Principal’s Introduction

In 2020 Haileybury Rendall School (HRS) completed its third year of operation and made significant progress in all areas of operation. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt across the world and had an influence on many aspects of school life. Fortunately, Northern Territory schools were not forced to close although our Aboriginal students had to return to community for at least one term.

Enrolments at HRS have continued to grow steadily with the School starting the year with over 650 students and over 70 boarders. This was a significant increase on the previous year’s enrolment. The growth in enrolments was predominantly in the Junior School and Year 7 meaning that HRS will continue to see enrolments increase as these groups move through the School.

The three key goals of the School remained to develop academic excellence, to have a high expectation in all areas of operation and to build a strong, supportive and resilient community, and pleasing progress was made in each area.

A growth in academic results was shown in ACER and other testing but NAPLAN was cancelled across all year levels in Australia in 2020. Our Aboriginal students showed steep academic growth in numeracy and literacy from Years 7–12 with some students completing four years growth.

The VCE results were the stand-out academic highlight for 2020 with 38% of Year 12 students achieving an ATAR of 90 or above and with our top two students placing second and third across the entire Northern Territory. These results were a strong endorsement of the academic culture in the School, the work ethic of the students and the dedication and quality of the teachers.

Due to the guidelines around COVID-19 the HRS community had limited opportunities to come together and celebrate as a community. The School developed a stronger online presence and was able to communicate with parents regarding lessons via SEQTA as well as using the Go2 School intranet for regular updates of newsletters, policies and procedures. When our Aboriginal students were forced back to community for Term 2, HRS sent work via hard copy and online to ensure all students had the chance to maintain their studies.

Haileybury Rendall School continues to establish its reputation in Darwin as it seeks to be regarded as the best school in Northern Australia. The local community has endorsed our progress with a rapid increase in enrolments that supports our goals and aspirations.

The School is determined to continue to develop, improve and provide a world class education for students in and out of the classroom.