Another year of unstoppable achievements

This has been the second year of Haileybury Pangea — and what a year it has been! Our students have continued to study while pursuing their passions, travelling around the country and the world, and achieving their goals.

“Each year, I’m constantly amazed and impressed by the achievements and efforts of our students,” says Joanna Baker, Haileybury Pangea Head of Campus.

“Of course, they do all this with the support of their families and the dedicated and expert teachers who not only teach but who encourage each student to be curious, to question and to dig deeper. I can’t wait to see what 2025 brings.”

Each day brings a new story or achievement, and we are delighted to share some of these with you as we close out 2024.

Thank you to our inaugural School Captains

Firstly, we would like to acknowledge the terrific work of our inaugural Haileybury Pangea Year 12 Captains - Sean and Madeline.

Sean was excited to represent Haileybury Pangea, to lead assemblies and school gatherings, and to provide a listening ear to any student who needed support and advice.

“To me, being a good Captain means having an impact on students at Pangea. I hope I helped build a strong school community and helped students with any challenges they encountered,” says Sean.

During her Captaincy, Madeline hoped she helped build a sense of community and says becoming a Year 12 Captain was something she never thought was possible.

“I hope I helped each of us get to know each other and that the awkward silences that can happen online became less and were filled with laughter and conversation instead,” she says.

The Youth Olympian

Elite snowboarder, Milo (Year 10), represented Australia at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea. Milo began skiing when he was three and switched to snowboarding at eight. He’s been part of Snow Australia’s Emerging Talent Program and has won championship titles in Australia and the US. In South Korea, Milo joined 1,800 competitors from around the world.

“It was an incredible experience and a once-in-a-lifetime event. Highlights were being in the Olympic Village and the competition venues and I took part in the Opening Ceremony as part of the Australian parade and saw the lighting of the Olympic torch,” says Milo.

Making sweet music

Abby (Year 11) completed VCE Music 3 & 4 this year and is a talented violinist who joined the school so she could dedicate more time to her music and towards her goal of becoming a professional musician.

“I started playing the violin when I was six and studying at Pangea has allowed me to practice more, and to have greater flexibility in arranging music lessons. This has furthered my abilities as a musician in a way that wasn’t possible when I was attending school in person,” she says.

Rising star in the saddle

While she received her first pony when she was eight, Annabelle (Year 8) learnt to ride when she was 11-years-old and began competing a few years later.

“I’ve always loved horses and now train for around 15 to 20 hours a week. Competing in my first Australian Interschool Championships this year with my horse, Willow, was very exciting and I was so proud to represent Victoria and to be able to compete at a national level. My training throughout the year helped prepare me for the Novice Intermediate Dressage event – that included consistent training and turning up to ride no matter what challenges or weather conditions I faced! There were a lot of highlights such as representing my state, making new friends

The world of freestyle scootering

Alexandria (Year 9) discovered the world of freestyle scootering in 2021 during Victoria’s COVID lockdowns. Fast forward to 2024 and Alexandria competed in New Zealand and has her eyes set on earning a spot in the World Skate Grand Finals one day. In New Zealand, Alexandria faced competitors at least 10 years her senior but she has already mastered some complex tricks and techniques.

“So far, I’m the first female in Australia to land a front scooter flip and I’m one of the few women in the world to be able to front flip. Scootering is a male-dominated sport – in the whole of Australia, we only have 15 to 20 female riders under the age of 30 competing worldwide. The lack of women is a shame and I hope to inspire as many girls as I can to pick up a scooter and give it a go,” she says.

The snow brothers

Brothers Bowie (Year 6) and Saxby (Year 8) are members of the Team Hotham Winter Sports Race Club and the International Racer team in Europe. They specialise in slalom, giant slalom and super G. The boys started skiing recreationally when Saxby was five and Bowie was three. During the European winter they trained in the Italian Dolomite mountains, Norway and Sweden.

Saxby has finished second at the Danish Winter Games in Norway and Bowie finished fifth and they also placed in the Ski Star Winter Games in Sweden and Norway.

“For now, we are focusing on training and we would like to take our sport as far as competing in the World Cup and Winter Olympics to represent Australia,” says Bowie.

The gymnastics talent

Exceptional gymnast, Grace (Year 6), is on a mission to earn a spot at the 2028 Olympics and achieving that goal requires countless hours of coaching and practice. The Year 6 student has done gymnastics since she was two-years-old and after a 5.30am wake-up call, she starts her day at the gym.

After studying, Grace and her Mum head to the gym again where there is more training before dinner, homework, a shower and some much-needed sleep.

This year, Grace competed at the Gymnastics Australia National Clubs Carnival – her first major competition in Future International – and came third overall.

The marine artist

Zara’s artwork of a lined lantern shark was named one of 10 winners in the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s national competition this year. Her detailed and realistic painting was placed on display at the Australian Museum’s Fantastical Sharks & Rays exhibition and inspired a work of art by renowned Australian jewellery brand, Sarah and Sebastian.

Zara (Year 8) was inspired to enter the competition by her passion for sharks and, using her artistic talent, Zara wanted to shed a light on the critical conditions faced by our shark and ray populations today.

To provide our Haileybury Pangea students with flexibility and support, our brilliant teachers are always on hand to help. Meet two of our academic stars...

Friendship videos and breakout rooms

Carlie Gannon, Deputy Head of Digital at Haileybury Pangea, ensured students had opportunities to enjoy school outside of homework and class time this year by introducing a project where students worked in teams to create a friendship video.

Glow in the dark bacteria

As a teacher of VCE Biology, Mark McTier is a familiar face to Haileybury Pangea’s senior students and he is passionate about his online students having the same learning experiences as students in on-campus classrooms. One of Mark’s most memorable teaching moments this year came when he inserted a ‘glow in the dark’ gene originating from jellyfish into bacteria to make the bacteria glow.

“To make sure Haileybury Pangea students could see the impressive results, I turned off the lights and used a series of cameras and UV lights to zoom in on the bacteria in the petri dish. Then the students online could see the fluorescent bacterial colonies in as much detail as if they were in the classroom,” says Mark.

As our students and teachers enjoy a well-earned break, we look forward to welcoming them back next year and discovering what 2025 will hold.