Campus News
HRS’s community is alive and kicking
Last week, it was great to enjoy three completely different events that brought together our HRS community.
The first event was the annual Parents and Staff Cocktail Party which has been supported each year by Haileybury CEO|Principal, Derek Scott. Derek joined us in person this year as around 180 staff and parents enjoyed the social occasion in Dumabudla. This is a tradition we must continue.
A highlight for me was meeting the parents of our first international boarder, Jasper Brooker (Year 7). Jasper is on exchange with us and living in boarding after relocating from the Australian International School in Singapore at the start of the year. His father, David Brooker (OH '84), studied at Haileybury Keysborough and David and his wife, Mel, travelled from Singapore to join our function.
I also enjoyed meeting Meg Hewett who travelled from Galiwin’ku in Arnhem land to support our event. Her daughter, Dorothy Hewett, has also joined us in Year 7 boarding this year.
It was a most enjoyable evening!
The second event was the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival which, for the first time, saw many of our students dominating the main stage in various choirs and ensembles. The HRS show went on for around an hour and involved students from Year 2 to Year 10.
The MC of the show was happy to announce us as ‘the only school in the Territory that has day, boarding and online classes’ — excellent publicity! A special thanks to our dedicated music staff who made all this possible for our students on a busy Mother’s Day.
Another community highlight was the traditional Staff v Students AFL Clontarf Cup held at the school on our main oval on Friday, 19 May. The Clontarf Academy is an Australia-wide organisation that supports young Indigenous lads from Years 7–12.
At HRS we are proud to run our own academy on site and the staff do a wonderful job of supporting our boarding and teaching initiatives. Clontarf focuses especially on sporting connection and the staff versus student game has become an annual fixture. This year we had 25 staff who managed to win the match. The game was literally played at sunrise with supporters and a barbecue at the ready!
Andrew McGregor
Principal, Haileybury Rendall School
