Castlefield

Campus News

Past student performs with Andre Rieu

We were pleased to hear that in May, Hamish Wallace (OH 2019) performed with his band at the Andre Rieu concerts at the SEC Hydro in Glasgow. Hamish joined Castlefield in Pre-Prep and remained with the school through to Year 12. He began playing the snare drum as a young boy to complement his piano studies and is one of our finest ever highland drummers.

Hamish became the Drum Sergeant for Haileybury Pipes & Drums and played a crucial role in our wins at various state, national and international competitions. In Year 12, Hamish was elected a School Prefect and achieved the Barney Allen Medal (Bronze) in recognition of his ‘all-round’ achievement at Haileybury.

In 2020, he became the first Haileyburian to complete his undergraduate Music degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

Fight MND

Friday, 9 June saw six of our brave staff participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge for Fight MND. Student names were drawn out of the raffle box to see who was going to dump buckets of icy water on Mr Lewis, Mr Lucas, Ms Heming, Mr Tzikas, Ms Gardam and Mr Sullivan. The whole school, gobbling on sausages that Rendall House sold to raise funds, watched in anticipation as ice and water were tipped onto these fabulous volunteers. We thank Mr Vegter for his coordination and the community for the support of this brilliant cause.

Traffic and parking reminder

South Road is the preferred pick up and drop off location for students in Junior and Middle School, with the roundabout being an efficient way to collect your child. Staff are on duty before and after school to help children remain safe within our school gates.

For Senior School students, South Road is the only drop off and pick up area for parents who are driving their child to school. We encourage our older students to walk, ride or choose public transport as an alternative to being driven to school each day.

Early Learning Centre

Celebrating reconciliation

The ELC recently recognised and celebrated National Reconciliation Week — a week for connecting to country, acknowledging and paying respect to our nation’s past, slowing down our teaching routines and prioritising our community and wellbeing.

The fire pit was lit and enjoyed by the community all week and children, educators and families gathered to share stories, songs, yarns and food on country.

Children have discussed what the word ‘reconciliation’ means to them and educators have been amazed by their knowledge, understanding and care for our country.

“Sharing the land.”

“Walking together.”

“Celebrating that Boonwurrung and Aboriginal people were here in Australia first.”

What does reconciliation mean for you and your family?

Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)

Our ELC educators have been busy researching and reflecting on the updated National EYLF. This framework guides our practice and integrates Vision, Principles, Practices and Learning Outcomes with a focus on children’s learning, development and wellbeing.

A beautiful focus within this framework is on children’s wellbeing and a strong sense of connection, optimism, resilience and engagement to enable children to develop a growth mindset and a positive attitude to learning.

This focus resonates with our Haileybury ELC philosophy as we foster and promote the best outcomes for children in all that we do.

Junior School

Sing It, Act It, Dance It!

One of the favourite lunch time clubs is ‘Sing It, Act It, Dance It’ which is run by Music teacher, Tracey Jacob and Drama teacher, Lexy Milne. Each week this musical theatre style club works on a performance piece and recently they polished their singing and dancing to perform Naughty from the much-loved musical, Matilda.

The team performed during a Friday lunchtime concert to great applause. The concert was also open to other talents in our Junior School with students taking to the stage to tell jokes, show their gymnastics skills and play instruments.

Worms and waste

Our Year 2 students visited the Gould League, a not-for-profit organisation that educates children about the environment and sustainability. They learnt about mini-beasts and sustainability, used microscopes to look at worms and learned how worms help to decompose waste.

During the mini-beast hunt they found snails, centipedes, millipedes, slugs, caterpillars, ants and worms. Through ‘the incredible shrinking machine’ they delved into the world of composting and learnt the role that bugs play in a compost bin.

The Year 2 students are now collecting their organic waste for use in our solar tube composting system.

“Some things take thousands of years to break down.” Freddie

“Make sure you look at packaging and see if it can be recycled.” Cameron

“I love seeing the worms up close and could see the rings around their body.” Tilly

“Worms change colour as they get older and have a cocoon around their middle.” Ava

“The roley poley insects have different names, they are also called slaters.” Emma

“Aluminium takes 400–500 years to break down.” Nate

Middle School

A splash of yellow

National Reconciliation Week in the Middle School was a wonderful celebration. All students had the opportunity to wear a splash of yellow and were treated to a memorable assembly hosted by our Year 8 leaders.

The event began with a moving Welcome to Country smoking ceremony by Caroline Martin, a senior custodian of Boonwurrung Country. All students passed through the smoke as they made their way into assembly, which was a cleansing and powerful moment.

Our Castlefield community was also delighted to welcome back past Middle School teacher, Lucy Amon. Lucy plays an important role as the Indigenous Programs Coordinator at another Melbourne school and she is instrumental in working with teachers and students to help them engage with Indigenous people, culture and issues. We were so fortunate to welcome her back to share her inspiring story with students.

Our students have generously donated more than 28 pairs of football boots to St Kilda Football Club’s Reboot campaign. This campaign will run until the end of term, so there is still time to donate.

It’s camp time

Year 8 students have headed off for their camp experience. They will immerse themselves in nature, step out of their comfort zones and we are sure, make the most of the exciting challenges that come with the outdoor educational experience at Camp Marysville.

We are proud of our Year 8 students for taking on the camp experience with a great ‘can do’ attitude as they boarded buses this morning, and look forward to hearing their stories after they settle in and enjoy some of their familiar creature comforts once back at home.

Our Year 7 students are excited for their upcoming camp in Week 2 of Term 3. They will travel to Camp Jungai in the Yarra Valley from Monday, 24 to Friday, 28 July.

If you were unable to attend our parent information session, please find attached the overview Year 7 Camp Info.

Katrina Manson

Head of Castlefield (Brighton)

Monique Chapman

President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Castlefield