One Haileybury Connections
Year 10 Principal’s Exchange to Haileybury Melbourne
"Time has flown down here at Haileybury City. So far, my exchange has been amazing. I am so lucky to be with the best host family I could have ever asked for. At first, I was a bit wary about being located at Haileybury City campus as it is a vertical and entirely indoor building and so different to HRS. However, I am now finding that I am at the best possible campus. I have made many new friendships and have found some new favourite teachers. I have also picked up a new subject (Business Management) that I thoroughly enjoy.
Something very different here is separate classes for boys and girls. At first, I found it weird, but everyone in my classes is super nice. My biggest struggle is mentally preparing myself to walk up 14 flights of stairs each morning as we are not allowed to use the lifts and every morning it is a struggle.
I have many highlights. Going off campus for recess and lunch to enjoy some fresh air is my favourite activity. My friends have introduced me to new food places that I absolutely love, with every student’s staple recess being the Asian grocer 100m down the road. We either eat lunch in Flagstaff gardens or we walk around Melbourne city — back in time for classes to start.
Travelling to Keysborough for sport on Tuesdays is very long but also very enjoyable. The girls bring speakers, and we listen to different music on the hour-long bus ride across Melbourne. Each afternoon at Keysborough we do different activities and meet new people. A highlight was definitely our newspaper fashion show last week, with the winning team awarded some doughnuts.
This week, we got to experience the formal blazer squad assembly in Aikman Hall with presentation of the first teams’ blazers and it was a culture shock to say the least.
So far, I am having a great time, and it will be very bittersweet to say goodbye, but I am looking forward to making the best of my time left. "
Madison (Year 10)
"Doesn’t time fly? I didn’t even realise I was halfway through my journey here in Melbourne.
So many amazing experiences have occurred since my arrival in Melbourne, and I couldn’t be happier. While the cold weather and homesickness have posed some challenges along the way, I believe that I have adjusted well into my life here in Berwick Campus and Melbourne as a whole.
I am very lucky to have my homestay, and the wonderfully helpful community at Haileybury, who have helped me every step of the way, and made this experience the highlight of my schooling career.
A massive thank you to Mr McGregor, and all the amazing people at Haileybury Rendall School for making this experience possible."
Sam (Year 10)
The Year 9 Haileybury City Trip from HRS
"Recently a group of 24 Year 9s went from HRS to Melbourne. We all had a wonderful time exploring and seeing what the other Haileybury campuses are like. There were many highlights.
My favourite experience was the AFL match we got to see. We were lucky enough to watch the game between the Melbourne Demons and GWS. It was a tense match with GWS winning after being down 27 points after the first quarter. The atmosphere in the stadium and being so close to the pitch was incredible. We also got to go on a private tour of the MCG earlier that day, going onto the ground, through the members section and seeing one of the changerooms. Some of us also got to sit in seats reserved for people who have been members for over 50 years. We then went through the sports museum attached to the MCG and saw the long history of AFL and cricket in Melbourne.
Another highlight was going to Philip Island. Although it was a long trip there, it was definitely worth it to see the koalas and penguins. The penguins were so cool to see in person and watching them waddle up the beach in tightly packed groups was amazing. We all got some nice photos of the koalas, if we were able to find them and some of us bought souvenirs from the gift shop. We also greatly enjoyed the shopping opportunities, spending an hour and a half exploring the Queen Vic Markets, and over three hours going through shops at Melbourne Central.
My favourite experience was seeing the campuses and meeting the other Year 9 Haileybury students. Having the opportunity to see what everyday life is like for students on the other side of the country was incredible, and experiencing the giant Keysborough campus and the vertical city campus was such a rewarding time. Everyone there was really nice, and I personally felt very welcomed into their community. The Keysborough campus was also great and even though in the few hours we were there, someone ate an entire pen, some of us were barked at, and we faced the competitive side of them during our game of mini-golf, it was still an amazing experience and we are all so grateful.
On behalf of our group, I’d like to say a huge thankyou to all the staff involved in ensuring we had the most enjoyable trip possible, especially Mr Eddie, Ms Thomas and Ms De Kosta Hill. We all appreciated how well you managed the date mix-up, even though we would have loved to have an extra day in Melbourne. Thank you."
Regan , Georgia and Milo (Year 9)
Andrew McGregor
Principal, Haileybury Rendall School
