Senior School Issue 17
VCE students ramp up revision and exam preparation, City students share their reading skills with young people in need of some extra help and the International Space Station beckons.
Campus News
Getting Ready for Term 4
While the September break offers some time for Senior School students to relax and unwind, it is also an important time for revision and preparation.
During the coming term break, our Units 3 and 4 students will complete structured revision tasks prepared by our expert teachers, many of whom are experienced assessors.
Week 1—Self-paced Revision Program with a suggested schedule.
Week 2—Performance/Oral Examination preparation, plus some folio work (if students are allowed onsite).
While attendance at these sessions is not compulsory, families may want to take this into account when planning activities. Students will be advised of these details through Canvas announcements.
We encourage all our students to also make some time to ensure they prepare for the GAT, as this will be especially important this year.
Sabine Partington
Head of Teaching & Learning (Senior School)
Student 2 Student Reading Program
Since July, students from the City campus have volunteered their time each week to participate in the Smith Family Student 2 Student Reading Program. Our City students have been paired up with a student from a disadvantaged background who is reading at a level at least two years below their age.
City students spend 20 minutes, two to three times a week, reading with their student, helping them with their pronunciation of difficult words and improving their reading skills and confidence. On top of all their school commitments it is so impressive that these students have volunteered their time to help others.
The participating students are:
Year 11: Riva Dubey, Christian Hachmann, Shanya Shah.
Year 10: Rowena Ng, Harry Jones, Dhimanya Dissanayake, Genevieve Gray, Emma Niggl.
Year 9: Aashi Mishra, Ali Tahir, Max Chen, Hailey Axalan, Srivi Raghavan, Nivedhaa Nandakumar, Christine Nguyen, Sanyam Jain, Melisha Rajasinghe.
Haileybury Launches into Space
The Swinburne and Haileybury IN Space Experiment (SHINE) has been running throughout Term 3. Six students from Years 10 and 11 have been working with staff and students from Swinburne University to plan their experiment that will be launched to the International Space Station later in the year.
While lockdown has presented challenges, the students have managed to come up with an experiment they can trial at home that looks at the growth of bacteria in space through the process of making yoghurt. Their aim is to investigate the effects that microgravity will have on the successful production of yoghurt and its nutritional value.
This is important as, in the future, space companies and agencies plan to make more manned long-term flights and want to be able to provide astronauts with the most nutritious food. Through running tests at home and buying pH testing kits from Bunnings, the students have been able to develop an experimental procedure that will address their research question.
The students are testing different types of milk, such as soy milk and full-cream milk, and different bacterial combinations, such as streptococcus thermophilus, lactobacillus bulgaricus and ABC bacteria that is commonly found in supermarket yoghurts.
The final steps involve getting approval from NASA for the students’ experimental design and their choice of bacteria to go onto the International Space Station.
The students involved are: Jasnoor Daler (Year 11, Berwick) Hivin Silva (Year 11, Berwick) Aysel Sapukotana (Year 10, Berwick) Edward Johnstone (Year 10, Keysborough) Chiara Sgroi (Year 10, City) and Sam Nielsen (Year 10, Berwick).
Tertiary Pathways for Years 9 and 10 Students
As students move into the VCE years, they and their families often have questions about how their academic pathways at Haileybury match up against university prerequisites. To assist with planning, we strongly encourage students and families to access the VTAC website, particularly the Year 10 Guide or Year 11 Guide.
These resources contain information about VCE subject selection, scaling of VCE Study Scores and how to research post-school courses. The prerequisite and course explorer provides students in Years 10 to 12 the tools to explore courses based on an existing Units 3 and 4 VCE study program, or a planned Units 3 and 4 VCE study program.
Prerequisites can change from year to year and are published two years in advance. If you are a current Year 10 student, you can find prerequisites for 2024 entry here.
During the next three years, Haileybury will continue to provide students and parents with information about subject selection and tertiary entrance, however these resources are an excellent way for Years 9 and 10 families to familiarise themselves with the terms and processes associated with the VCE and post-school options.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Success
Congratulations to Jules Seng (Year 11, Keysborough) who has completed the Silver level of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award! This is a wonderful achievement.
Annika Pest (OH 17) who was a Gold level award recipient, has recently been interviewed by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program. Annika has gone on to study medicine and you can read her story here.
Pam Chamberlain
Senior Vice-Principal (Student Welfare) and Head of Senior Schools
Discover more Insight updates
Arts
Some students return to campus to rehearse and talented musicians and performer are given the opportunity to build on their success.
Performing Arts
Face-to-Masked-Face at Last
It has been exciting and energising to have the Performing Arts Team at school rehearsing and refining their skills for the VCE examinations.
A big ‘thanks’ to our parents who have taken on board the extra constraints required due to this lockdown and who have helped get our students COVID tested. So far, everything has been going smoothly, with everyone able to find spaces where they can work.
Going back to the old gym with my Theatre Studies class was strangely reassuring after spending so much time there last year. Our students were positively beaming as they worked in the same space and, when it has been taken away from you, you realise how much happens just through proximity.
We are on a steep curve to catch up on our physical preparation but working steadily through the holidays will have everyone ready for action.
In sadder news, the Newlands musical has had to be cancelled after the cast and crew valiantly hung on for as long as they were able. Newlands was going to perform at Aikman Hall but with the stage soon being used for VCE exams, the venue is unavailable.
Plans for memorable moments are being worked on but everything still depends on our students being allowed back to school. We all continue to wait for news on that…
Stewart Bell
Director of Performing Arts
Music
Talented String Students Recognised
Musicians within the Haileybury community have been busy over the past fortnight.
Three of our String students, Campbell Wilson-Moran (Year 10) Elliot Guo (Year 10) and Abigail Xu (Year 8) were awarded places in the prestigious Melbourne Conservatorium Young Artists Academy (MCYAA) following recent successful auditions.
As part of the MCYAA program, these hardworking students will undertake comprehensive chamber music studies and study new repertoire, attend national and international masterclasses and, hopefully, take part in plenty of face-to-face rehearsals.
Well done to Mr Kieran Casey and Ms Myfanwy Bramble for their exceptional work with these outstanding young musicians.
Rhian Aoun Chosen for National Program
Last week, one of our senior VCE Music Investigation vocal students, Rhian Aoun (Year 12) was chosen as a finalist in the UNDSCRVD talent competition. The event will be hosted by internationally renowned artists The Veronicas.
The five finalists selected from across Australia will be mentored by The Veronicas in a documentary-style reality show broadcast on TikTok. You can see Rhian’s first post as part of the show at https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSJKepBHh/.
Thanks to Ms Fiona Mastorovic for her outstanding work with Rhian over the years.
VCE Music Students Prepare
Following a recent change in government restrictions, VCE Music students are now able to prepare for their upcoming Music Performance examinations onsite. While the conditions for attending rehearsals are strict, including a weekly COVID test, students were able to finally rehearse with their ensembles on the Aikman Hall stage.
I was so impressed by the amount of work achieved by our young musicians in lockdown— truly amazing and inspiring stuff. Of course, it was particularly special for students to able to see each other and work together once more.
Thank you to the Music staff who rehearsed with students for the Thursday and Saturday programs held over the past fortnight.
Joy of Music Concert Streamed
As part of the @ Home with Haileybury Program the Music Department recently hosted The Joy of Music. The streamed concert was a 30-minute sample of events from across the 2018 and 2019 concert calendar.
The show featured a Tattoo performance, a performance from the Melbourne Recital Centre concert, several performances in Aikman Hall, the Senior Choir contributing to an Aria Night presentation and a jazz performance held at St Kilda’s MEMO Music Hall.
1,500 students were captured in this snapshot of life within the Music Department in a normal two-year concert calendar.
Rod Marshall
Head of Haileybury Music
Creative Industries
Middle School Art Tells Stories
Middle School students are always encouraged to include personal interests in their works. Whether this takes the shape of a hobby or their identity, the students invest and take on great ownership of their final artworks.
We love hearing the stories that accompany these works, especially when they are as meaningful as the example below.
The earring on the artwork represents Zambia, which is where I come from. The ‘red’ stands for the blood that was shed during the British colony, the ‘green’ represents the vegetation and agriculture, the ‘orange’ represents the natural minerals and, lastly, the ‘black’ represents the peoples and tribes. Ultimately, I designed this artwork to recognise and appreciate all the tremendously brave women who have moulded who I am today. To conclude, the message for the viewers of this piece is to be grateful for all the women who are a part of their lives and to never underestimate what a woman is capable of doing. The woman does not necessarily have to be of African origin—it can be any woman of any nationality.
Faith Kauseni Year 8
Castlefield Students Make Art at Home
Year 4 students have been using a range of materials at home in response to their study of artist Alexander Calder. Calder is the inventor of the mobile and is famous for his circus of wire figures that he manipulated to perform.
We’re sure these performers below have brought lots of joy also.
Jaya Brown and Lucy Dunbar Year 4 Castlefield
Karl Sebire
Head of Creative Industries
Sports Report
AFL Draft Combine Update
Justin Davies (Year 12) will join fellow team mates Marcus Windhager and Connor Macdonald (both Year 12) in the 2021 NAB AFL Draft Combine.
Some 90 selected Australian Rules footballers from across the country will participate in the 2021 NAB AFL Draft Combine that will assess each player’s physical strengths through several tests including 20-metre sprint, agility tests and vertical jump. This provides critical data for AFL clubs as they enter the draft in October.
We wish these students all the very best.
Dance Nationals Cyber Competition
Due to the current lockdown and border closures, the TFT DanceStar National Championships are being held as a Cyber Competition. Qualifiers were asked to submit their video footage for judging and sections are being streamed weekly, with results announced at the end of each week.
This week our soloists performed and competed against dance schools and secondary schools across the nation. The results were:
Freya Stills Blott (Year 11) Third—Secondary Senior Hip Hop Amber Section
Michaela Davidson (Year 10) Third—Secondary Senior Soloist Contemporary Amber Section
Emily Peatman (Year 11) Third – Secondary Senior Soloist Jazz Amber Section
Melanie Nguyen (Year 11) Third—Secondary Senior Soloist Lyrical Amber Section
Laura Bellian (Year 11) Second—Secondary Senior Soloist Lyrical Amber Section
Ashlyn Scott (Year 7) Second—Secondary Junior Audition Jazz Section
Chloe Chung (Year 12) First—Secondary Senior Soloist Contemporary Red Section.
Congratulations to all our amazing soloists and their coaches on their outstanding achievements. Many of them filmed their pieces during lockdown and some competed with their VCE Dance solo works that they choreographed themselves. The sections were large and competitive—as were the scores. Well done!
We look forward to seeing how our Primary, Years 7–8 and Senior School Dance Teams go in their sections in the coming weeks.
Sean Allcock
Director of Haileybury Sport
OHA
The Haileybury Spark Series continues to explore the lives and fascinating career paths of Old Haileyburians such as Yannee Liu.
Spark Series Spotlight—Yannee Liu (OH 2019)
The OHA is delighted when alumni give back to their school and this year saw the introduction of the Haileybury Spark Series, developed and run by the Haileybury Careers Department.
OHA members volunteered their time to come back and speak to students about their career paths.
Yannee Liu (OH 2019) recently returned to the School to speak at the Science (Pharmacy, Health Science, Technology) session of the Haileybury Spark Series.
We had the pleasure of getting to know Yannee a little more through the Spark Spotlight Series available on the OHA website. View Article
Why not enjoy more of the Spotlight series while you are there?
Yannee Liu (OH 2019)
To keep up-to-date with all OHA news, subscribe to our Stay Connected Newsletter.
Hayley Denny
Development & Alumni Manager
Foundation
Two new scholarships have been introduced to support the educational aspirations of young people in Australia’s Afghani community.
Transforming Lives
The Haileybury Foundation is focused on transforming lives by providing opportunities for deserving students who would otherwise be unable to receive a world-class education at a school such as Haileybury.
Women in Afghanistan have faced many barriers to their education, not least the continued threat of violence and attacks on educational facilities in the country. We are committed to supporting students from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds and we are delighted to be offering the opportunity for two young Australian-Afghani students to join our community and complete their secondary education at Haileybury.
Through the generosity of our Haileybury Foundation donors, applications are now open for two fully funded scholarships for girls from the Australian-Afghani community. They will commence in Year 7 in 2022 at one of our four Melbourne campuses.
The scholarships will cover the students’ full tuition, uniform for all seasons and sports and laptop computer as part of the Haileybury Managed Device Program.
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications Open: 1 September, 2021
Applications Close: 30 September, 2021
Please visit the Haileybury Foundation Scholarships page for information on how to apply.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at foundation@haileybury.vic.edu.au.
Thank You
Donations to Haileybury Foundation continue to stream in. Our students are incredibly fortunate to be in receipt of such a high-quality education that would otherwise be out of reach.
All gifts to Haileybury Foundation are tax deductible. Our donors are having enormous impact and we have been delighted with the involvement of our community–from past parents, alumni and staff to current parents and former staff.
Donations can be made at https://www.haileybury.com.au/giving.
Social Media
The Haileybury Foundation is now on socials...to keep updated on Foundation activities, please follow us at:
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