The Haileyburian

The Haileyburian

SUMMER 2024

News

by Leave a Comment

Since its first year in 1892, Haileybury has always been an aspirational school with an aspirational community. It is one of the key elements that has enabled the school to evolve and change to meet the expectations of each generation of students. 

This edition of the Haileyburian highlights the bold aspirations of our students and their families, our staff, and the School itself across all of One Haileybury’s different campuses and schools. 

One example is the Haileybury/Swinburne space partnership which for the sixth time has seen a group of Year 11 students put an experiment onto the International Space Station. This year it is a fungi experiment that has further developed the students’ mushrooming interest in, and engagement with, science.   

Just as some of the students working on the space experiment will head off to leading international universities, so will some of our fine sports competitors. Indeed, eight students who have graduated from Haileybury’s highly successful basketball program are currently studying at US universities on scholarship programs. This is on the back of a remarkable four boys basketball premierships in a row. This is a record in the 33 years that boys basketball has been an APS premiership sport.  

Girls basketball also has an outstanding record with three premierships in the last six years. The first Haileybury girls’ school captain, Dayna Schinz, was also the first girls’ basketball captain. Dayna has been teaching at Haileybury for 12 years and is a wonderful example of Haileybury’s aspirational teachers.  She is now leading the way as a Digital Learning Leader, Senior School and teaching at Haileybury Pangea – a part of Haileybury’s ambition to be a leading online school catering for the many and varied needs of students today. Another of Haileybury’s Digital Learning Leaders, Dominika Kaputska, won the Education Rising Star Award at the Australian Education Awards. Dominika is hugely inspirational for her students but also set herself the goal of working at Haileybury when she moved to Australia from Canada. We are very glad she was successful in this goal! 

As a school we are always focused on the opportunities for all Haileybury students and the commitment to the concept of One Haileybury – operating under a shared set of values. A fine example of One Haileybury was the school equestrian championships which were held in Townsville this year.  Haileybury had six students competing, representing both Victoria and the Northern Territory and coming from Haileybury Rendall School, Darwin, Haileybury Melbourne and Haileybury Pangea.  It is a lovely story about the breadth of the Haileybury community. A second example is the wonderful story of the 20 students from Haileybury Rendall School who spent time at Haileybury Tianjin.  Friendships were forged, fun was had and as Louis from Haileybury Tianjin said “it felt like we were not just sharing knowledge, but also building a deeper connection across borders.” 

There are many more stories in this Haileyburian including wonderful Old Haileyburians such as Oscar winner Adam Elliot (OH 1989). I hope you enjoy reading about our marvellous, aspirational, One Haileybury community.

by Leave a Comment

On Friday, 18 October Haileybury Pangea celebrated the graduation of their second ever cohort of Year 12 students. In a ceremony held at the David Bradshaw Chapel at Haileybury’s Keysborough campus, 20 of the graduates attended alongside their families and teachers, followed by a Valedictory Dinner in the Langford Pavilion. 

Joanna Baker, Head of Campus at Haileybury Pangea, shared her excitement of the evening with us. “It was delightful to see our students and families gather to celebrate our Haileybury Pangea Class of 2024 at Haileybury’s Keysborough campus. Each of our graduates has had a unique journey through their final years of schooling, and it has been an honour to share in this journey and see students grow and flourish. We can’t wait to see what they do next.”

VCE can be demanding, requiring hard work and perseverance. However, with a determination to succeed, it can also be filled with unforgettable moments. For this group, some of their best memories included meet ups in the Year 12 virtual common room, and looking forward to particular classes with great classmates. The General Achievement Test (GAT) and the following soiree that evening were also highlights, where the students had a chance to connect with faces that, until then, they had only seen through the screen.  

Next year, many of the graduates will be undertaking tertiary studies in a variety of areas, including commerce, engineering, law and the arts, whilst others aspire to study abroad, start their own business, or continue pursuing sports on the national and international stage. 

Looking ahead to 2025, Haileybury Pangea already has 33 Year 12 students ready to begin their final year of studies, with this number likely to grow in the coming months.   

Congratulations and well done to the Haileybury Pangea Class of 2024.

by Leave a Comment

Haileybury’s sports program is one of the largest school sports programs in the country. 

However, there’s always room to improve the player experience, as well as expand the range of sports on offer, so every student can be part of a program they enjoy at a level that suits them. 

As part of his role, Matt Dwyer, Haileybury’s newly appointed Head of Sport (One Haileybury), is bringing significant grassroots, national and international sports expertise to build on Haileybury’s existing sports program across campuses. 

Matt’s goal is simple – to ensure every student has a memorable and enjoyable sporting experience, whether they aspire to become an elite athlete in traditional or competitive sports, want to exercise to keep active, or wish to pursue a passion like yoga or rock climbing. He also wants to make the sports program rewarding for the staff who coach and support students. 

Matt is leading the development of a five-year sports strategy for Haileybury that will cement what the program already does well and build and broaden those strengths. It will take onboard the views and ideas of students, their families, and the staff who already deliver 38 sports across year levels and campuses. It is about providing more choice and wider opportunities for Haileybury students. 

“We want all students, parents and teachers to have strong and happy memories of their involvement in sport at Haileybury. The sports program is already expansive and inclusive and we want to continue building on that and ensure there are always opportunities to advance and evolve what sport means to Haileybury.” shared Matt. 

“We’re keen to find out what students, families and staff specifically want from sports, so we can build a program for everyone. Some of our students will have a goal to be an Olympian or to play soccer or cricket for Australia or to play in the AFL or AFLW. What role can Haileybury play in helping those students towards that goal? 

“We also want to support students who simply want to play the sport they love as best they can, and equally, we want to recognise students who want to be active and who don’t want to pursue traditional team sports and find activities like pilates, golf or rock-climbing more to their liking.” 

Matt joins Haileybury after decades in senior sales, marketing and sponsorship roles with major consumer and sports organisations including Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). As the inaugural Chief Tennis Officer with Tennis Australia, Matt was accountable for growing and improving tennis participation in Australia from grassroots to Grand Slam level. 

Choosing to work in education, rather than to continue his career in the corporate or sports world, is a proactive career switch that Matt is passionate about. 

Matt is also intent on ensuring the new sports strategy means teachers receive the support and professional development they need to build their own coaching skills and confidence. He also hopes a greater range of sports experiences will help create memories for young people with their families. 

by Leave a Comment

Haileybury’s staff and students continue to exceed expectations year after year, making strides across all areas of the school and setting a high standard for the future. While we could fill volumes with the incredible achievements of the Haileybury community, here is just a taste of some of the amazing things accomplished this year.  

Haileybury
Australian Education Awards 

In August, at the 2024 Australian Education Awards, Haileybury claimed the title of Primary School of the Year (Non-Government) for the fifth time.  


Dominika Kaputska
Australian Education Awards 

Dominika Kapustka (Teacher and Middle School Digital Learning Leader) was awarded the Education Rising Star of the Year, recognising her significant contributions to and influence on the school community.

 


Vinay (Year 12)
Science Olympiad Trifecta 

In July, Vinay achieved High Distinctions in all three Science Olympiads: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Completing three intensive exams within four days is no easy feat, but his outstanding results place him among the top students in Australia, and earnt him an invitation to the Australian Olympiads Summer School. 

 “It feels really good to have received a high distinction in the three Olympiads. Each Olympiad had some challenging questions, but I thought the problems were interesting and enriching to solve. I am looking forward to the chemistry summer school and learning more about chemistry and potentially being selected for the national team” said Vinay.

 


Kayla (Year 11)
Plain English Speaking Award (PESA) 

After only participating in the first round in 2023, Kayla was awarded runner-up at the 2024 PESA competition, a national event for students aged 15–18.

“I decided to take part again due to my past experience and love for public speaking. I saw it as an amazing opportunity to be able to address current issues and educate others on topics I’m passionate about,” she shared.  

Kayla’s entry addressed pressing issues on the topic of domestic violence. “I recognised the extremely toxic nature of male platforms that were actively promoting violence against women. Fundamentally, I believe every person should be in a respectful and healthy relationship without violence or fear of violence,” she said. 

 


Karshin (Year 12)  

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award 

In October, Year 12 student Karshin completed the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This is the highest level of a program designed to build skills, resilience and leadership. Participants design their own program to fulfil a variety of activities and experiences.  

Karshin’s program included weight training for physical development, website programming as a skill, and leadership roles in his local youth and STEM clubs for community service. To complete the award, Karshin embarked on a multi-night expedition to Wilsons Promontory – a walk in the park for a Gold DoE recipient! 

 


Alexis (Year 11)
Music Theatre Guild of Victoria  

Haileybury’s production of The Addams Family has recently received a number of nominations from the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria, earning callouts in over 20 categories for their production back in May.  

Alexis, who played Alice Beineke, received recognition for an impressive four categories including Best Supporting Female Performer, Highly Commended Performer, Best Solo Song, and Best Performance in a Supporting Role.  

The category winners will be announced mid-December, where Haileybury is also due to receive a special award for original and creative artwork design for The Addams Family. 



BIOTech Futures Award
Winning Bee Health App 

A team of students from Keysborough campus have won the Victorian stage of the BIOTech Futures Challenge with their innovative smartHive, a futuristic beehive equipped with sensors and cameras. 

Designed to combat the threats posed by Varroa mites to Australia’s bee population, the smartHive provides beekeepers with real-time information on hive conditions and automatically detects parasites.  

Team members Vinuka, Joshua, Saad and team leader Brandon, all in Year 10, highlighted the urgent need for such technology, as Varroa mites have devastated bee colonies in New South Wales and were recently detected in Victoria.