Haileybury (Melbourne)

Charles Rendall, an old boy of Haileybury College,[8] Hertfordshire (1873) and graduate of Oxford University (1879), moved to Australia in 1882, becoming a teacher of Latin and Ancient Greek at Melbourne University, Melbourne Grammar, and later at Scotch College. In 1892, with five staff and 17 students, he opened a new Haileybury campus in Brighton East, Victoria. The school was based on the traditional English public school model with an emphasis on classical texts of Ancient Greece and Rome, and cricket.[9]

Haileybury offered 12 years of secondary education and averaged 40 to 50 students through the Depression years of the 1890s. Discipline was enforced through the cane and the prefect system. Also on the staff were Mr. and Mrs. Mills who contributed financially to the founding of the School. Rendall bought them out at the end of 1892 and in 1893 married Louise Fanny Cardweaver, who became school housekeeper.

Louis Berthon joined Rendall's staff in 1894. Due to Rendall's continuing health problems, especially after 1906, Berthon was often in charge. Both men regarded a supportive staff/student relationship as paramount.[10] In 1914, Rendall's wife died in a car accident, and afterwards he sold Haileybury to Berthon. Berthon did not have the same reputation as Rendall and school numbers began to decline, but by 1920, enrollments rose again.

In 1932 the third Headmaster, Sydney Dickinson, purchased what was then known as the ‘Castlefield’ Estate, in Hampton, Victoria, and from 1932 to 1939, Haileybury used both properties.[11]

Sholto Black became Headmaster in 1942, by which time 190 boys were enrolled at the School. [12] By the time of his retirement in 1953, the number had grown to 600.

Subsequently, David Bradshaw became the new Headmaster and continued the expansion of the school.[13] In 1958, Haileybury was invited to join the Associated Public Schools of Victoria. In 1961 the property ‘Newlands’ was purchased in Keysborough by the School Council, and from 1963 to 1968 the Senior School operated at both the Brighton and Keysborough campuses.[14]

Michael Aikman later took over from Bradshaw as Headmaster and continued to develop the Keysborough property.[15] During the 1970s the Preparatory School was built on the ‘Newlands’ site and was to run parallel with the Preparatory School ‘Castlefield, Brighton’ situated in Hampton. In 1985, land was purchased at Berwick to establish a third Preparatory School.[16] In 1989 the ‘Edrington’ campus opened its doors.

Dr. Robert Pargetter took over as Principal in 1998.[17] He introduced to Haileybury the model of Parallel Education, a specialised Pre-Senior (Year 9) Program, a broadening of the curriculum, and the three-year VCE.[18] Girls first began at Haileybury in 2000, and in 2006 Haileybury Girls College was formally established. During Pargetter's time at Haileybury, student numbers increased from 1,620 to 3,110. After Pargetter's death in 2007, Derek Scott was appointed Principal.

Haileybury opened its first overseas campus outside of Beijing, China in 2013. In 2019, it opened its first interstate campus, located close to Darwin, Australia, named Haileybury Rendall School. Also in 2019, Haileybury was named Australian School of the Year at the Australian Education Awards.[19]

Rendall, an alumnus of Haileybury, England, obtained permission from his old school to use its name and badge. The colours he chose were magenta and black instead of the magenta and white of the parent school; and for the motto he chose ‘Altera Terra’ to signify the establishment of a new Haileybury ‘in another land’.

In 1954, the school decided to couple the motto of Haileybury, England, ‘Sursum Corda’ (‘Lift up your hearts’) to the original ‘Altera Terra’.[20]

Haileybury offers its students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).

Haileybury is a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS).

At Haileybury, the parallel education system provides education for boys and girls at the same school, and both genders are allowed to interact outside of class times, where mostly single gender classes exist.[24]

Parallel education at Haileybury incorporates two schools. Haileybury College is a school for boys, and Haileybury Girls College is a school for girls. Each school operates from the Early Learning Centre to Year 12.

How Parallel Education Works;

• Girls and boys attend the same teaching precincts
• Learning and activities are arranged to reflect the age and gender of the student and the nature of the activities
• Students from the Early Learning Centre to Year 4 are educated in coeducational classes
• Years 5 to 9 move to single gender schools at Berwick, Brighton and Keysborough (with separate Pre-Senior Centres)
• The three-year VCE program is conducted with separate classes for girls and boys in English courses, and in other subjects where numbers allow. All other classes are co-educational with students coming together for classes such as music or drama, and in social and cultural activities. However, the Senior School houses are all single-gender, and all relevant events, such as House Athletics, the swimming carnival and House Arts, are conducted in these single-gender houses.

Haileybury's Deputy Principal John Fleming spends four weeks of each term travelling Australia, coaching teachers in using strategies to improve students’ skills. The program is delivered to hundreds of schools across Australia.[25] The program closely fits with Haileybury's Social Justice Program. Many of the schools who participate in Fleming's program are assisted on a pro-bono basis, with education departments helping to cover the costs.

Haileybury places an emphasis on social justice through their Community Responsibility Program. Each of Haileybury's campuses supports local and global charities, with approximately 40 charities benefitting from the program.[26] As part of their social justice program, Haileybury students seek to raise awareness about the not-for-profit organisations they support, and the work these organisations accomplish, as well as doing fundraising. Haileybury Berwick's Boys Middle School created a campaign in collaboration with Beyond Blue Youth to tackle the issues surrounding youth depression.[27] Haileybury has also implemented various initiatives to advocate for climate change amongst the student body.[26]

• List of schools in Victoria
• List of high schools in Victoria
• List of people educated at Haileybury, Melbourne
• Victorian Certificate of Education
• List of largest Victorian Schools

• Official website
• Old Haileyburians Association
• Haileybury and Imperial Service College, Hertford, England