Haileybury Rendall School to open in Darwin
A message from the CEO | Principal of Haileybury, Mr. Derek Scott.
I am pleased to announce that we have signed two Heads of Agreement with the Northern Territory Government and the Board of Kormilda College to open Haileybury Rendall School in Darwin in 2018. Haileybury Rendall School encompasses the site on which Kormilda College has operated for 28 years. It will include Haileybury Kormilda Boarding, Australia’s largest Indigenous boarding operation.
Haileybury Rendall School will be wholly owned by Haileybury Melbourne while it will operate as its own entity with a pricing structure and an education offering tailored to the Darwin market. Haileybury Rendall School will be a vibrant member of the Haileybury family with full access to Haileybury’s well-proven educational systems and resources. The School will have a Haileybury management team and be aligned with the Haileybury Melbourne education program. Part of the project will see an exciting range of opportunities developed for Melbourne students to be involved in Australia’s far north.
Haileybury Rendall School will add further breadth to the Haileybury network while maintaining the best of our traditions. The ‘Rendall’ part of the name commemorates our founder, Charles Rendall.
Senior Vice Principal Craig Glass will be Haileybury Rendall School’s first Principal. Craig has led the Haileybury Education Program for nine years and is directly responsible for our exceptional academic outcomes. An outstanding education leader, thinker and manager, he is the ideal founding Principal. Craig will take up his role at the start of Term 3. His wife, Kerry Glass, also an outstanding teacher and education leader, will join Craig on the staff as will other educators from among Haileybury’s five other campuses.
It is important to note that the acquisition of our Darwin campus involved no capital contribution. Kormilda’s excellent facilities are being acquired for a nominal consideration after its owners, the Uniting and Anglican Churches, recognised that Haileybury offered the best opportunity for the ongoing development of quality education at the site.
Haileybury’s commencement of operations in Darwin is well supported by the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments, as well as the families who attend and will attend the School. As with all our campuses and programs, it will be self-funded by its operations.
Haileybury Rendall School will have three components:
- The largest Indigenous boarding school in Australia with around 150 students
- A day school for 600 students
- An international boarding school.
Indigenous boarding education has operated on the site for 28 years, with students coming from some of the most remote communities in the Northern Territory and north-western WA. Haileybury will work extensively with Indigenous education experts and local communities to build the boarding and education program. The Haileybury Institute and Deputy Principal John Fleming have already had considerable success in improving education outcomes nationally with the Explicit Teaching Model. This will be applied to the learning program in our Darwin boarding houses and day school.
The Northern Territory Government strongly supports Haileybury’s move into Darwin. It recognises the considerable benefit to the Territory of having Australia’s largest school, and one of its leading academic schools, providing a Tier 1 education there. The Commonwealth Government has signalled strong support for the development of northern Australia over the next 25 years, and Haileybury is now well positioned to be a part of this.
We will also work with Northern Territory education and business leaders to develop the first international boarding school program in northern Australia. This is an exciting, fully funded development which will see Haileybury engaged heavily in countries to Australia’s north. We will build upon the experience we already have in delivering the VCE in China, Timor-Leste and the Philippines.
As part of these developments, Haileybury’s Melbourne students will have the opportunity to be involved in a range of social justice, outdoor education and sporting programs in Darwin and beyond.
The project will further enhance Haileybury’s ability to attract the very best education staff from Australia and internationally. The opening of Haileybury Rendall School is further evidence of our commitment to 21st century education, which recognises enterprise and entrepreneurship as key life skills. This project further embeds these attributes in our culture.
We are committed to the Haileybury vision of being ‘recognised as a great world school’. The Northern Territory project, with its commitment to Indigenous education, the development of northern Australia and engagement with countries to our north is another significant step on this path. We expect it to bring great benefits to the entire Haileybury community.
Yours sincerely
Derek Scott
CEO | Principal
