Haileybury Pangea Program provides pathways to Australian education

Haileybury Pangea Program Provides Pathways to Australian Education

In the past few years, the school’s forward-looking approach has seen it introduce a series of programmes that equip students with the skills that are increasingly essential for academic and career success. These 21st-century skills include creative and entrepreneurial thinking that are vital for students’ success, no matter where they live in the world.

Haileybury’s expertise and knowledge are now being made available to students in Vietnam through the new Haileybury Pangea online school.

The first subject offered is entrepreneurship, with students being taught by Haileybury’s leading teachers and being mentored and guided by successful Australian entrepreneurs who have started their own creative businesses.

“Haileybury is well-known for its outstanding entrepreneurship program,” said Anna Sever, deputy principal (Teaching & Learning) at Haileybury.

“Entrepreneurship is a compulsory subject for students in Year 8 and in Year 9 when students take part in the Haileybury Incubator Project. They develop their own startup businesses and then pitch to a panel of teachers and leaders at Haileybury for seed funding to get their business off the ground."

“We value entrepreneurship very highly and Haileybury Pangea allows students across Vietnam to learn and benefit from our expertise in this area,” she added.

Australia is a thriving centre for entrepreneurial business. It is home to many successful startups that have been founded by young Australians with a smart idea and the skills to effectively turn that smart idea into a reality.

Haileybury contributes to this wave of innovative young entrepreneurs by offering programmes within its classrooms that encourage creative thinking and problem solving and develop core business skills.

Haileybury Pangea’s Entrepreneurship programme has been developed by Damien Meunier, head of Entrepreneurship who has secured the support of renowned startup communities including Hacker Exchange and startupbootcamp who will provide masterclasses to students.

“Startupbootcamp is a global accelerator for startup businesses and the CEO of that organisation is a Haileybury alumni. They are keen to support us with developing a pipeline of future entrepreneurs,” said Meunier.

“We have access to a number of experts working in the startup industry in the real world who will teach students how to do a great business pitch and who will provide feedback on a student’s proposed business model. Those connections also provide important industry networks within Australia for students. Networking is a vital part of the entrepreneurship startup ecosystem.”

Students study the essentials of entrepreneurship such as how to present and sell their business ideas, financial modelling, problem-solving, understanding their customer and market, and how to test and validate their business idea.

Students who complete the single-semester programme receive Australian industry-endorsed Haileybury credits and recognised microcredentials that are supported by Hacker Exchange and startupbootcamp.

Importantly, Haileybury Pangea entrepreneurship students who successfully complete a capstone assessment at the end of the programme receive credits to support their entry to selected universities in Australia.

“Swinburne University in Melbourne is offering a 2-point ATAR boost for any course. We have a similar partnership with the University of Adelaide Business School undergraduate programme where students get one undergrad course credit for any course. We are looking to expand these opportunities to other Australian universities, too,” said Meunier.

Haileybury Pangea students will also be encouraged to build their experience and learning by entering global entrepreneurship competitions such as the World Series of Innovation and the Blue Ocean High School Entrepreneurship Competition as well as First Pitch for Kids and Westpac Youth Impact Challenge in Australia.

“During the programme, students develop assets like business plans and pitching videos that they can enter into competitions and potentially get global recognition,” said Meunier.

The decision to launch Haileybury Pangea in Vietnam ahead of other countries is based on Vietnam’s position as one of the most entrepreneurial nations in Southeast Asia and the country’s existing ties to Australia.

Meunier said Vietnam’s next generation of entrepreneurs will benefit from developing their creative thinking skills, their proficiency with industry-standard digital tools, and by putting their ideas into practice.

The programme involves two hours of contact time per week with students completing four to six additional hours of work each week to support their learning.

“We expect students to finish the programme with their entrepreneurial spark lit. They will see problems as opportunities and they will have the mindset, tools, and skills to execute their ideas,” said Meunier.

“This is an ideal programme for students who are passionate, curious, and who feel empowered to make a change in the world.”

To learn more about the program, contact us at pangea@haileybury.vic.edu.au or contact our Vietnamese representative at +61 3 9904 6110 or on Zalo https://zalo.me/1215367913431032587.