SOCIAL JUSTICE

Lockdowns weren’t going to get in the way of our students donating their time, energy and compassion to give back to their community. Haileybury’s social justice initiatives involve students in supporting more than 30 deserving charities. Here’s a taste of just some of the fun fundraisers and activities that were part of this year’s efforts. Children at the Edrington campus enjoyed walking laps of the campus in support of the Walk for a Cause fundraiser for Monash Children’s Hospital. ELC Reception, PrePrep and Prep to Year 4 children stepped their way towards raising an impressive $13,298.20 which was presented to the Principal of Monash Children’s Hospital School. The money will help fund an artist in residence at the hospital and buy STEM equipment and library resources. Middle School students reached for their runners and joined the Active60 Challenge Campus Competition. The Challenge was developed by the Sport team to encourage some friendly competition during lockdown, with students from each campus encouraged to do 60 minutes of exercise, five days a week. They logged their activity to add to their overall campus tally while fundraising with all proceeds going to Foodbank Victoria, providing 2320 meals for those in need. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award program is world-recognised and between 50 and 80 students take part in the program each year. In 2021, four Haileybury students achieved the highest level, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award—Spencer Hanssen, Chiara Maiorino, Tiffany Smith and Jeremy Nielsen. Their ‘Duke of Ed’ journey saw them take on a series of activities like

Giving volunteering in their community, playing back new sports and surviving in the Great Outdoors. “The program gives young people skills to go into the world, to mingle and it helps them transition out of Haileybury. It gives them a firm belief that they can do things and they gain a valuable sense of accomplishment,” says Tamsin Visick, Duke of Ed Program Coordinator. As part of the Student2Student Reading Program, 17 Haileybury students from Years 9 to 11 ‘buddied up’ with students from other schools to help them boost their reading skills. The Haileybury students became reading buddies to students in Years 3 to 8 who belong to a program organised by The Smith Family.

“Many of the volunteers are high academic achievers and being able to see how difficult it can be for other students gives them a new perspective,” says Sarah Tallis, Haileybury City teacher and program coordinator.