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"The facilities students enjoy today are unrecognisable to those of 2011 and 2012. In the last 12 years approximately $110 million has been spent on the development of our campus and I acknowledge Board members during that period who devoted so much time to ensure decisions were made to support the best future for St Andrew’s College."
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa.
It is hard to believe we are already halfway through the first term. For us in the South Island it has been a great start to 2023, but of course we do feel for our colleagues in parts of the North Island who have experienced yet another disrupted start to the school year. The devastation in parts of Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne is heart-breaking to see. As a school community we have supported relief efforts through fundraising, and St Andrew’s has given financial and moral support to the Presbyterian schools in the Hawke’s Bay – Lindisfarne College and Iona College.
Watching the distressing destruction of a number of school campuses has brought back memories of similar challenges in Christchurch 12 years ago. Current Year 13 students were in Year 2 when the February 2011 earthquake struck and those in Year 9, only one year old.
Writing this on the 12th anniversary of the 22 February earthquake, I think about the importance of community and memory. As we are currently seeing in cyclone affected areas, we are reminded how our community gathered together, supporting each other in our time of crisis. We supported those who lost loved ones, provided food for those who lost their homes, prepared our campus with makeshift classrooms and learning spaces, offered alternative learning for students unable to come to school, and resumed life on campus after three weeks. It was a remarkable team effort. Like all communities we have our own moving stories. The displaced students who were hosted by schools across New Zealand; our rowers, preparing for Maadi Cup, who were accommodated in the boarding houses at St Paul’s Collegiate, Hamilton so they could continue to train; the Senior Girls’ rowing quad who won gold, four weeks after the earthquake, with one rower grieving her mother who lost her life in the quake; the teams of St Andrew’s students who cleared liquefaction in the homes around St Andrew’s for several weeks; the teachers who continued to come to school and teach despite being displaced from their homes; boarders who lived for one to two years in motels down Papanui Road with our boarding houses destroyed; staff who taught from makeshift classrooms, and the catering team which fed boarders from a tent.
As a result of the impact on our facilities, over the last 12 years our campus has undergone significant transformation. The facilities students enjoy today are unrecognisable to those of 2011 and 2012. In the last 12 years approximately $110 million has been spent on the development of our campus and I acknowledge Board members during that period who devoted so much time to ensure decisions were made to support the best future for St Andrew’s College. We are all benefitting from their wise stewardship. There is no doubt that the human spirit and the capacity for resilience in our communities is quite remarkable, and we can hope that those suffering in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle may have a similar future story to tell. The support from St Andrew’s College in raising $33,754.20 last week for the Red Cross Disaster Fund is an example of how our collective efficacy can make a positive different to people’s lives.
The current Board, led by Felicity Odlin and with two new Board members, Peter Armstrong and Alan Merry (both current Preparatory School parents), are committed to ensuring the College is prepared for the present and future challenges, knowing that the decisions made today will have an impact for many years to come.
Thank you all for your support and interest in these first five weeks. I look forward to future opportunities to connect with parents.
Ngā mihi nui
Christine Leighton
Rector
What a wonderful start we have had to the year. A couple of ‘special’ assemblies, whole school student events, parent information evenings and conferences, a very busy co-curricular programmme, and students settling very quickly into a good learning routine. Walking round the College I get a real sense that the mood amongst our students is one of a positive optimism and anticipation.
At our Academic Assembly we acknowledged and congratulated all the students who excelled in last year’s NCEA examinations. Despite the many challenges we have faced in the last three years, we have managed to maintain the high standards we have come to expect from both our students and teachers. The Academic Assembly is a very special occasion where we were able to celebrate the 265 students who achieved an NCEA Excellence endorsement. Congratulations to all the students who worked with such perseverance, supported by their teachers, to achieve their goals.
Year 13 Leavers from 2022 returned to receive their Board of Governors Scholarship for their Level 3 Excellence endorsement, three subject Excellence endorsements, and NZQA Scholarships. In 2022, our students achieved a record 76 Scholarships, 12 of which were Outstanding Scholarships. Three of our students, Toby Harvie, Luke Zhu and Tom Edwards, were awarded an Outstanding Scholar Award (Top 62 nationally), and Corin Simcock was awarded a Premier Award (Top 11 nationally). On top of this, Tom Edwards achieved the Top Subject Scholar Award for receiving the top mark in New Zealand in Digital Technology. Both Corin and Tom will be invited to receive their award in Wellington from Prime Minister, Rt Hon Chris Hipkins.
Our Academic Captains Annika MacDonald, Daniel Robertson and Gemma Lewis delivered a simple but effective message on how to make studying easier – ‘Get started, little and often, building positive habits and finding enjoyment in your learning,’ advice which also applies for life beyond school.
Thank you to the many parents who, over the past five weeks, have joined us for our beginning of year parent information and orientation functions. Quite apart from parents meeting teachers, these evenings have seen parents meeting parents and there is huge value in this.
This year the Parent-Student-Tutor Conference was held at the end of Week 1. The conferences were an opportunity to meet and begin or re-establish a relationship with your child’s tutor teacher who has the responsibility to monitor both the general well-being and the academic progress of all the students in their tutor group. There was a huge uptake in the conferences by the parents, clearly the relationship between the home and the tutor is a very important one from the parent perspective. A second follow-up conference meeting is scheduled for the beginning of Term 3.
As well as the tutor, please feel that you can contact classroom teachers, the year group Dean, Head of Middle School or Head of Senior College should you have a question or a specific concern or issue you would like to raise, or simply provide information you think we should know.
The Year 9–13 course outlines are now available on the Community Portal. The course outlines include course topics and specific assessment dates and deadlines. We strongly encourage you and your child to sit down together to map out the year ahead with respect to workload and key assessment dates.
Last week we had our first round of the new and improved Fortnightly Notes, rebranded as Fortnightly Feedback. Fortnightly Feedback is designed to keep you up to date with how your child is progressing with their attitude and effort in each of their classes. Please use the indicators as a discussion point with your child. I urge you to contact the classroom teacher or the relevant Dean if you have any questions or concerns.
Parent-Teacher Interviews
We have decided to conduct our Parent-Teacher Interviews via the online platform. We have made this decision based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from parents last time, and the fact that there has been an increasing number of COVID-19 cases amongst both our teachers and students. Confirmed interview dates and how to make a booking will be emailed out to you in due course.
Bike Shed Security
Unfortunately, we have had a number of bikes stolen both from the bike shed and the area outside the bike shed. I ask you to please encourage your child to leave their bike locked at all times with a heavy chain. Unfortunately, there have been too many instances where the bike stolen was not locked. I also ask you to strongly encourage your child not to leave their bike in the bike shed overnight or over the weekend unless there is a very good reason to do so. To improve security, we are placing wire mesh over the top of the bike sheds to prevent anyone from being able to throw a bike over the sides when the bike shed is locked. We also have two cameras in place.
Farewell to Head of Middle School, Mikae Tuu’u
It is with great sadness that we will be farewelling our Head of Middle School, Mikae Tuu’u at the end of this term. His contribution to the College since his arrival on staff in 2015 has been immense. He has touched so many areas in the Secondary School; teaching whatever subject was required of him, coaching volleyball and rugby, setting up the Athlete Development Programme, and since 2018, as the Head of Middle School. Mikae has earned enormous respect from staff, students and parents through his passion and enthusiasm and never giving up on any student who has needed some extra help. We wish Mikae all the best as he takes up his new leadership position with Te Kura in the role of re-engaging South Island students back into learning who have stopped going to school.
On behalf of St Andrew’s College, I would like to thank Mikae for his enormous commitment to the College and the wider community.
Kind regards
Evert van Florenstein
Head of Secondary School
Deputy for Rector
MARCH
3 – Secondary School Athletic Sports Day
7 – PTA AGM, 6.30pm, Preparatory School staffroom
8 – Secondary School Open Day, 9.00am–12.00pm
9 – Preparatory School Open Day, 11.00am–12.30pm
17 – Founders' Day Assembly, 11.15am
17 – Highland Games, 2.15pm
23 – Year 10 Information Evening and Te Waka Departure, 7.00pm
APRIL
2 – Senior College Chapel, 7.00pm
6 – End of Term Assembly, 8.25am
7 April – Monday 1 May – Term 1 holidays
MAY
7–13 – Bright Star (Senior College Production)
27 – Ceilidh, 7.00pm, Gym 1
In the Season of Lent, I share with you a reading, a reflection, and a prayer.
A reading (or two)
John 15:13 (NLT)
13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
1 John 3:16 (NLT)
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So, we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
A reflection
When our material possessions or loved ones are taken from us our faith, or doubt in God and our relationship with others can be exposed. Our humanity and ability to see the good in others is often boosted through tough times and the support others give to those in need. I was reminded of the support we were given through the February 2011 earthquakes, support that came from far and wide, from friends and complete strangers. Many sacrifices were made.
Many people in the North Island have suffered greatly through Cyclone Gabrielle and many people have had everything taken from them. It is devasting to see but it provides an opportunity for us to make some sacrifices and give back what was so generously given to us through the difficult times Christchurch has endured.
Great sacrifice is required to consider others as ourselves, but a freedom is available to us when we do. Sacrifice is about giving up something now in order to make a better future.
I often hear an argument about science and humanity being able to sort out all life’s problems. The situation in Ukraine tells us a very different story. Humanity’s greed gets the better of us, especially when ‘self’, power, and riches are at stake.
Last week the Season of Lent began; a period of 40 weekdays leading up to Easter. Within this period many Christians around the world will sacrifice something. Easter reminds us of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice – the laying down of life so that others might live.
When the disciples saw the resurrected Christ, they no longer feared death or what death could do to them because their Saviour had overcome death; for them and all humanity. They now felt compelled to give their lives to sharing this good news with everyone.
If we are prepared to give up our ‘self’ life for the sake of others, we can be free. No one can take anything away from us that we haven’t already given up. When you do not fear loss, you can do so much more in life. You are free! I think life is supposed to be like this.
Whether you are faith filled or faith less, whether you believe in God or don’t, whether you are a follower of Christ or not, think about Lent. Making sacrifices and embracing loss could free you to be and do things for others that you never thought possible.
A prayer
Dear God
We pray for the people of Ukraine and our fellow New Zealanders suffering from the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.
We pray for those who at this moment are frightened and fearful. For those who have lost loved ones and for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
We pray for wisdom and unity among our leaders and among world leaders.
Let us remember the sad predictabilities of warfare and climate change, that the unpredictable is inevitable.
May we be reflective of the Season of Lent and the hope of Easter. Give us the courage to make sacrifices for the greater good of all humanity.
Lord, hear our prayer. Amen
God bless you and your family.
Rev. Paul Morrow
College Chaplain
Meet our teachers who make the difference at our upcoming Open Days. Please help spread the word for interested families to register online.
Secondary School Open Day: Wednesday 8 March, 9.00am–12.00pm
Last Tour Commences: 10.30am
Rector's Address: 11.00am
Boarding House Open Day: 12.00pm
Preparatory School and Pre-school Open Day: Thursday 9 March, 11.00am–12.30pm
Principal of Preparatory School Address: 11.45am
Over the past few weeks, I have been hugely impressed with the way that the Middle School students have engaged with their learning. They have been performing well in class and getting on with what they need to do.
It is pleasing to see a lot of the co-curricular programme in full swing. One thing I love about St Andrew’s College is the range of opportunities available to students. If your child wishes to participate in any activities, please ensure they keep an eye on the notices and/or reach out to the relevant staff members.
With Year 9 camps taking place, I wish all those students well as they embark on what will be a wonderful week of challenge, fun, and connection. I have heard some wonderful stories from 9O, 9N, 9H, and 9S camp last week and I am sure that there are many more to come.
I would also like to take the opportunity to let you know that at the end of last year, I handed in my resignation as Head of Middle School. I have taken up an opportunity at Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Correspondence School) re-engaging dis-engaged learners across the South Island.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our whānau community for your support throughout my time at St Andrew’s College. I will miss our many interactions around the place. I am extremely grateful for my time at St Andrew’s College and wish everyone well. An application process is well underway to appoint my replacement.
It is the time of the year where the Te Waka programme holds some key events for the programme. At the time of release, students will have completed the Calling and are preparing for the Departure, where they connect with whoever is at home on a deeper level. This will be taking place on Thursday 23 March, alongside our Year 10 information evening. Thank you to Teacher in Charge of Te Waka, Kate Taylor, for her work as the co-ordinator for the Te Waka programme. Thank you also to our amazing Te Waka teachers for their efforts in making these events so special.
Over the last couple of weeks, we had the pleasure of hosting the Year 9 whānau evening and Year 11 NCEA information evening. What an absolute treat it is to host whānau onsite. Connection and relationships with our community are a fundamental part of what we do as a College.
The Year 11 Semi-formal is confirmed for Saturday 27 May at Riccarton Park. Further details will come out towards the end of the term.
Tēnā koutou katoa
As I write this reflection, the Senior College office area is buzzing with students in various costumes signing out to go to the swimming sports at Jellie Park. It’s a carnival of colour and energy, and a fantastic example of our St Andrew’s community in action. The students are going to race, to have fun, and to cheer each other on, and the pool area will be a deafening torrent of House chants and noise!
Community is one of the cornerstones of our Senior College philosophy. It’s important that students learn to manage their own lives and pathways, but it’s equally vital that they learn to do this in the company of others as a community of young people.
One of the university halls of residence, College House, had a welcome chapel service two weeks ago, and the words of the community prayer were a good summary of what we are trying to recognise here at St Andrew’s. The group response part of the prayer had the following affirmations:
So much of what we are doing is encapsulated in these statements. As the year progresses I’m looking forward to writing more about what this looks like in practice, with everything from table tennis tournaments, to Friday Quad organisation for younger students, and some amazing community service initiatives that are already under way. I hope some of your conversations at home will reveal the strong sense of belonging and respect for each other that our young people are developing here at St Andrew’s.
Ngā mihi nui
John Ruge
Head of Senior College
Year 13 students will soon be starting lunch leave on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes, and we’ll be reminding them of the following:
Year 12 students cannot leave the College campus at all during the school day unless they have permission from parents to attend a valid appointment, and have signed out at the Senior College office.
Our Academic Captains, Gemma Lewis, Annika MacDonald and Daniel Robertson, are in the process of launching two major service initiatives for students. The first is a peer tutoring scheme whereby seniors volunteer to tutor younger students in a variety of subjects. The second is the LEAP reading programme. For this, Year 12 and 13 students will volunteer to read to students in the Preparatory School to help them with their reading fluency and comprehension.
These are great opportunities for senior students to provide some community service and get involved in the wider life of the College.
The Senior College Council, led by Georgia Eagle and Evangeline McNeill, have had a great start to the year. We’re only just starting Week 5, and already this group of Year 12 and 13 students have organised a highly successful Valentine’s Day, with decorations all around the Senior College building, and a chocolate heart delivery service for the romantic students among us. They have also planned and run a Senior College Assembly, with the first round of our Common Room Cup competition, and have other plans forming for the next initiatives to build connections within our student body.
The College has a process for applying to bring a vehicle to school. It is outlined in the Senior College Handbook and is as follows:
We are pleased to offer limited advertising spaces in the high quality St Andrew's College publication Regulus.
For further information, please contact Head Graphic Designer, Craig Morgan, on CMO@stac.school.nz.
It has been a very productive start to the year in the sport and co-curricular area and it is pleasing to see our students taking full advantage of the many opportunities on offer. Every summer season we have over 60 sports teams representing the College weekly, and students are representing the College with pride with many pleasing performances. The top teams have had a busy time as we approach Summer Tournament week in Week 9. Our teams in futsal, tennis, rowing, and volleyball will be representing the College at the top national level.
We are looking forward to an enjoyable Athletics Day on Friday 3 March, and it will be great to see the students getting fully behind their Houses and ensure they compete in lots of events for House points.
Students are to be congratulated on the way they have started the summer sport and cultural season.
As many of you are aware, the College has adopted a ‘Balance is Better’ approach to its sport, and we want to keep you updated on how we are progressing with embedding this into our sports programmes.
For those of you who are unsure what this means, we have briefly summarised below what this approach is along with some evidence that backs up the ‘why’.
Balance is Better is an evidence-based philosophy to support quality sport experiences for all young people, regardless of ability, needs, and motivations. It is about young people staying involved in sport for life and realising their potential at the right time.
The Balance is Better philosophy has been developed by the New Zealand sport system (e.g. sport organisations, leaders and administrators, schools, clubs, coaches, parents, and volunteers) to support the culture change needed to provide quality sport opportunities for tamariki (5–11) and (12–18). Sport New Zealand’s current focus is on rangatahi, given the decline we are seeing in teenage participation.
Where is the evidence?
Active NZ, Sport New Zealand’s nationwide survey, has demonstrated a decline in youth sport participation since 2017.
Sixteen-year Adult Participation Trends Report 1998–2014 (Trends Report) showed that weekly adult participation in sport dropped 7.7%. This was most pronounced in younger adult’s participation with 18–24-year-olds falling 13.9%.
National census data collected by School Sport New Zealand indicated that there has been a decline in rates of students with a meaningful involvement with a school sport programme from 56% to 51%.
We are using the ‘Balance is Better Principles’ as a guide in our sports programmes for 2023 and beyond and these will underpin a Sports framework that is currently being developed to align all our sports.
As we launch into the summer sports season one example of how we can apply this approach is by having a school wide Selection Policy for sport that applies some simple principles using Sport New Zealand, ‘Running Good Trials and Selection Guidelines’.
Some of these include:
While we need to ensure our selection policy reflects these principles, we also need to select to create opportunities for excellence to occur within our sporting codes.
All coaches and managers have been provided with a full copy of the Selection Policy and this will be available for viewing by all key stakeholders on the College.
(Written by Teacher in Charge Andy Kerrison)
On the weekend of 18 – 19 February, 67 VEX robotics teams converged on the Dew Drop Events Centre in Auckland for the nationals of the VEX game Spin Up. These 67 were the top of the 180 teams that registered to play from around New Zealand, and the prize was to win one of the six places New Zealand has allocated for the VEX Worlds, held in Texas, in April this year.
This weekend is the culmination of hundreds of hours of design, building, programming, and scrimmaging their robots to play the game. Students have been focused on this specific game since April 2022. So it feels like a very long season that has finally reached its finale!
This year St Andrew’s College entered five of our ten teams. This meant 19 students and three staff attended the VEX Nationals over the weekend.
The competition was split over two days and each team joins varying alliances to play in nine different scrimmages. It was intense and, if this was a business, I would say that the St Andrew’s College teams had a rough day at the office on the Saturday. The teams need to be able to gain as many points as they can in each of the scrimmages. They are also interviewed by a panel of experts, from companies such as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Rocket Lab, about the process they used to develop and build their robot, and what strategies they were using to play the game. Then they had a skills section in which they needed to score as many points as they could as individual robots in the autonomous and driver control periods of the games. After the first full day of competition our teams were ranked in the competition as follows:
As they say in all sports, our tournament was a game of two halves and our second day was far more successful. This more positive outcome meant we went into the Alliance Selection in a much better position. To cut a long story short, the ‘Super Series Squabblers,’ ‘Totally Not a Push Bot’ and ‘Jeremiah’ all qualified for the quarter-finals, which placed them in the top 32 of all teams. Moving through these heats, the pressure built and we saw team ‘Jeremiah’ knocked out because they played two of the top teams in the competition.
This left the other two StAC teams in the quarter-finals, of which ‘The Super Series Squabblers’ went through to be one of the top eight teams! They were finally knocked out in an epic scrimmage in their semi-final. This was an excellent result for a Year 10 team, making them the top South Island team, and they still have another three years to gain qualification for Worlds.
(Written by Teacher in Charge Jo Bigford-Fleming)
During the weekend of 25 – 26 February, the College’s top five boys’ and top five girls’ tennis players represented the College at the South Island Championships.
Ten hours of tennis on Saturday and another five on Sunday saw the students play some exceptional tennis.
Both teams had two good wins on Saturday. The girls played Ashburton College in the morning and won 4–2 and, in the afternoon, they played against Rangi Ruru Girls’ School and won convincingly 6–0. The boys played Marlborough Boys’ College and won 6–0 and, in the afternoon, they played against a very determined Ashburton team and won 4–2. The two double matches that were played early on Sunday were very exciting as the result of them decided if the boys’ team would play for first place. St Andrew’s won one of them which meant the final tie for both the boys and girls were finals.
The girls played St Margaret’s College in a tight battle. After their singles it was 2–2 so the doubles became the decider. Sadly, the girls missed out despite playing valiantly, finishing runner-up in the South Island.
The boys faced a very strong Christ’s College side and although the final tie score was 6–0 to Christ’s, some fantastic battles and determination was shown by the boys. They too finished as runners-up in the South Island.
There was some great tennis played over the weekend and now the players have the nationals to look forward to in a month’s time.
Following on from our successful trip to Blenheim over the weekend, the A, B and C Bands are looking forward to the National Pipe Band Championships on Friday 10 - Saturday 11 March. All events will be held in North Hagley Park, Christchurch. The Street March event is from Cranmer Square to Rolleston Ave.
We welcome as many supporters as possible to join us throughout the National Championships and we look forward to catching up with friends, supporters, and Old Collegians.
Performing Arts groups are all well underway this term and working well together. It is great to see the commitment to these groups and enthusiasm for the work. Approximately 170 students have enrolled in 20 different Performing Arts groups. Many of these students are in more than one activity and contribute a great deal to the culture of the College.
Last weekend 80 Music students from Year 9–13 went away for a fun-filled camp. There were rehearsals with Music teachers Bryan Botting and Mark Hodgkinson, and Director of Staccoro Choir Naomi Hnat, as well as workshops with various Christchurch music tutors, swimming, group challenges, and an epic quiz night. The students were a fantastic group to be away with. The camp concluded with the sharing of a work concert, which showed the value of intensive time away together.
This year the Senior Production is Brightstar set in two time periods the 1920s and 1940s. This is a bluegrass musical and promises to be an engaging story. Rehearsals are well underway with Laurence Wiseman, Duncan Ferguson and Ginnie Thorner – with choreography being sent from Hana Pearce (OC 2019) who is away studying in Spain. Students and staff are preparing work in readiness for the upcoming Production Camp this weekend. More information about tickets will be out part way through next term.
All Dance classes are now underway. We have opportunities for dance in jazz and hip hop, and contemporary dance for students from Year 9–13. These students will be sharing their work in the annual Dance Revue later in the year.
If your child would like any information about any of the groups mentioned or upcoming events, please email Arts Co-ordinator, Ginnie Thorner on GTH@stac.school.nz.
The rock groups have settled into rehearsals having worked on covers of favourite songs, and are currently moving into creating their original pieces. Some of this work will be shared next term as part of New Zealand Music Month.
Friday 3 – Sunday 6 March: Production Camp
Wednesday 8 March: Secondary School Open Day
Friday 10 March, 8.00pm: All Jazz musicians, Rodger Fox Big Band Concert
Friday 17 March: Founders’ Day performance – choirs and orchestra
Sunday 2 April: Senior College Chapel
Monday 3 April: Performance Evening
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