Hot off the Virtual Press
Created by students for students, The Pangean magazine keeps everyone at Haileybury Pangea in the loop.
The very first issue of The Pangean, the Haileybury Pangea magazine, was created through a school project designed to spark entrepreneurship and outside the box thinking. A group of enterprising young students with some bright ideas wanted to connect with their online classmates across the country and, through the Curious Minds program at Haileybury, they initially began developing a game.
However, as the project progressed, the game morphed into a magazine written by students for students and featuring drawings, articles, updates, student and teacher profiles and tips on how to make the most of studying online.
With the School’s support and some guidance by their teachers, the young editorial team was given the green light to turn the idea into a reality and to officially launch The Pangean.
The online magazine has been a hit with students and Haileybury Pangea’s teachers, and the budding journalists and editors are currently working on the next issue. With the team scattered across Victoria and the Northern Territory, it takes some careful planning to work out what will run in each issue and to figure out timelines and deadlines.
“We have fortnightly catch-up calls and we meet up online and check in with each other during the week. The team is now good friends, so meetings usually involve everyone talking and bouncing ideas off each other,” says one of The Pangean’s founding members, Felix (Year 6).
“With the team spanning Years 5 to 8, our timetables are quite different, but we have set times to work together, and we get a lot done. Leading up to deadlines we all work a lot, but it feels great when the issue is launched. It’s always worth all the effort!”
As well as the editorial team, The Pangean has been supported by Damien Meunier, who leads innovation and entrepreneurship programs at Haileybury. Haileybury Pangea Head of House, Natasha Eshuis, also helps each issue of The Pangean get to press. This month's edition included a Word Search, Spotlight on a Student, a short story called 'The Giraffe and the Lion, Spotlight on a Teacher, a movie review (Wonka), a dog review, fact files, Summer project follow-ups, Quote of the Month and more!
“First of all, the Haileybury Pangea teachers helped us by saying ‘yes’ to the school magazine,” says Felix.
“Now they help with advice about how to run meetings and how to publish the magazine and share the link with readers. They keep us on track, so we meet deadlines, and they help us by telling us we’re doing well. That’s always nice to hear because when we are working on the magazine it sometimes feels a lot on top of schoolwork!”
The Pangean team has learnt plenty of new skills as they bring stories to life. They are now comfortable with using the Canva online graphic design tool and interviewing people for their articles is becoming a little less daunting.
“We’ve learnt how to collaborate as a team when people have different opinions and we are open to new ideas and doing things differently”Felix (Year 6)
“We are all learning how to manage our time for school, the magazine, sport, socialising and sleep! We check in with each other as friends to help manage deadline stress and we always remember to laugh.”
Each new edition of The Pangean adds to the editorial team’s skills in entrepreneurship, delegation and time management. There are also plenty of opportunities for other students to get involved, to contribute and to connect.
