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Preparatory School Newsletter

Thursday 28 March 2024

Easter Break

Friday 29 March to Tuesday 2 April (five days). I hope you are able to enjoy this special time with your family.

StAC-Up Winning House

 

The competition race produced a very tight finish. It was so close, we needed to divide the token weigh-in of Thompson (3.88kg) and MacGibbon (3.87kg) by the number of children in each house. Thompson managed to hold on and are the end of Term 1 winners for 2024. Congratulations to Thompson House!

Next Thursday 4 April, the children of Thompson House may wear a little or lot of green as they celebrate their win with a casual wear day.

End of Term 1

Just a reminder, there will be an End of Term Assembly on Friday 12 April at 2.00pm. Term 1 concludes on Friday 12 April at 3.20pm. Please note, After-school Care will operate as normal.

Term 2 commences on Monday 6 May at the normal time.

 

Regards

Jonathan Bierwirth
Principal of Preparatory School
Deputy for Rector

JB

Around the Campus

Pre-school Music

Last Friday, Pre-school tamariki took part in a music session led by award winning children’s musician Michal Bush (aka Music with Michal). Michal’s music is the perfect balance of catchy, meaningful, joyful and silly – just the right mix to capture Pre-schoolers! This morning, the children sang and danced along to some familiar tunes such as Rockabye Your Bear and Sleeping Bunnies, and also learnt a new song Pirate Party. The children had a lot of fun – a music and movement session was a fabulous way to end the week.

FLICKR >
Pre schoolMusic 000 1051
PrepOrchestra Fans

New Entrant Fun

Two of our newest students, Lola Henderson and Zoey Chua were very excited to come to watch the Preparatory School Orchestra practice last week. They came with their lunch and sat and watched with beautiful manners for the whole lunchtime. Ms Emeleus I think you may have some future musicians here!

Easter Egg Fun

The Junior Department welcomed Easter with a bright and joyful celebration this morning, with the children embracing the opportunity to invite special friends from the Pre-school to join the fun. Some very lucky Year 13 students also took part in the festivities. The children were kept busy making Easter bunnies, cute little chicks, themed door hangers, marbled eggs and baskets. Creativity and inclusivity were at the heart of this special morning.

FLICKR >
PrepEaster 000 1302
Prep Design

Production Design

Students in Years 7 and 8 were invited to design a poster for this year’s Preparatory School production of The Aurora Stone. Last week the designers met Heads of Art, Lily Hart and Oscar Reed, who talked to the group about strong design principles, including layout, image and font. The group are now refining their concepts which will be briefed into the Communications Department to create the final design.

Student Success

CPSSA Swimming

On Wednesday, 10 students from the Preparatory School represented the College at the Canterbury Primary Swimming Sports Championships at the Selwyn Aquatic Centre. This was the final stage for our swimmers and one where we struggled in 2023 to progress to due to the calibre and high bar set from 2023. However, this day was full of outstanding success for our swimming team of 2024. From the group of 10, there were 17 Canterbury Primary Swimming Certificates awarded, and with all of the swimmers solidifying a top 10 finish in their event within Canterbury.

There was an array of outstanding results; golds for the Open Mixed Medley Year 7–8 (Kaia Hartstonge (Year 8), Yunze Li (Year 7), Cong (Zilong) Chen (Year 8) and Hudson Blyde (Year 8)), Kelicia Rui En Purcell in the Year 7 Breaststroke, Yunze Li taking Year 7 Freestyle, Cong (Zilong) Chen 100m Backstroke, Bozan Wang Year 6 Breaststroke. Arizona Wallace as one of the only Year 5 swimmers in the Year 5–6 Mixed Medley and the team finishing second and then awarded first due to disqualification, which consisted of Bozan Wang, Chloe Wang and Hunter Lane (all Year 6). Kaia Hartstonge narrowly missed out on a podium finish for Butterfly, however, then placed second in the Year 8 Freestyle; Yunze Li, placed in the top 3 for all of the events she entered, including the relay. All swimmers giving their best efforts on the day and achieving to this level is outstanding.

Top 3 Results >

Kids Lit Quiz

Kids’ Lit Quiz Canterbury Regional Heat

The Preparatory School Team 1 achieved second place in the Canterbury Kids' Lit Quiz on Wednesday 20 March. As defending champions, team members Harry Sibson, Emmett Lawler, Edward Garbutt and Xiaofeng (Alina) Deng (all Year 8) gave an excellent performance, scoring 85 points, and eventually losing out to winners Cathedral Grammar School by only one point. Team 2, comprising Louis Hyland-Cook, Hudson Blyde, Jonathan Armstrong (all Year 8) and Emma Zhang (Year 7), also performed exceptionally well, placing joint ninth with 71 points. With 30 teams competing this year, the competition was very exciting with many tricky questions and some high-scoring rounds. All of St Andrew’s College competitors came away with cash prizes for both team and individual high performance.

Ballet

Congratulations to the 15 Preparatory School dancers who took part in the Ballet Academy – StAC Annual Performance Awards – learning, mastering and performing a new dance before an external examiner (and audience) in just four weeks. The examiner was very pleased with the quality seen on the stage, and the gorgeous costumes. They were supported by four of our Secondary School dancers, who performed demonstration items to inspire the young dancers.

FLICKR >
Ballet Performance Awards
Highland Dance

Highland Dance

Iaera (Year 4) and Nayana Abrahamson (Year 2) both had great successes at The Balmoral Club Championship Day last weekend. Iaera won most points Under 10 and won the Championship Sailors Hornpipe. Nayana won most points 6 and Under and runner up most points Under 8.

Notices

Sport Medley Holiday Programme

In the April/May holidays we will be running a Sport Holiday Programme during the last week of the holidays (Monday 29 April – Friday 3 May). The sessions will run between 9.00am–1.30pm each day. Students can be dropped off from 8.30am. We will meet in the Preparatory School Library. Lunch will be included. The sessions will be run by a variety of staff. The sports included are futsal, netball, basketball, cooperative games, and more…

The cost of the programme will be $300 for the week. Students have the option of a six-inch or foot-long Subway sandwich for lunch. Gluten-free wraps are also available. Students will have Subway on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They will have pizza on Tuesday and Thursday. There will be an additional $10.00 charged for a foot-long for the three days. Students will need to bring morning tea and a water bottle. The programme will be available for Year 1–8 students. An additional service is available for your child to be supervised from 1.30pm until 3.30pm. The cost of this will be a further $10.00 per day and will be added to your disbursement.

Please complete the online permission slip and return the Subway order form (please complete one order per day – all three entries) to the Preparatory School office by Thursday 11 April. Payment will be disbursed to your College account. 

COMPLETE THE ONLINE PERMISSION FORM HERE >

If you have any questions, please contact Head of Preparatory School Sport, Alex Kelley via email at AKE@stac.school.nz.

AIMS Games – Tauranga 2024

ENTRIES DUE TO ALEX KELLEY BY FRIDAY 17 MAY

From Sunday 8 – Friday 13 September 2024, the Preparatory Football 1st XI, a Mixed hockey team, and a rugby 7s team will compete at the annual AIMS Games in Tauranga. Over 11,000 Year 7 and 8 students from over 360 schools have competed at these games in a variety of sporting codes in the past.

There will also be a number of individual sports available. However, due to the limited group accommodation available in Tauranga, we are unable to at this stage include individuals as part of our official tour. If you would like your child to compete at the games and you are able to travel, care for, and get them to and from the events then Head of Preparatory School Sport, Alex Kelley, can complete and forward the entry on your behalf.

In travelling to and competing at the AIMS Games, your child would be included in any activities offered to the tour group and tour apparel will also be available.

You should only consider this option if your child is an elite performer in their chosen sport. The individual sports offered are:

  • Badminton; BMX; Canoe Sport; Cross Country; Golf; Gymnastics; Hip Hop; Indoor bowls; Mountain Biking; Orienteering; Rock Climbing; Squash; Surfing; Swimming; Table Tennis; Tennis; Yachting.

If your child is in this category and you would like to consider this option please email Alex Kelley on AKE@stac.school.nz and he will provide you with further information. You can also access the AIMS Games website which provides further information on each sport offered, visit www.nzaimsgames.co.nz.

Years 5–8 Minecraft Education April Holiday Programme

This exciting two-day programme will give your child the opportunity to explore their creativity and problem-solving skills in Minecraft Education. They will collaborate in small groups to build amazing structures, solve build challenges, and learn to automate parts of their constructions with code.

Time: 9.00am–3.00pm (early drop off at 8.30am is fine)
Date: Monday 15 – Tuesday 16 April
Location: The Green Library and Innovation Centre (Secondary School Quad)
Cost: $150 inclusive of GST

Activities:

  • group-based creative building opportunities focused on teamwork and communication;
  • coding challenges using Microsoft Makecode and Hour of Code interactive lessons;
  • character design for Minecraft using the Blockbench design software;
  • maximum number of 16 students (minimum of eight);
  • all devices supplied (Gaming PCs with keyboard and mouse) BYOD is of course welcome.

What to bring:

  • Snacks, lunch, and drink bottle
  • BYOD if preferred, but all devices will be supplied

Please register to book a place by clicking here >

The programme will be led by e-Learning and Innovation Teacher, Wilj Dekkers, who is an experienced teacher and Microsoft Minecraft Ambassador. Should you have any questions, please email wilj@wdekkers.nz. We look forward to seeing your child there!

 

Christchurch Schools' Music Festival Representative Groups

This is to advise you that talented singers and musicians from St Andrew's College Preparatory School can now apply for an audition to join a Representative Group – Junior and Senior Choir, Concert Band, Orchestra.

Applications are made online on the Music Festival website. We ask that parents/caregivers make the application so that they are aware of the rehearsal and performance commitments. Please note that applications close on Monday 1 April which is also Easter Monday.

Apply on the Music Festival website by clicking here.

Motivationz School Holiday Netball Programme

Motivationz School Holiday Rugby Programme