This young equestrian balances high school with international competitions

Life is busy when Marly Wright talks with Graziher; the 15-year-old equestrian is about to ride in Florida, having just competed in Mexico for the Global Amateur Tour. Her goals for the coming months include competing in junior showjumping classes at 1.20 metres and riding her thoroughbred at Boneo Park’s Off The Track Carnival. Marly, who hails from a property near Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, juggles all this with the demands of Year 10, which she completes remotely via Haileybury Pangea. 

Marly enrolled at the school about eight months ago, having learned of the “online campus” from fellow riders. She’s one of several elite equestrians at Haileybury Pangea, which accepts students in Years 5 to 12 who live in either Victoria or the Northern Territory. Her peers include aspiring athletes, dancers and musicians, as well as academic talents and children who are geographically isolated. 

“It’s a really great school with high standards,” says Marly. “And it has a flexible timetable that works really well with my competition schedule. If I ever miss a class for a show, I can watch the recorded lesson later so I never feel like I’m falling behind.” For her mother, Donna Budd, it’s a relief knowing that Marly can communicate with her teachers while she’s away, and that her sporting achievements aren’t at the expense of her education.  

Haileybury Pangea is designed for passionate, independent learners, with classes arranged according to ability rather than year level. Marly admits there was a period of adjustment as she learned to manage her own schedule, but she says the benefits outweigh the challenges. 

One thing she doesn’t miss is the commute to her previous school, which meant leaving home by 7.30am. “I didn’t get back until around 5pm, which made it really hard to fit in enough time with my horses and homework,” she says. “Now, with online learning, I can work my horses in the morning before class and even ride during the day between lessons.”

A regular school day now begins with online lessons, which run from 8:45am to 10:25am, followed by self-paced learning until 2pm. At that point, Marly says, “I head outside to ride my horses again, feed them and clean up, which usually takes me until about 7:30pm.” After dinner, she does a little more studying before finishing up at about 8.30pm. “It’s a busy day,” she admits, “but I love being able to balance my riding and my schoolwork.” 

As for making friends, Marly says that hasn’t been a problem. She sees some of her classmates at competitions and keeps in touch with others via Snapchat and text messages. The school also offers a range of social programs, including a cooking club, the Duke of Edinburgh Award and a start-up group for budding entrepreneurs. 

Since its launch in 2023, Haileybury Pangea has grown to include a total of 185 students. It’s part of the broader Haileybury network, which includes four Melbourne campuses, a co-educational boarding school in Darwin and a campus in China. Haileybury Pangea students are taught the Australian Curriculum and undertake the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in their final years. Some students enrol part-time to take VCE subjects that are not offered at their regular school, such as Latin, Specialist Maths and Business Management.

Though many students balance their education with other commitments, the school prides itself on its academic achievements. Last year, 44 per cent of Haileybury Pangea graduates received an ATAR of 90 or more, placing them in the top 10 per cent of school leavers in Australia.

For Marly, sharing classes with other ambitious learners is part of the appeal. “Some of my closest friends at Haileybury live on the Mornington Peninsula,” she says, “and they chose to learn online because of their sports, just like me. It’s awesome being part of a class where everyone has different reasons for learning online, but we all support each other.”  

You can read more about Haileybury Pangea in the 2025 Graziher Boarding Schools Guide, available below and here.