The first Haileybury Rendall School China Study Tour
20 students and 4 staff left Australian shores in September on the last day of Term 3 for a 9-day tour taking in Beijing and Tianjin. Little did we know that we were in for such a deep and authentic learning experience.
A highlight for staff was watching the group of Years 9-12 form positive relationships not only with one another, but with their new friends and buddies from Haileybury Tianjin.
There is nothing like living in a boarding environment together to ignite learning and laughter. Watching students eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together all the while using a mixture of English and Mandarin in order to communicate with one another was a great example of the experiential learning that HRS deeply values.
But don’t take it from me…here’s what our students had to say:
“China was a pretty big culture shock, but we got used to it!”
“A highlight was the Tiananmen Square Flag Raising Ceremony, which regularly turns out over 60,000 people! This has happened every day since 1st October, 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was first established.”
“The amazing Forbidden City, which has been the home of countless Chinese emperors since it was built over 604 years ago. Covering a staggering 720,000 square meters, it is built on the direct centerline of Beijing. It was my highlight!”
“Something really unique to Beijing were the Hutongs, which are narrow streets filled with rich history and culture, and even more crammed with people living the traditional Beijing way. There, we met a lady who is incredibly skilled in the traditional Chinese game called Jianzi. This was followed by a nail-biting ride around a lake on a trishaw.”
“We were all excited about visiting one of the 7 new wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China. The Chinese have a saying, “If you don’t visit the Great Wall, you’re not a hero.” It’s easy to feel like one while you’re standing on top of history. Getting off the wall was possibly the most fun we had all day, where we tobogganed all the way down!”
“My favourite destination of the trip was the Summer Palace. To put it into perspective, the Summer Palace is four times larger than the Forbidden City, and was a gift from a Chinese emperor to his mother, the Dragon Lady. This put my Mother’s Day gifts to shame! The palace brought upon a sense of both history."
"We were all so excited to attend Haileybury Tianjin, where we got paired up with our buddies. My buddy was Louis, who tried so hard to help me understand even little parts of the class. I was totally out of my depth but had a ton of fun!"
Since Tianjin does VCE just like us, their classes were incredibly similar to how ours are administered. However, what I really took note of was the fact that there were designated sections of the school that were “English only.” I was also pleasantly surprised by the proficiency of the students’ English, and we were able to effectively communicate with each other in both English and Chinese. Overall, I think it was helpful to all of us that went.”
“After classes finished for the day at 4.00 pm, we all went out to the sports area and taught our new buddies how to play AFL; which was much harder than expected. I don’t think they got the concept of handballing. Despite a few hiccups with the rules, we had plenty of fun with our weird NRL/AFL amalgamation of a game, since they didn’t have goalposts. Every night after afternoon activities, students have compulsory night study from 7 o’clock to 9 o’clock, which will never make me complain about staying back after school for Maths or English help ever again!”
“Day 7 was real fun, with us all being able to dress up in traditional Chinese royal attire. Beauty does come at a cost though, because let me tell you, it was HOT in those things. We went out to Beihai Park for our little outing, catching the attention of dozens of locals. I thought that the photos were bad enough while we were out in public wearing normal clothes, but this was next level.
“Leaving Beijing was quite bittersweet, as we had made so many friends, learned a variety of things about the world and its history, and seen and experienced a different culture in such a rich way.”
“It was such an amazing experience that we are both so grateful to be able to experience, and we would like to thank Ms Pearson, Mr Shangguan, Mr Zeng and Ms Barry for allowing us to experience such a rich and vibrant culture. It’s something that none of us will ever forget!”
Thank you, wonderful students!
China Study Tour
2024
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
"Wow, wow, wow!"
"Absolutely incredible"
"You gave me so much hope for humanity"
"That was the best show I've seen in my 25 years of teaching"
“I had to keep reminding myself this was a school production!”
Thank you to the wonderfully supportive Darwin community for your generous feedback; we are so pleased that you enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – the new musical.
We are extremely proud of our students and staff and to see the joy on the faces of audience members of all ages was well and truly worth the effort. We will look forward to doing it all again in 2025!
Felicity Pearson
Deputy Principal
National Youth Science Forum
We extend our congratulations to Stephanie (Year 11) who has been appointed as the 2025 School Captain along with Felix (Year 11) she has also been accepted into the National Youth Science Forum held in Canberra in January. Tonight (Friday, 18) she will be attending a reception at Government House.
Well done, Stephanie!
Gateway to everywhere else
Year 6 students spent the past week exploring our nation's capital and all it has to offer!
Students visited iconic landmarks including the Australian War Memorial, Old and New Parliament House, the National Electoral Education Centre and the Australian Institute of Sport.
They explored the Floriade Festival to take in the springtime, went go-karting, treetop adventuring climbing, and ziplining. Science fun was had at Questacon and the Mt Stromlo Observatory and so much more.
The students and teachers had an amazing trip, filled with new experiences and opportunities to make friends and create lots of fun memories.
Michelle Dancis
Junior School Teacher
Titration Competition Finals
Our students recently showcased their skills at the Northern Territory Titration Competition Finals held at CDU.
The top 13 teams from the preliminary rounds earned a spot in the finals, where they demonstrated their precision and technique in determining unknown concentrations through titration.
We are incredibly proud of all our finalists, who performed exceptionally well. A special congratulations to our Year 12 girls team—Ellie, Ashley, and Kira—who secured the top team ranking on the day and brought home gold medallions for their outstanding accuracy.
Well done, team!
Leisha Skilton
Head of Science
Senior Girl’s Footy
Senior Girls participated in a one-off AFL game against O’Loughlin Catholic College in Term 3.
The students showed exceptional sportsmanship, talent and determination throughout the whole game. Our girls came away victorious 65-22!
Haileybury Rendall School is building a strong connection and competition with AFLNT, and O’Loughlin Catholic College and we hope this is the first of many head-to-head clashes in the senior girl's competition!
Best on ground: Marika (Year 10), Taitum (Year 8), Rianna (Year 11), Karen (Year 7), Lakhyah (Year 10)
Well done to all involved!
Simone O'Brien
Sports Coordinator
Term 3 reflections
Term 3 was full of House Events and participation was wonderful!
House Debating saw students from Years 7 – 12 competing and showcasing their public speaking talents. It was wonderful to see so many students supporting their House and encouraging their friends.
The overall winner by one point was Pumarali! Congratulations to all students, particularly Year 7 students, Claire and Katy who spoke for their Houses.
Term 3 finished with House Dodgeball. The competition was split into Middle School and Senior School to allow more students to participate. It was great to see students keen to join in and take part in the activities on offer. Middle School overall winners were Baru, and Senior School overall winners were Djarrak.
Term 4 brings us even more excitement with House Chess and House Swimming. Stay tuned!
Sophie Carter
Year 7 Coordinator & PE Teacher
What’s cookin’ good lookin’
Year 8 classes made homemade pizzas with the base made from only two ingredients. They certainly had fun creating their own pizza toppings including a dessert pizza with Nutella, cheesy crust, garlic cheesy, BBQ meat lovers, and the good old go-to, Pepperoni.
The students are looking forward to cooking Butter Chicken this week, a proven popular dish by past students. Mum and Dad, you should be expecting this for dinner on the weekend made by your own junior master chefs!
Emily Fryer and Bronwyn Cruse
Food Technology Teacher and Assistant Teacher
Inspirational art tour
In Year 10 Art last week, students attended an Art Gallery Excursion to view four local commercial Art Galleries across Darwin. This enriching learning experience offered inspiration to ignite creativity and new ideas for students. This will help them to create a small artwork of their own when they commence their research, and complete their final assessment for the year.
Students visited the Tactile Arts Gallery, Laundry Gallery, Outstation Gallery, and Paul Johnston Gallery.
Allowing students to experience a range of artistic styles, mediums, and cultural perspectives broadens their understanding of art materials and contemporary art practices.
Anne McMaster
Head of Visual Arts
