A year after Haileybury Pangea was launched, the online school celebrates its first graduates.
On Monday, 30 January 2023, a new chapter in the long history of Haileybury began. After five years of intense research and development, Australia’s largest independent school introduced Haileybury Pangea, becoming Victoria’s first fully online private school.
Fast forward almost 12 months, and Haileybury Pangea is preparing to launch in the Northern Territory and welcome a new cohort of students in 2024. But before the new school year begins, the school is celebrating the achievements of its first-ever graduates.
The Year 12s have successfully navigated their online VCE studies while maintaining demanding schedules outside of school. They've been studying vocational courses, training at an elite level in various sports, volunteering in their local community, and even performing opera.
“Our Year 12 graduates are pioneers – it’s no small thing to take on a new learning model for your final year of schooling,” Haileybury Pangea Head of Campus, Joanna Baker said. “I’m most impressed by how they have supported each other and connected with each other, despite being geographically separated for most of the year.”
Haileybury Pangea caters to small classes of students from Years 5 to 12. The school week combines live classes with teachers, pre-prepared video content created by teachers and subject specialists, periods of self-study and self-paced learning, assessment tasks, and one-on-one or small group-based time with subject teachers.
Students choose to study through Haileybury Pangea for various reasons. Some have significant sporting careers that require intense training and travel, while others are talented performing artists with demanding rehearsal schedules. Some simply find the more personalized model of learning suits them better.
The first graduates include Abdullah, whose favourite subjects are Mathematical Methods, Chemistry, and Physics, and who hopes to study science or engineering. “I’ve enjoyed the entire experience – the flexibility of learning was magnificent,” he says.
Zayne spent much of Year 12 living in Bali and successfully navigated the time differences to complete his studies. Tristan is an elite full-time mogul skier whose sport has required him to travel around the world this year while completing VCE.
Anthony completed VCE with Haileybury Pangea and also studied a Cert II in Applied Fashion & Technology and Chinese Second Language Advanced. “Next year I hope to get into university and continue to study Psychology,” he said.
Sophie plays and coaches netball, AFL, and rowing and spent a significant amount of her time training and volunteering while studying VCE this year. Hannah juggled her VCE studies while focusing on her talents as an opera singer.
Madeline found studying online allowed her to have greater balance between her studies and well-being and she made strong friendships through Haileybury Pangea. She hopes to study environmental science. “I’m super excited and super proud of all of my classmates and myself. It’s been a great year, and I’m excited for our new chapter,” Madeline said.
Finally, Melbourne basketballer and Haileybury Pangea graduate, Lily, is dusting off her passport and packing her suitcase ready to move to Indianapolis where she is joining the women’s basketball program at Butler University as part of a four-year scholarship. She said Haileybury Pangea was the ‘perfect fit’ that allowed her to graduate and pursue opportunities through her sport.
The students marked their history-making graduation with a ceremony and valedictory dinner at Haileybury’s Keysborough campus. Students made speeches, as did Haileybury CEO|Principal, Derek Scott, and inaugural Head of House, Natasha Eshuis.
“Many of our Year 12 parents remarked on how much students had grown throughout the year – they have had to adapt to rapid change, become self-motivated in their studies, and develop high-level organizational and communication skills,” Joanna said. “The independence and self-regulation that comes from working in a blended model is not to be underestimated – I’m confident they’ll be well-equipped for the challenges of higher study and the modern workplace.”