It is always an exciting time when Haileybury’s Year 9 students head off on round one of the Options and Expeditions program, as they do this week.
The program has been running for 20 years and encourages students to step out of their comfort zone and to accept and embrace challenges in a safe and supportive environment.
As part of our One School model, students are placed in cross-campus groups and with peers who are not necessarily part of their close friendship circle. This develops their independence, confidence and ability to engage with a range of people.
They will be on activities all over the country — in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory — as well as overseas with our inaugural trips to the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
Haileybury Girls College students are out on the Option component completing activities around an area of interest to them, such as Marine Biology, Drama and the Arts, and Indigenous Education. Our Uluru Option students will have a special visit to Haileybury Rendall School and spend time with their Year 9 peer cohort.
At the same time, Haileybury College students are on their Expedition completing adventure-based activities including canoeing, white water rafting, abseiling, hiking and Indigenous cultural experiences in some of the most picturesque locations in Australia. In Term 3, the girls will do the Expeditions and the boys will do the Options.
The cohort then celebrates their Pre-Senior year together in the last week of Term 4 and before Term 1A by completing the City Experience Week. During this time, they familiarise themselves with locations in and around Melbourne CBD and they catch public transport to move around the City and compete in a two-day Amazing Race.
These programs are often the highlight of our students’ entire time in Senior School and it is pleasing to see the programs operating fully again after they had to be modified for current Year 11 and Year 12 cohorts due to COVID-19.
Experiential learning through the Options and Expeditions program is an incredibly important part of the development of the whole student. It only happens because of the commitment of dedicated, professional Haileybury staff who do an outstanding job due to the care and attention they give every student every day.
Derek Scott
CEO | Principal
