during the day. The differences between healthy food and ‘sometimes’ food—yummy treats like fast food and lollies—is also discussed with children.
Mealtimes can be a very difficult time for some children and families, especially with fussy eaters. Some tips to help families include:
For more tips and information please visit The Australian Parenting Website.
Some other suggestions are that when you pack your child’s lunchbox for school, don’t overfill it. Think about what your child would eat at home and pack the same amount. It can be very overwhelming for a child to open their lunchbox knowing they’re expected to eat everything inside.
We ask parents to pack fruit and vegetables in their child’s lunchbox daily. We also ask that on Tuesdays and Thursdays you don’t send in foods with packaging, as these will be nude food days. If your child is used to eating hot meals for lunch, continue this practice by sending a thermos to school and always send foods familiar to your child.
Treats are fun and delicious, however, we ask you to save these for home as they can be a distraction to children.
Our Year 1 students had a wonderful time in drama recently, exploring animals and wearing masks. As you can see, there was an interesting menagerie of wild animals at Edrington!
Our Year 2 students recently ventured into the science labs to explore physical science. They predicted and then observed which material would melt butter first. A cube of butter was placed in the middle of a lid and a flag was placed into the butter to identify it. Lids of different materials were then placed in the tub of warm water and students observed which butter melted faster.
It was a fantastic lesson that explored how heat moves through different materials.
It was great to see our Middle School students getting into the House spirit for this year’s House Athletics Competition. Congratulations to Thompson for taking out the first competition of the year.
Students are looking forward to the next House competition scheduled for Friday, 1 April. Houses will compete in the categories of Singing, Dance, Drama, Media and Art.
From Monday, 4 April to Friday, 8 April, the entire Years 7 and 8 Girls and Boys cohort will go on their respective camps. The mild weather makes this a great time of year for camps and it’s also an opportune time to develop new friendships through shared experiences and challenges.
The camping program is a valuable learning experience for all students. It’s a time to step outside their comfort zone and try something new with the support of teachers and peers, while starting to form their own identity away from the familiarity of home.
The Year 7 camp is an introductory expedition that sees students spend five days and four nights between Camp Jungai and the Goulburn River. In Camp Jungai, students sleep in cabin accommodation for two nights and undertake activities designed to foster teamwork and problem-solving skills that students can use throughout the year.
During the Year 8 camp, students will be bush walking, cycling and canoeing at Lake Eildon. Students build on their experience from Year 7 with all nights spent in tents and students moving campsites daily.
Jeanette Rawlings
Head of Edrington (Berwick)
We’re off and racing! Our Class Reps have been appointed, coffee dates are being set, Winter Warmers is on (again!) and we have a massive fun night planned for the Family Picnic.
The Pre-Senior Boys are about to receive their table tennis table and we are working closely with Adam Tobin to host the Middle School TT Cup!
Pancake Day was a huge success. Together, the ELC, JS and Middle School raised $952.00 for Uniting Care—a phenomenal effort!
The uniform shop is open every Wednesday morning. Get in quick to stock up ready for the winter season!
Take care out there,
Kerry Ilic
HPFE President
Harmony Day is a time to celebrate the successful integration of migrants into our community. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. The message of Harmony Week is everyone belongs. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, with everyone united by a set of core Australian values.
Our ELC students enjoyed wearing their national dress and our Junior and Middle School students joined together for a picnic on the oval where they shared stories and participated in fun activities for Harmony Day.
Parents are reminded to register for the special Cyber Safety Webinar held on Tuesday, 22 March, from 7.00 pm – 8.00 pm.
The webinar provides parents and guardians with insights and important information about social networking and gaming platform trends. The discussion will focus on keeping children safe with privacy settings and explain how to build positive digital habits using available tools. The webinar will also cover how to support young people to be confident, independent and safe digital users, and unpack laws around digital consent and cyberbullying.
Please register here:
We are delighted to announce an ELC Parent Information Evening this term that will focus on Speech Development in the Early Years. Julie Liptak is a well-regarded Speech Pathologist who has worked with Haileybury ELC children and educators for a number of years.
Julie presented to ELC staff at the start of the year and has valuable information to share with the ELC parent community. She will suggest strategies to extend children’s vocabulary and will look at developmental norms and highlight steps to take if parents notice any developmental delays. The event will be held in Berthon Hall on Tuesday, 29 March, from 7.00 pm – 8.30 pm.
On Monday, 4 April, the ELC children will walk around the perimeter of the Pre-Senior Courts to raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital. Parents and extended family members are invited to take part in this event with their child. The children will walk as a class from 9 am – 10 am. A gold coin donation would be very much appreciated.
Newlands ELC lead educators recently attended a professional development session with Director of Early Learning, Dr Rachel Pollitt. The focus was on creating outdoor learning spaces that engage and intrigue children.
This term educators have emphasised outdoor learning to optimise access to natural ventilation. The educators completed an audit of the ELC’s physical environment and then created individual learning spaces in the different playgrounds that focus on specific goals and learning outcomes. Parents entering the ELC through the playgrounds may have noticed some of the unique learning experiences created with the help of the children.
Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students took part in their first House event of the year. They joined their House teams and played three rounds of Kickball on Newlands Green. The scores were tight and for the first time in many years there was a tie for first place between Kemp and Shum. Congratulations to all the students for showing sportsmanship and House spirit.
The HPFK cooked delicious pancakes for Junior School students and staff for Pancake Day. Students could choose from strawberry, chocolate, maple syrup and sprinkles toppings. Pancake Day is always a favourite with the students and one child was overheard commenting that: “School Pancake Day always has the best pancakes.”
There were a lot of chocolate and strawberry-covered grins on the faces of the students. A big thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to make the day such a success.
Thank you to everyone in ELC and Junior School for your support with Help Our Heroes Day. We were fortunate to have visits from some of our very own heroes, Ms Gillian Grigg and Dr Deepa Bhatt. Ms Grigg presented in her firefighter uniform and shared some of her heroic stories of working in dangerous Australian bushfire settings.
Students were very engaged as Dr Bhatt, a Neurological Specialist Doctor, discussed how COVID-19 has affected her job and the changes she has noticed in the medical field due to the pandemic. The money raised on Help Our Heroes Day will be donated to the CFA (Keysborough) and Monash Children’s Hospital.
Our Year 4 students are looking forward to heading to the historical Portsea Camp this Wednesday. They will experience activities including the flying fox, giant swing and fishing. Staff and students from the Brighton, Berwick and City campuses will also join the camp.
All Year 4 families should have received an email regarding how to check, update and approve student medical and dietary information via Consent2Go. Please see the Year 4 Homeroom Teachers if you have any questions about the Year 4 Portsea Camp.
We wish the students all the best and know they will have plenty of fun.
Every Monday night, students from Prep to Year 8 have been cooking up a storm for their families. We have mastered the humble chicken parmigiana and some wonderful desserts. The students are learning to organise and measure ingredients, clean up as they go and manage their time to produce a two-course meal. It has been wonderful to see students of all ages cooking with their families and enjoying this time together. If you haven’t joined us yet, there’s still plenty of time to jump on board.
The academic year has started with excitement and engagement from our Middle School science students. Recently, our Year 8 students learned about body systems and completed their first assessment tasks on the circulatory system, including a heart dissection.
Students gained a comprehensive insight into the biology of the mammalian heart and the circulatory system, its function and structures. They showed excellent practical and thinking skills to complete the dissection and identified all the major structures of the heart and the associated major blood vessels.
Each Year 8 student will now work on completing a full practical report of the heart dissection that will be assessed and contribute to their Science grade for Semester 1.
Nathan Anderson (Year 6) recently received the result for his AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) Grade 5 Violin Repertoire Exam which he submitted towards the end of last year. He received an A+.
Due to lockdown restrictions, Nathan completed a video exam and could not have a live accompanist. It took dedication, perseverance and many hours of practice with recorded accompaniments. Congratulations, Nathan.
Jane Gibbs
Head of Newlands (Keysborough)
Thank you to our amazing community of families who have supported recent Newlands events including the Junior School Pancake Day and MS Athletics day. Your support is greatly appreciated.
The HPFK Term 2 meeting scheduled for Thursday, 19 May, will now be held on Thursday, 12 May. Further details to come closer to the date.
If you have any queries or would like to contact the HPFK, please email: HPFK@haileybury.vic.edu.au
Lenice Norris
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Keysborough
The House SRC team had a productive start to their preparations for International Women’s Day celebrations at Haileybury. The theme for 2022 is #BreakTheBias, which is working towards a world free of stereotypes and discrimination, and that is diverse, equitable and inclusive.
This is a message that is very important at Haileybury.
The stance to demonstrate support for this great message is a ‘cross of the arms’ and the whole team got together for a photo and crossed their arms to show support. SRCs delivered a presentation to their House highlighting the importance of this celebration and how we celebrate it at Haileybury. The House SRC also sold pens, ribbons and stickers during homeroom.
International Women’s Day was celebrated by over 450 Keysborough Senior Girls Students coming together to have a bacon and egg breakfast before school. This was followed by an uplifting and influential speech by Ms Pamela Chamberlain who urged students to be the support that every girl needs to keep moving forward, and challenging students to go for all opportunities despite self-reservations.
Our Girls School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12), pondered why we have a day to celebrate women around the world, urged us to ‘take up space’ and play table tennis in the Common Room, and concluded that the support we give each other strengthens our abilities to achieve our aspirations.
The young women of City Campus celebrated International Women’s Day in a range of different ways. Some of our leading Year 11 girls spent time addressing the Girls Middle School Assembly and sharing their experiences and insights with the younger students.
Our Year 10 students were busy selling merchandise to raise awareness of the day and of the importance of focusing on the many inequalities still affecting women across the globe if we are going to #BreakTheBias.
All City Senior School students, from Haileybury Girls College and Haileybury College, watched the International Women’s Day Assembly in person or via Zoom. They were fortunate enough to hear from the always impressive Senior Vice Principal and Head of Senior Schools, Ms Pamela Chamberlain, and our newest Haileybury Girls School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12).
Castlefield Middle School and Brighton Senior School celebrated International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 9 March, with a breakfast. It was wonderful to host this event with our community of 200+ parents, special friends and students—the morning was a huge success.
School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12), and Middle School Girls Captain, Cooper Curley (Year 8), shared their thoughts on what International Women’s Day means to them and the theme of #BreakTheBias.
Victoria and Cooper reflected on women in industry, how modern society understands female empowerment and the importance of taking risks and aiming high. The morning was a wonderful celebration and a chance to connect across schools for a great cause.
Last year, Henry Ho (Year 9), then an enthusiastic Year 8 Brighton student who loves programming, participated in the Australian Informatics Olympiad. In this competition, Henry was pitted against other talented students nationwide to solve problems by writing computer programs. We congratulate him on winning a shiny gold medal in this contest!
Henry’s amazing efforts earned him an invitation to attend the Informatics School of Excellence in December 2021. The two-week training course was dedicated to helping him qualify for the 2022 International Olympiads in Informatics.
Henry recently took part in the event and came equal 3rd in the Australian Invitational Informatics Olympiad, winning a fantastic bronze medal. As a result, Henry will now be part of the selection process for Australia in the upcoming International Olympiads!
We congratulate Henry on his amazing accomplishments to date and wish him the very best in the upcoming selection process!
In Term 2, students wear winter uniform. However, we will have three weeks at the beginning of the term when students may continue to wear summer uniform if they choose.
Term 2 classes resume on Wednesday, 27 April.
Pam Chamberlain
Senior Vice Principal and Head of Haileybury Senior Schools
The HPFK Term 2 meeting scheduled for Thursday, 19 May, will now be held on Thursday, 12 May. Further details to come closer to the date.
If you have any queries or would like to contact the HPFK, please email: HPFK@haileybury.vic.edu.au
Lenice Norris
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Keysborough
Tickets are on sale now for the inaugural Senior School City Play, The Book of Everything.
Tickets can be purchased here:
Last week, the Year 10 Play, These Bridges, was performed to an enthusiastic Haileybury audience keen to get a long-awaited dose of live theatre.
The wonderful cast delivered two nights of engaging and expressive performances in this post-apocalyptic fantasy. Directed by Haileybury alumni, Mr Eamonn Johnson, and supported by our own Ms Nicole Smith, the concept and execution were impressive.
The highly stylised ensemble performances and detailed acting work of those characters surviving the floods were highlights of this wonderful show. Art imitated life as the impact of the floods and the endurance of the human spirit were displayed.
Congratulations to the team for delivering such a rich experience.
Nick Waxman
Head of Drama and Theatre Studies
It is well-known that instrumental music programs provide significant learning benefits beyond music-making alone, such as building self-discipline through nurturing aesthetic awareness and stimulating right brain capacity.
However, research indicates the benefits go beyond this. In The Music Advantage, Dr Anita Collins reports that involvement in instrumental music programs significantly enhances auditory processing networks, improves impulse control and extends concentration span.
As an educator, I acknowledge these outcomes as being central to the value and benefit of learning to play music. However, in the day-to-day, it’s simply the enjoyment on students’ faces as they proudly display their developing skills and growing confidence that inspires music educators.
I am very pleased to report that more than 800 students in Year 2 and above now receive a weekly music lesson at Haileybury. That’s more than one in five students across our four Melbourne campuses!
Rod Marshall
Director of Performing Arts & Head of Haileybury Music
Congratulations to Kayla Salter (Year 12) and Kendrick Goy (Year 11) on their appointment as the 2022 Visual Arts Captains!
Media is off to a flying start at the Senior School with all year levels trying their hand at a production. In Year 9, students have put their own name up in lights, casting themselves in their own genre-specific movie poster.
Our Years 10 and 11 students in Media 1&2 are currently recreating their favourite movie scenes in a process called sweding—Google it! No film is safe from our creative interpretations with Haileyburians putting their spin on Titanic, Interstellar, Batman, Back to the Future and even The Matrix. Maybe in our version of Titanic, Rose and Jack can both fit on the door!
Finally, our Media 3&4 students are asking the hard questions…of each other! A production experiment with 3-point lighting—pivotal for hard-hitting professional interviews—saw our students test out lighting rigs and hear the difference between lapel and shotgun mics. They also asked each other the serious questions like: ‘Did Tom Holland struggle to focus when working with Zendaya in the latest Spiderman?’ and ‘Is Mark Hamill the best Joker of all time?’
Rachelle Rae
Head of Visual Arts Senior School
Pipers and drummers from across Victoria marched forth to Rendall Oval on Sunday, 6 March, with hopes of placing in the top three of their respective grades at the Haileybury Highland Gathering. The contest was very successful with our Haileybury Pipes & Drums placing in every event they entered. Go Haileybury!
Grade 4A: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #1 – 1st place
Grade 4B: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #2 – 2nd place
Juvenile Novice A: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #1 – 2nd place
Juvenile Novice B: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #2 – 2nd place
Victorian bands greatly appreciated Haileybury’s welcome, leadership and support in hosting the opening of the 2022 contest season. The music was fabulous, however, it was also a significant opportunity for our community to reconnect and rekindle friendships following a two-year hiatus in pipe band competitions.
Lincoln Hilton
Director, Pipes & Drums
At Castlefield, connection is an important focus as we aim for students to feel safe in their environment, to have friends and to have someone they can talk to, sit next to and play with.
We also look to create opportunities for families to make life-long friendships, to be able to organise playdates for their children, and to know who has children in the same sport team or after-school activity so they can carpool.
Recently, I learned more about the health benefits associated with social connections, like lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, greater empathy and a stronger immune system. So not only are we creating a safe and happy community, together we are stronger and healthier.
The last two weeks have included several events for our parents to join together and acknowledge, celebrate and recognise our students and each other. These include a brilliant International Women’s Day Breakfast, our Year 6 Creative Arts Evening and our HPFC-led parent gatherings.
The students also had a fun-filled fortnight with our Years 3 and 4 Swimming Carnival, Arts Week activities culminating in the Afternoon on the Green, and a focus on social justice with our Colour for a Cure World’s Greatest Shave event and our JS ‘Kindness is our Superpower’ Superhero Day.
We are very fortunate to have qualified Early Childhood Educators who specialise in different areas and offer our ELC students learning opportunities beyond their classroom. Each week, classes venture out of their early learning environments to explore and be part of the School.
Across the week, students attend library, creative arts, physical activity, music and environmental learning. The specialist and classroom educators work together and the learning objectives for these sessions are an extension of the classroom curriculum.
The current learning objectives involve children having time to discover the wonderful space and the magical world of books during library and focussing on body and spatial awareness with nursery rhymes to build on language, rhyme, rhythm, visualisation and imagination during creative arts. They also explore hand-eye coordination and ball skills in physical activity.
Our environmental learning sessions vary from class to class and focus on emerging ideas as we acknowledge the Boonwurrung Peoples as the traditional custodians of this land. Caring for Country is a focus that includes sustainable practices like reducing, reusing and recycling.
It was the battle of the pool as students in Years 3 and 4 competed at the House Swimming Carnival. After completing a successful Swim Program during the first half of the term, students showed off their new-found skills with a little healthy competition. House chants and cheering could be heard across the Junior School and a great time was had by all. Special thanks to our PE staff for organising this event.
Without parents present in the balcony, assemblies have looked a little different this term. However, the Junior School has loved coming together with our House Captains. We’ve had beautiful music performances from individuals and from our Scrolls Ensemble and Ukulele Rookies. Students in our younger classes who couldn’t attend assemblies in the past two years are learning how to be great audience members and listen respectfully to those on stage.
In the spirit of coming together, the Arts staff are busily preparing for the first of our Creative Nights. Year 3 students can each attend with one adult on Thursday, 24 March, and it is the turn of Year 2 students to have some creative fun on Thursday, 31 March.
Moving between art, drama and music, students will showcase what they have learned in class. We look forward to seeing you there.
Castlefield Middle School and Brighton Senior School joined together to celebrate International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 9 March, with a breakfast event. It was wonderful to host this for our community with more than 200 parents, special friends and students in attendance. The morning was a huge success.
School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12) and Middle School Girls Captain Cooper Curley (Year 8) shared their thoughts on what International Women’s Day means to them and their ideas on the ‘break the bias’ theme.
Victoria and Cooper reflected on women in the industry, how modern society understands female empowerment and the importance of taking risks and aiming high. The morning was a wonderful celebration and a chance to connect across schools for such a great cause.
Katrina Manson
Head of Castlefield (Brighton)
Thank you to all the families that joined us for the Year 6 Creative Arts Evening. It was lovely to see the community together and parents meeting and reconnecting onsite.
The Prep and Year 5 Parent Evenings, at the newly-renovated Marine Hotel, were well-attended with much discussion around how great it was to meet parents in the same year level. Thank you to the families that came to support these evenings.
Our Year 7 Evening will be held on Tuesday, 22 March, at 7.30 pm at the Marine Hotel.
Recently the School sent out a notice titled Welcome to our Community and many parents expressed interest in learning more about the HPFC and getting involved in some way. There are plenty of opportunities to do so.
Today, Monday, 21 March, at 7.30 pm in the Sholto Black Room, the HPFC will host a meeting to discuss what we do and to answer all your questions. Please come along and join us.
Ian Green
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Castlefield
Our students and staff have been enjoying a very busy few weeks, with the key focus being academic progress across all the sub-schools.
Senior School students have been focusing on their night-study sessions in different departments, including key presentations for the preparation of the UK PhysicsBowl Contest. It has been particularly pleasing to see our new Semester 2 Senior students working hard during these sessions.
Primary School teachers have been focusing on open classes. Our Physical Education teacher, Ms Lily Wei, gave a demonstration swimming class with Year 3. It was impressive to see many of our students using a conventional freestyle stroke and technique. Our calligraphy teacher, Ms Rachel Zhang, gave a demonstration class called Tower Shaped Words with the Year 4 students.
Last week, Middle School hosted our weekly whole school Flag Raising Ceremony which celebrates the students’ Chinese traditional culture and language. The hosts of the ceremony were Tang Siyue (Year 9) and Zhao Tingxuan (Year 9) and the theme was Arbour Day which celebrates the planting, maintenance and preservation of trees.
On this day, people within the government, schools and businesses encourage communities to take part in tree planting activities to raise awareness of the importance of forests, increase forestry resources and improve the ecological environment. Middle School teacher, Mr Robert Wright, gave a special speech to the students.
The ASDAN Australian Mathematics Competition was held for all students across all sub-schools earlier in the year and, last week, we celebrated the success of Haileybury students. The competition is one of the world’s largest in-school mathematics competitions and demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives. It has a 44-year history with over 16,000,000 participants from 32 countries.
In total, 68 Haileybury students won the Proficiency Prize, 16 students won the Credit Prize and five students won the Distinction Prize.
On Tuesday, 8 March, Haileybury celebrated International Women’s Day and recognised the contributions of our female staff and students. During their homeroom periods, all sub-schools discussed the history of International Women’s Day, focused on the importance of women and girls tackling challenges and pursuing their passions, and reflected on how boys and girls can create a better future for women across the globe.
Primary students sent special cards to their female teachers and Middle School students made posters to display in their classrooms. The School followed an annual tradition by giving staff a special gift.
Yanni Galanis
International Principal, Haileybury International School, Tianjin
Storytelling is often considered a lost art. In a world dominated by print and electronic media, sharing a family story, a magical moment, or a challenge we overcame when we were young helps our children learn about us and the world.
On International Women’s Day, staff and student leaders were asked to talk about the women in their life who inspired them and why. It was so powerful to see our Middle School students’ faces as our amazing staff and student leaders shared their stories.
The power of the narrative to engage students is not lost at Haileybury City and I was delighted to see all our students join with their peers in deepening their understanding on this special day.
We are achieving our goal in 2022 through intentional teaching and planned experiences. To be outward looking and future focused requires us to light up our thinking, open our lens and be curious, and take action to make a difference in our School, community and world. This newsletter is full of some of the wonderful opportunities our students experience as they hear, see, learn, question, ponder and are challenged to think beyond our gates.
We love rewarding reading at City. If you have read this, your child can enter the Insight Trivia Challenge and one winner in each School will go into a draw for a prize. Students can submit their entry in the boxes in the ELC, JS, GMS or BMS by the end of next week.
The questions are:
ELC: Where will the Pre-Prep children meet Ranger Jim?
JS: What is the name of the teacher who presented at the Prep Numeracy session?
MS: What is the name of the city that our guest presenter’s parents fled from after the Nazi invasion?
Reception children have started our engaging Road Safety Program ready for our Out and About Program later next term. The Level 1 running track has been transformed into a busy road with trikes zooming around. This supports gross motor development while also teaching the importance of road safety. Using traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, checking for cars and making eye contact with drivers are all aspects of road safety that we are introducing to Reception children.
We look forward to welcoming families to our ‘out and about’ trips later in the year as children practice their road safety knowledge and skills.
After a much-anticipated wait, the Pre-Prep children were delighted when our beautiful butterfly emerged from its chrysalis. Following many discussions, observations and drawings, it was wonderful for children to see the life cycle process of these majestic creatures in action.
As we continue our investigations into creatures, great and small, we are excited to be visiting Flagstaff Gardens on Thursday, 31 March to meet with Ranger Jim, our local Melbourne City Council ranger. He will introduce children to the mammals that live in our urban setting and explain how to find them. We invite families to come along to this session.
Our Prep parents were ‘wowed’ as they saw Prep students learning numeracy during Week Seven, and they also listened to some insights from our Deputy Head of Teaching and Learning, Ms Lizzy Gibney. From how the language used at home can support a growth mindset in mathematics to understanding Friends of Ten, our parents took plenty away from the session.
Afterwards, Prep parents immersed themselves in a classroom experience on Level 3. Our students were thrilled to demonstrate their ability to use multi-base arithmetic blocks or MAB to represent two-digit numbers, and parents worked with their children during the You Do part of the lesson. It was fantastic to see our parents and students engaged in the session and they particularly enjoyed learning new card games that boost mathematical understanding too.
Our Junior School students have all been working towards becoming brilliant writers this term. In Year 3, our students have been writing persuasive and narrative texts. In their persuasive writing, they are focusing on finding ways to connect and link their ideas to communities beyond Haileybury. This aligns with our 2022 goal for our students to be ‘outward looking and future focused’.
Some of their writing is shared here:
‘Moreover, Mr Scott must definitely believe that Haileybury should not provide free lunch orders because trees are being chopped down every day for the paper bags. This is essential because it maximises the chance of even worse global warming. It is appalling to think that gardens will be a barren wasteland in the future.’ Florian Inkmann
‘Moreover, Mr Green must unquestionably support that students shouldn’t be provided with a free lunch order because the lunch order bags come from nature. This is fundamental because when you knock down or cut down trees, it hurts nature and could affect the air around us. It is appalling to think that our future generations will have horrible air.’ Will Weir
On Thursday, 3 March, the Year 8 students welcomed Courage to Care for an incursion as part of their English study of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. George, a Holocaust survivor, spoke to the students about his experience. His parents were forced to abandon their lives in Vienna following the Nazi occupation and George was born in France during WWII. He spent his early years in hiding. He told students that his life in Australia was due to a series of courageous upstanders who risked their own lives to help his family.
Students also learned about other upstanders throughout history, including Oskar Schindler and William Cooper, and they discussed how they could be upstanders in their own lives.
“We were gifted the opportunity to take part in an unforgettable experience to understand the first-hand impacts of the Holocaust. The session was educational and interactive, giving everyone an opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions”Sean Cunningham (Boys Middle School Captain)
The Middle School was abuzz on Tuesday, 8 March, as we celebrated International Women’s Day. This was an opportunity to celebrate the women around us and to honour the achievements of women who have come before.
Purple ribbons were sold to Junior and Middle School students to raise money for Melbourne City Mission. In total, $374.20 was raised and will go directly to women in need.
Middle School students were involved in a series of workshops run by inspirational women that showcased magic, dance, art, sport, comedy and improv. Students heard personal stories of motivational women from Middle School staff and reflected on the women in their own lives who motivate and inspire them.
The day was also an opportunity to reflect on the work that is still required to achieve gender equality and students ended the workshop sessions with a special purple cupcake to commemorate the day. Thank you to all staff and external presenters for making the day such a special one for our Middle School students.
“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.”Serena Williams
Caroline Merrick
Head of City
Rooftop drinks are back! Held atop the beautiful City Campus, 170 parents, guardians and friends were able to engage and reconnect for the first evening event of 2022.
We were honoured to have CEO | Principal, Derek Scott, Vice Principal Community Engagement and Advancement, Scott Doran, and Diane Furusho, Deputy Principal Respectful Relationships and Consent, in attendance.
Derek gave words of encouragement, wisdom and positivity for our students and community and highlighted the value of a great education. However, the speech that stole our hearts was that of our Year 10 student, Faith Mapalo Kauseni, who shared her personal journey of being able to attend Haileybury thanks to the Haileybury Foundation Staff Giving Scholarship. Faith reminds us of the extraordinary opportunity that Haileybury provides our children and the lifelong changes this makes.
HPF City has a long-term fundraising goal to provide a scholarship to support a student like Faith. We appreciate this may take time but, with our community’s support, we feel this is an admirable aim. If you would like further information, please get in touch.
Our next event is the Cocktail Party on Thursday, 26 May. Pop the date in your diaries and join the fun. Details will be available on the myHaileybury app soon.
For the remainder of this term, individual year levels may hold their own social functions. Please get in touch with your year level Social Rep to find out what’s happening.
We also look forward to our end of term raffle and Easter Egg Guessing Competition, which provides great excitement for the littlest to biggest Haileyburians—especially those with a sweet tooth! This term, all proceeds raised will benefit the Royal Children’s Hospital.
If you would like to be in touch, please reach out to us at hpfcity@haileybury.vic.edu.au. We welcome your feedback and contributions.
Have a wonderful fortnight ahead!
Nina Brooks and Nadine Bissland
Co-Presidents, HPF City
It has been wonderful to see our community together again for campus events. The ELC and Junior School children loved every minute of the House Athletics and we had well over 100 family members in attendance. The students tried their very best and enjoyed cheering each other on.
A highlight of the afternoon was the Parent Race. We certainly have some very fast parents! The Middle School students also had a very enjoyable track and field when they took part in their House Athletics event. There was a great sense of competition, as well as encouragement, for fellow competitors.
The parents of Prep children enjoyed catching up with each other over coffee last week. It has been a very smooth and successful start to the year for our Prep children and the parents were so glad to be able to meet with each other on campus.
The ELC and Junior School children are very excited about welcoming their grandparents and special friends to Edrington. This day will be held on Tuesday, 22 March, from 8.45 am – 11.00 am.
All ELC, Junior School and Middle School families are welcome to attend the Edrington Family Picnic on Friday, 1 April, from 3.30 pm – 6.30 pm. Bring along picnic rugs and chairs and enjoy the rides, food trucks and simply being together.
Healthy eating is a key focus in the ELC as children need the right foods to sustain them throughout the day. In the ELC, we discuss a rainbow of foods and encourage children to identify different coloured fruits and vegetables and eat a rainbow of foods during the day. The differences between healthy food and ‘sometimes’ food—yummy treats like fast food and lollies—is also discussed with children.
Mealtimes can be a very difficult time for some children and families, especially with fussy eaters. Some tips to help families include:
For more tips and information please visit The Australian Parenting Website.
Some other suggestions are that when you pack your child’s lunchbox for school, don’t overfill it. Think about what your child would eat at home and pack the same amount. It can be very overwhelming for a child to open their lunchbox knowing they’re expected to eat everything inside.
We ask parents to pack fruit and vegetables in their child’s lunchbox daily. We also ask that on Tuesdays and Thursdays you don’t send in foods with packaging, as these will be nude food days. If your child is used to eating hot meals for lunch, continue this practice by sending a thermos to school and always send foods familiar to your child.
Treats are fun and delicious, however, we ask you to save these for home as they can be a distraction to children.
Our Year 1 students had a wonderful time in drama recently, exploring animals and wearing masks. As you can see, there was an interesting menagerie of wild animals at Edrington!
Our Year 2 students recently ventured into the science labs to explore physical science. They predicted and then observed which material would melt butter first. A cube of butter was placed in the middle of a lid and a flag was placed into the butter to identify it. Lids of different materials were then placed in the tub of warm water and students observed which butter melted faster.
It was a fantastic lesson that explored how heat moves through different materials.
It was great to see our Middle School students getting into the House spirit for this year’s House Athletics Competition. Congratulations to Thompson for taking out the first competition of the year.
Students are looking forward to the next House competition scheduled for Friday, 1 April. Houses will compete in the categories of Singing, Dance, Drama, Media and Art.
From Monday, 4 April to Friday, 8 April, the entire Years 7 and 8 Girls and Boys cohort will go on their respective camps. The mild weather makes this a great time of year for camps and it’s also an opportune time to develop new friendships through shared experiences and challenges.
The camping program is a valuable learning experience for all students. It’s a time to step outside their comfort zone and try something new with the support of teachers and peers, while starting to form their own identity away from the familiarity of home.
The Year 7 camp is an introductory expedition that sees students spend five days and four nights between Camp Jungai and the Goulburn River. In Camp Jungai, students sleep in cabin accommodation for two nights and undertake activities designed to foster teamwork and problem-solving skills that students can use throughout the year.
During the Year 8 camp, students will be bush walking, cycling and canoeing at Lake Eildon. Students build on their experience from Year 7 with all nights spent in tents and students moving campsites daily.
Jeanette Rawlings
Head of Edrington (Berwick)
We’re off and racing! Our Class Reps have been appointed, coffee dates are being set, Winter Warmers is on (again!) and we have a massive fun night planned for the Family Picnic.
The Pre-Senior Boys are about to receive their table tennis table and we are working closely with Adam Tobin to host the Middle School TT Cup!
Pancake Day was a huge success. Together, the ELC, JS and Middle School raised $952.00 for Uniting Care—a phenomenal effort!
The uniform shop is open every Wednesday morning. Get in quick to stock up ready for the winter season!
Take care out there,
Kerry Ilic
HPFE President
Harmony Day is a time to celebrate the successful integration of migrants into our community. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. The message of Harmony Week is everyone belongs. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, with everyone united by a set of core Australian values.
Our ELC students enjoyed wearing their national dress and our Junior and Middle School students joined together for a picnic on the oval where they shared stories and participated in fun activities for Harmony Day.
Parents are reminded to register for the special Cyber Safety Webinar held on Tuesday, 22 March, from 7.00 pm – 8.00 pm.
The webinar provides parents and guardians with insights and important information about social networking and gaming platform trends. The discussion will focus on keeping children safe with privacy settings and explain how to build positive digital habits using available tools. The webinar will also cover how to support young people to be confident, independent and safe digital users, and unpack laws around digital consent and cyberbullying.
Please register here:
We are delighted to announce an ELC Parent Information Evening this term that will focus on Speech Development in the Early Years. Julie Liptak is a well-regarded Speech Pathologist who has worked with Haileybury ELC children and educators for a number of years.
Julie presented to ELC staff at the start of the year and has valuable information to share with the ELC parent community. She will suggest strategies to extend children’s vocabulary and will look at developmental norms and highlight steps to take if parents notice any developmental delays. The event will be held in Berthon Hall on Tuesday, 29 March, from 7.00 pm – 8.30 pm.
On Monday, 4 April, the ELC children will walk around the perimeter of the Pre-Senior Courts to raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital. Parents and extended family members are invited to take part in this event with their child. The children will walk as a class from 9 am – 10 am. A gold coin donation would be very much appreciated.
Newlands ELC lead educators recently attended a professional development session with Director of Early Learning, Dr Rachel Pollitt. The focus was on creating outdoor learning spaces that engage and intrigue children.
This term educators have emphasised outdoor learning to optimise access to natural ventilation. The educators completed an audit of the ELC’s physical environment and then created individual learning spaces in the different playgrounds that focus on specific goals and learning outcomes. Parents entering the ELC through the playgrounds may have noticed some of the unique learning experiences created with the help of the children.
Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students took part in their first House event of the year. They joined their House teams and played three rounds of Kickball on Newlands Green. The scores were tight and for the first time in many years there was a tie for first place between Kemp and Shum. Congratulations to all the students for showing sportsmanship and House spirit.
The HPFK cooked delicious pancakes for Junior School students and staff for Pancake Day. Students could choose from strawberry, chocolate, maple syrup and sprinkles toppings. Pancake Day is always a favourite with the students and one child was overheard commenting that: “School Pancake Day always has the best pancakes.”
There were a lot of chocolate and strawberry-covered grins on the faces of the students. A big thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to make the day such a success.
Thank you to everyone in ELC and Junior School for your support with Help Our Heroes Day. We were fortunate to have visits from some of our very own heroes, Ms Gillian Grigg and Dr Deepa Bhatt. Ms Grigg presented in her firefighter uniform and shared some of her heroic stories of working in dangerous Australian bushfire settings.
Students were very engaged as Dr Bhatt, a Neurological Specialist Doctor, discussed how COVID-19 has affected her job and the changes she has noticed in the medical field due to the pandemic. The money raised on Help Our Heroes Day will be donated to the CFA (Keysborough) and Monash Children’s Hospital.
Our Year 4 students are looking forward to heading to the historical Portsea Camp this Wednesday. They will experience activities including the flying fox, giant swing and fishing. Staff and students from the Brighton, Berwick and City campuses will also join the camp.
All Year 4 families should have received an email regarding how to check, update and approve student medical and dietary information via Consent2Go. Please see the Year 4 Homeroom Teachers if you have any questions about the Year 4 Portsea Camp.
We wish the students all the best and know they will have plenty of fun.
Every Monday night, students from Prep to Year 8 have been cooking up a storm for their families. We have mastered the humble chicken parmigiana and some wonderful desserts. The students are learning to organise and measure ingredients, clean up as they go and manage their time to produce a two-course meal. It has been wonderful to see students of all ages cooking with their families and enjoying this time together. If you haven’t joined us yet, there’s still plenty of time to jump on board.
The academic year has started with excitement and engagement from our Middle School science students. Recently, our Year 8 students learned about body systems and completed their first assessment tasks on the circulatory system, including a heart dissection.
Students gained a comprehensive insight into the biology of the mammalian heart and the circulatory system, its function and structures. They showed excellent practical and thinking skills to complete the dissection and identified all the major structures of the heart and the associated major blood vessels.
Each Year 8 student will now work on completing a full practical report of the heart dissection that will be assessed and contribute to their Science grade for Semester 1.
Nathan Anderson (Year 6) recently received the result for his AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) Grade 5 Violin Repertoire Exam which he submitted towards the end of last year. He received an A+.
Due to lockdown restrictions, Nathan completed a video exam and could not have a live accompanist. It took dedication, perseverance and many hours of practice with recorded accompaniments. Congratulations, Nathan.
Jane Gibbs
Head of Newlands (Keysborough)
Thank you to our amazing community of families who have supported recent Newlands events including the Junior School Pancake Day and MS Athletics day. Your support is greatly appreciated.
The HPFK Term 2 meeting scheduled for Thursday, 19 May, will now be held on Thursday, 12 May. Further details to come closer to the date.
If you have any queries or would like to contact the HPFK, please email: HPFK@haileybury.vic.edu.au
Lenice Norris
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Keysborough
The House SRC team had a productive start to their preparations for International Women’s Day celebrations at Haileybury. The theme for 2022 is #BreakTheBias, which is working towards a world free of stereotypes and discrimination, and that is diverse, equitable and inclusive.
This is a message that is very important at Haileybury.
The stance to demonstrate support for this great message is a ‘cross of the arms’ and the whole team got together for a photo and crossed their arms to show support. SRCs delivered a presentation to their House highlighting the importance of this celebration and how we celebrate it at Haileybury. The House SRC also sold pens, ribbons and stickers during homeroom.
International Women’s Day was celebrated by over 450 Keysborough Senior Girls Students coming together to have a bacon and egg breakfast before school. This was followed by an uplifting and influential speech by Ms Pamela Chamberlain who urged students to be the support that every girl needs to keep moving forward, and challenging students to go for all opportunities despite self-reservations.
Our Girls School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12), pondered why we have a day to celebrate women around the world, urged us to ‘take up space’ and play table tennis in the Common Room, and concluded that the support we give each other strengthens our abilities to achieve our aspirations.
The young women of City Campus celebrated International Women’s Day in a range of different ways. Some of our leading Year 11 girls spent time addressing the Girls Middle School Assembly and sharing their experiences and insights with the younger students.
Our Year 10 students were busy selling merchandise to raise awareness of the day and of the importance of focusing on the many inequalities still affecting women across the globe if we are going to #BreakTheBias.
All City Senior School students, from Haileybury Girls College and Haileybury College, watched the International Women’s Day Assembly in person or via Zoom. They were fortunate enough to hear from the always impressive Senior Vice Principal and Head of Senior Schools, Ms Pamela Chamberlain, and our newest Haileybury Girls School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12).
Castlefield Middle School and Brighton Senior School celebrated International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 9 March, with a breakfast. It was wonderful to host this event with our community of 200+ parents, special friends and students—the morning was a huge success.
School Captain, Victoria Paitaridis (Year 12), and Middle School Girls Captain, Cooper Curley (Year 8), shared their thoughts on what International Women’s Day means to them and the theme of #BreakTheBias.
Victoria and Cooper reflected on women in industry, how modern society understands female empowerment and the importance of taking risks and aiming high. The morning was a wonderful celebration and a chance to connect across schools for a great cause.
Last year, Henry Ho (Year 9), then an enthusiastic Year 8 Brighton student who loves programming, participated in the Australian Informatics Olympiad. In this competition, Henry was pitted against other talented students nationwide to solve problems by writing computer programs. We congratulate him on winning a shiny gold medal in this contest!
Henry’s amazing efforts earned him an invitation to attend the Informatics School of Excellence in December 2021. The two-week training course was dedicated to helping him qualify for the 2022 International Olympiads in Informatics.
Henry recently took part in the event and came equal 3rd in the Australian Invitational Informatics Olympiad, winning a fantastic bronze medal. As a result, Henry will now be part of the selection process for Australia in the upcoming International Olympiads!
We congratulate Henry on his amazing accomplishments to date and wish him the very best in the upcoming selection process!
In Term 2, students wear winter uniform. However, we will have three weeks at the beginning of the term when students may continue to wear summer uniform if they choose.
Term 2 classes resume on Wednesday, 27 April.
Pam Chamberlain
Senior Vice Principal and Head of Haileybury Senior Schools
The HPFK Term 2 meeting scheduled for Thursday, 19 May, will now be held on Thursday, 12 May. Further details to come closer to the date.
If you have any queries or would like to contact the HPFK, please email: HPFK@haileybury.vic.edu.au
Lenice Norris
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Keysborough
Tickets are on sale now for the inaugural Senior School City Play, The Book of Everything.
Tickets can be purchased here:
Last week, the Year 10 Play, These Bridges, was performed to an enthusiastic Haileybury audience keen to get a long-awaited dose of live theatre.
The wonderful cast delivered two nights of engaging and expressive performances in this post-apocalyptic fantasy. Directed by Haileybury alumni, Mr Eamonn Johnson, and supported by our own Ms Nicole Smith, the concept and execution were impressive.
The highly stylised ensemble performances and detailed acting work of those characters surviving the floods were highlights of this wonderful show. Art imitated life as the impact of the floods and the endurance of the human spirit were displayed.
Congratulations to the team for delivering such a rich experience.
Nick Waxman
Head of Drama and Theatre Studies
It is well-known that instrumental music programs provide significant learning benefits beyond music-making alone, such as building self-discipline through nurturing aesthetic awareness and stimulating right brain capacity.
However, research indicates the benefits go beyond this. In The Music Advantage, Dr Anita Collins reports that involvement in instrumental music programs significantly enhances auditory processing networks, improves impulse control and extends concentration span.
As an educator, I acknowledge these outcomes as being central to the value and benefit of learning to play music. However, in the day-to-day, it’s simply the enjoyment on students’ faces as they proudly display their developing skills and growing confidence that inspires music educators.
I am very pleased to report that more than 800 students in Year 2 and above now receive a weekly music lesson at Haileybury. That’s more than one in five students across our four Melbourne campuses!
Rod Marshall
Director of Performing Arts & Head of Haileybury Music
Congratulations to Kayla Salter (Year 12) and Kendrick Goy (Year 11) on their appointment as the 2022 Visual Arts Captains!
Media is off to a flying start at the Senior School with all year levels trying their hand at a production. In Year 9, students have put their own name up in lights, casting themselves in their own genre-specific movie poster.
Our Years 10 and 11 students in Media 1&2 are currently recreating their favourite movie scenes in a process called sweding—Google it! No film is safe from our creative interpretations with Haileyburians putting their spin on Titanic, Interstellar, Batman, Back to the Future and even The Matrix. Maybe in our version of Titanic, Rose and Jack can both fit on the door!
Finally, our Media 3&4 students are asking the hard questions…of each other! A production experiment with 3-point lighting—pivotal for hard-hitting professional interviews—saw our students test out lighting rigs and hear the difference between lapel and shotgun mics. They also asked each other the serious questions like: ‘Did Tom Holland struggle to focus when working with Zendaya in the latest Spiderman?’ and ‘Is Mark Hamill the best Joker of all time?’
Rachelle Rae
Head of Visual Arts Senior School
Pipers and drummers from across Victoria marched forth to Rendall Oval on Sunday, 6 March, with hopes of placing in the top three of their respective grades at the Haileybury Highland Gathering. The contest was very successful with our Haileybury Pipes & Drums placing in every event they entered. Go Haileybury!
Grade 4A: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #1 – 1st place
Grade 4B: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #2 – 2nd place
Juvenile Novice A: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #1 – 2nd place
Juvenile Novice B: Haileybury Pipes & Drums #2 – 2nd place
Victorian bands greatly appreciated Haileybury’s welcome, leadership and support in hosting the opening of the 2022 contest season. The music was fabulous, however, it was also a significant opportunity for our community to reconnect and rekindle friendships following a two-year hiatus in pipe band competitions.
Lincoln Hilton
Director, Pipes & Drums
In the spirit of reconciliation, Haileybury acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
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