Campus News
Communication and Feedback Continue Online
I extend my enormous gratitude to staff, students and families for their support of the Haileybury Teaching and Learning—Virtual Classrooms Program during this challenging lockdown period we are all experiencing. Heads of School and I have been phoning families to check in and from all accounts Newlands families are managing to stay well and continue their family’s education in this ‘new normal’ environment.
Surveys every two weeks also seek parent feedback. Parent–Teacher Interviews will be conducted via Zoom on Wednesday, ;13 May, and Wednesday, 20 May, from 2.00 – 6.00 pm. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require any support or advice. Staff are in regular communication with each other via Zoom meetings and the School continues to keep you up to date with regular communication via the myHaileybury app.
Newlands staff meet online at Head of Campus meeting with Mrs Jane Gibbs
Repurposing Learning for an Online Environment
Deputy Principal (Junior School) Mr Grenville Green and Deputy Principal (Teaching & Learning) Ms Anna Sever have worked tirelessly with their teams to deliver a premier educational program to students. Opportunities a student would have experienced onsite have been reviewed and repurposed for an online environment.
Junior School
Students are continuing the Academic Program through all curriculum areas. In addition to the Literacy, Numeracy and Inquiry Program, students engage in all specialist curriculum areas through weekly Science, Art, Drama, Music, Computer and Digital Technology (CDT) and Physical Education (twice per week) classes.
Students engage in timetabled Chinese classes for three half periods each week, with opportunities for differentiated classes for students with a background in speaking Chinese from Year 1 onwards, just as they would when on campus. Library classes and the Year 2 Strings Program have also commenced from Week 3 and Head of Junior School Mr Paul Dooley has been running year level assemblies each day to award Students of the Week.
Middle School
There has been no change to the curriculum program including all Music, Art, Drama and PE classes. In many cases, the offering has been enhanced as we have extended the school day from 7.30 am – 5.30 pm. Curriculum competitions continue online. For example, Maths Olympiad will run in the coming weeks, and AMT Maths Challenge continues during the Period 0 timeslot.
CDT and Science have upcoming opportunities and no curriculum competition has been cancelled to date. In fact, we have added more, such as the Coronavirus Youth Design Challenge run by our Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Team. Middle School assemblies have also managed to run successfully in the virtual environment.
Early Learning Centre
Divas with a Difference Star in Simultaneous Storytime
Newlands ELC children will participate in National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday, 27 May, at 11.00 am. Every year a picture book written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator is chosen and read simultaneously across the nation in homes, libraries, schools, and kindergartens.
This event is unique in that while promoting the value of reading and literacy, it specifically highlights an Australian writer and publisher. This year the children will listen to Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas, written and illustrated by Lucinda Gifford. Children at home at this time are invited to register to participate in this event.
Register via this link: https://www.alia.org.au/nss
Put a Little Love in your Heart for Mum
Our ELC children practised their choir singing skills to create a video recording of Put a Little Love in Your Heart to celebrate Mothers Day. Each child, including those at home, worked to create a surprise gift for their mums and special friends. The children enjoyed the opportunity to draw and talk about their mums in preparation for this event.
Mothers Day was further celebrated with a pop-up coffee bar for Mums (and Dads) to collect a “coffee to go” at the commencement of their day.

Layla Messina (Pre- Prep D) with her Mum, Napa

Riley Wynne (Pre-Prep D) with her Mum, Leonie

Aspen Colabufalo (Pre – Prep K) with Mum, Jonelle
Celebrating National Reconciliation Week
Newlands ELC will celebrate National Reconciliation Week from Wednesday, 27 May to Wednesday, 3 June, with the children participating in Indigenous cooking experiences and creating a collaborative artwork reflecting this year’s theme, In This Together.
The Newlands ELC Reconciliation Action Plan recognises this week as a time for children, families and staff to connect and learn about Aboriginal culture and strengthen respectful relationships between the ELC community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Junior School
Having Fun while Keeping Connected
Junior School students have been working hard during their online lessons. One important aspect of this new teaching environment has been maintaining the strong connections between staff and students, while continuing learning with a sense of fun. Ensuring our students feel connected to their homeroom, classmates and teacher is integral to allowing great learning to take place.
Our students and their teachers have been participating in crazy hat lessons, air guitar competitions, sharing favourite memories, telling jokes or taking turns pulling funny faces as the morning roll is marked.
Junior School Biology Investigates Human Growth
In Year 1 Science, students are learning about the life cycles of a range of living things and the processes of growth. Year 1T shared baby pictures of themselves and looked at how much they had changed, grown and developed.

Vimbiso Kamba (Year 1) holds up her baby photo to discuss how much she has grown

Makai Colabufalo (Year 1) shows his teacher how much he has grown and developed
Middle School
Proud Students Cook Meals for their Parents
Explicit Model Mentor and Year 5 Homeroom Teacher Mrs Tania Rigg is holding a ‘Cook for your parents’ Period 9 class each Monday at 4.00 pm. Students from various year levels and campuses have Zoomed in for an engaging cooking demonstration with Mrs Rigg. As well as having a lot of fun, the students are learning to cook a variety of easy meals for their families.
This is a live cooking session that allows students to take notes and learn a few cooking tips and tricks along the way. If you are at all interested in cooking or eating, then this is the club for you! For details on how to join the Zoom cooking class, visit the myHaileybury app post titled ‘Period 0 and Period 9 Activities’.

Otto Baker (Year 5) shows his delicious meal he has made for his parents

Delicious desserts are being whipped up by students for some very appreciative parents
Typing Club Challenge Improves Keyboard Skills
As this year commenced, Middle School students were provided with access to Typing Club, an online touch-typing program. To encourage use of the platform, the Boys and Girls Middle Schools introduced a Typing Club Challenge. This provided students with a great opportunity to improve their keyboard skills, while at the same time enjoying some friendly competition and rewards.
The Boys Middle School held separate competitions between Years 5 and 6 and Years 7 and 8 homerooms. At the end of every week, the homeroom with the most time logged on Typing Club was awarded a bag of lollies and a certificate. However, the real incentive was a pizza lunch for the homeroom with the most hours for the term.
We are pleased to announce that the winners of this special prize were Mrs Kerry Bryant’s homeroom class 6.1 (Years 5 and 6) and Mr Scott Hamilton's 7.2 homeroom class (Years 7 and 8). No doubt the winners will all enjoy their feast upon our return to school.
We will keep developing fun ways for our students to engage with Typing Club to continue to improve this important skill. It is also a great way to spend some downtime in isolation.
Planting the Seed for Science in the Home Opportunities
Online lessons in Science have continued to include opportunities for students to get creative, conduct experiments and dig deeper into the important science news of the day.
In the past week, Newlands students in Years 5 and 7 have received a small experiment pack in the mail that includes resources for investigations to be completed in online classrooms.
These experiments include evaluating the pH of various household substances using red cabbage indicator and growing salt and sugar crystals from saturated solutions. Year 6 students have been investigating conditions that effect the growth of bread mould, recording their observations each day and sharing their (often gross) findings during online Zoom lessons.

Laboratory technicians (left to right) Amanda Mullins, Lisa Langenfelds and Lucy Scott busily preparing experiment packs for the Middle School students

All the experiment items were packaged carefully and sent to students’ homes via post
At the end of Term 1, Year 5 students went home challenged with a piece of newspaper and a bag of wheat seeds. They had to problem solve how to turn the paper into a pot and then plant the seeds.

Mason Green (Year 5) is quite the green thumb and did an amazing job at growing his own wheat at home
These engaging and practical activities are a key part of a Science Program that encourages curiosity, promotes critical thinking skills and leverages evidence-based brain science to support deep learning. Newlands students are thriving in this online environment, taking control of their Science learning like never before and driving it in amazing new directions.
Mothers Day Wishes Amid Plans for Delayed Breakfast
Wishing all the mums and special friends a very happy Mothers Day and hoping that your loved ones have spoiled you appropriately. Many of us have been experiencing an increase in family time and have expressed to me how thankful they have been for this. Here at School we had planned our usual Mothers Day breakfast with a special guest speaker, athlete Ms Jana Pittman, however, of course, this has not been able to go ahead.
Jana Pittman has an amazing story, having competed at both the summer and winter Olympic Games in her Athletics career. More recently she finished medical school and has been working as a doctor, all while raising her three children. I am hoping that we can make another arrangement later in the year, or for Mothers Day 2021, where we will all be able to hear Jana share her insightful experiences with us.
Jane Gibbs
Head of Newlands (Keysborough)
Haileybury Parents & Friends Keysborough (HPFK)
Happy Mothers Day!
I hope all mums and special friends were spoilt and had a lovely day.
I would like to thank everyone who supported our online HPFK Mothers Day Stall.

Ayra Eaton (Year 1) with her Mothers Day gifts
HPFK Zoom Meeting Thanks
I would also like to thank all in attendance at our HPFK Zoom Meeting.

Left to right, top to bottom - Mark Norris, Jane Gibbs, Lenice Norris, Kurstii Dunn, Karen Alves, Katrina King, Giuseppe Carollo, Kathryn Tomasic and Linette Grossi
All future events will be advertised on our Facebook page and myHaileybury. If you would like to join our Facebook page, please click here.
If you have any questions or further ideas on how we can remain connected during Term 2, or you just need a chat, please contact me at HPFK@Haileybury.vic.edu.au
Lenice Norris
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Keysborough