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Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa.
This morning’s Secondary School Academic Assembly was a wonderful celebration of outstanding achievement in NCEA and Scholarship examinations. Around 40 of our 2022 leavers returned to the assembly to receive a Board of Governors’ Scholarship in recognition of their achievement. A highlight was the opportunity to honour Premier Award winner Corin Simcock, Outstanding Scholars Toby Harvie, Luke Zhu and Tom Edwards (Tom is also a Top Subject Scholar for Digital Technology).
The new Academic Captains for 2023 gave an excellent address to the school encouraging all students to “take the first step” to getting started, build positive study habits, and find their passion in learning.
A most engaging musical item was provided by Feeling Sore, an original piece performed by Meghan Shearer, Makayla Dai, Mia Fraser (guitar) (all Year 13), Hayden Lam (drums), Daniel Ruge (percussion) (both Year 12), Grace Burnett and Drew Castles (both Year 13 – backing vocals).
Rector’s Academic Assembly Address >
Academic Captains Morning Comment >
Academic Assembly Awards >
Academic Assembly Flickr >
Congratulations to the whole Boarding community for the impressive Boarders’ weekend last weekend which was full of fun activities to build the Boarding spirit.
Thank you to whānau who attended the Preparatory School Parent Evening last Tuesday, hosted by the College PTA, and to those who attended the Year 11 NCEA Evening on Thursday.
I have just heard the news this afternoon that Head of Girls’ Boarding, Freddy Todhunter, has just won a bronze medal in the Women’s U22 Double Sculls at the New Zealand Club Rowing Championships. Freddy was in the Double Sculls event with Elsie Talbot from the Timaru Rowing Club. Congratulations Freddy.
As we complete a positive and uninterrupted first three weeks of school, I am mindful of the interruption to many schools in the North Island. We think of those most affected by the devastating flooding, slips, and damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
As a community, we will be giving support to those in need next Thursday by way of a non-uniform day to support the relief efforts in the North Island. We will be sending more details about this to you next week.
Best wishes to all for a good weekend.
Ngā manaakitanga.
Christine Leighton
Rector
The 2023 Boarding Sports House Weekend was a success, with full boarding houses and enthusiastic participation from Year 13 House Leaders and wider Year 13 Kaiāwhina. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2022, this was the first time many current boarders had experienced the event, which is entirely student-run and focuses on fostering house spirit.
Planned by the Heads of Boarding, Freddy Todhunter and George MacLeod, and their team of House Leaders, the weekend included a variety of events, such as the traditional Friday night ‘Pot Games’, Tabloid Sports, a ‘selfie scavenger hunt’, and an Amazing Race around campus. The weekend culminated in a multisport tournament where houses competed for points towards the Dianne Needham Trophy, awarded to the best sports house at the end of the year. Boarders Chapel concluded the weekend, with College Chaplain, Rev. Paul Morrow, giving a sermon on the importance of community. The energy and enthusiasm of the student leaders has created a wonderful feeling in the houses, and the boarding community looks forward to the year ahead.
On Tuesday, a group of 43 Year 12 Travel and Tourism students conducted research on the tourism industry in Akaroa. The excursion involved a two-hour boat ride with Black Cat Cruises, during which students gained insights into the local history, wildlife, and volcanism. They also explored the various food and beverage outlets in the town, but the highlight of the trip was the opportunity to observe the Hector's dolphins up close in the harbour.
Last Saturday St Andrew’s hosted Chris Oliver from Basketball Immersion as part of his New Zealand tour. Chris is a world-renowned coach and consultant who works with high schools, NCAA programs, and NBA teams. This unique professional development opportunity provided our students from the Preparatory and Secondary Schools with the chance to enhance their on-court skill development. Additionally, this event gave teaching staff an invaluable opportunity to learn from one of the best in the business, allowing them to further develop their teaching capacity and enhance the overall quality of our programme.
On Tuesday, the Senior College got into the Valentine’s Day spirit thanks to the decorative efforts of the Senior College Council. Balloons, roses and flower garlands filled the common room and atrium, creating a fun and colourful addition to the day. Mini chocolate hearts were purchased by secret admirers and given out during tutor time, with the proceeds going to the Senior College Council charity for 2023, Pillars (Positive Futures for Children of Prisoners | Pillars).
This year Kate Taylor has joined the department as the tutor for the Soul Singers, a well-known voice in Christchurch who performs regularly around the city at various venues, corporate events and festivals, and is the vocal programme leader at Ara Music Arts and fronts and co-runs the All Girl Big Band. Georgie Clifford has also joined the department, as one of the Rock School tutors and vocal tutors. Georgie has a jazz and soul background, released her own album in 2020, and accompanied Bruno Major on his world tour.
This week the cast and crew of Bright Star welcomed Intimacy Director Kira Josephson for a workshop. Kira is a highly trained actor in TV, film and theatre, as well as a choreographer, and a dancer and leads theatre collectives in Christchurch. She will be working alongside Head of Drama and Dance, Laurence Wiseman, with specific actors on scenes in the coming weeks to implement the work, help the cast develop character and create deeper meaning in their acting work.
Christine Jeon (Year 12) placed second in the American Virtuoso International string competition, in the 20th and 21st century period category, Young Artist Group A. The American Virtuoso International Music Competition is organised by a non-profit, the American Society of Musical Excellence, and is open to vocalists, instrumentalists, and chamber music players of any nationality. The competition aims to discover outstanding young artists and provide them with support to launch international careers, with a jury made up of distinguished performers and professors in various musical fields.
The Canterbury Secondary Schools Senior Tennis Championships were held on Monday and Tuesday at Wilding Park with the following results.
Five VEX robotics teams are set to compete in the Vex Robotics National Competition in Auckland after the completion of their final regional scrimmage at Burnside High School last Sunday. Out of the five St Andrew’s College VEX teams, three competed in the regional scrimmage. The finals match alliances were made up of the Bottom Gear team and the Ao Tawhiti team Maverick against the two strong Burnside High School teams. The final score was 136–40 to Burnside.
The Otago Secondary Schools Triathlon Championships was held in Wānaka on Thursday. Sophie Lampe (Year 9) competed in her first race for St Andrew’s College, in the Girls’ U14 category consisting of a 300m swim in lake Wānaka, then a 10km bike finishing with a 3.5km run. Sophie won the U14 Girls’ race by over four minutes, in a time of 43:42 and was nearly three minutes faster than the first U14 boy.
The 1st XI played St Bede’s College last weekend at their home ground. Batting first, St Bede’s made 191 with Tom Turner (Year 12) taking 5/60 off 23 overs. A solid start by the St Andrew’s batsman had the team in a good position but the loss of Tom Turner 36 and William Carrodus (Year 12) 34, saw the rapid loss of wickets and St Andrew’s all out for 159. On day two our bowlers bowled extremely well and were backed up by some very good fielding, dismissing St Bede’s for 148, Connor Higgs (Year 13) 3/22. A chase of 186 off 40 overs was going to be a challenge, but a great opening partnership between Jack O’Rourke (Year 11) 50 and James Anderson (Year 13) 34 set a good platform. Some tight bowling restricted the run flow, but a great innings by captain Alex Rippin (Year 13) 36 n.o. and a 25 n.o. by Toby Smith (Year 12) saw the team home with two overs to spare.
The Year 10 Colts team played two one-day games against Scots College, Wellington, and had two very good encounters, with St Andrew’s winning on the last ball on Sunday, and Scots winning game two by 34 runs on Monday. This was a great build up for the final against Christchurch Boys’ High School next Thursday for the NZCT Cup. The Girls’ team also played Scots College in two 20/20 games and gained experience playing against a very good opposition.
Hugo Fairweather-Logie (Year 10) playing for Colts White picked up 5/9 against Sydenham.
Last Sunday the St Andrew’s rowing team competed in the Canterbury Head of the River regatta at Kerrs Reach, Christchurch. It was a great opportunity to race locally in front of a big group of parents, grandparents and siblings.
A number of students, staff, and Old Collegians were involved in another iteration of the Basketball New Zealand 3x3 ProQuest this past weekend.
Georgia Gregg (Year 6) competed at the Timaru Highland Competition last weekend and won most points Under 10 and was the overall winner for her age group.
Lucy Charteris (Year 11) and her pony placed second overall at the Show Jumping Nationals held at McLeans Island, with only .07 between first and second place.
Gemma Lewis (Year 13) competed in a number of equestrian events over the summer, achieving the following results:
The following students took part in the 2023 Bunnings National Youth Touch Championship, representing Canterbury over the weekend:
Last month, Gemma Lewis (Year 13) was a member of the Canterbury teams for dressage, show jumping and mounted games (U25) at the New Zealand Pony Club Championships, Gore.
Good luck to all students who are representing the College over the weekend in sports and cultural activities over the weekend.
We seem to be in a good space with regards to COVID-19 at the moment, with staff and student absence related to the virus very low. However, it is important that we keep a close eye on the situation and as such we please ask that you continue to report to the College any COVID-19 related student absence using the same process as for non-COVID-19 related absences. Ākonga (students) who are household contacts but test negative and do not have COVID-19 symptoms, should continue to attend school.
Parent Guidelines >
Ākonga Absence and Ill-health
A polite reminder that any ākonga who are unwell should not attend school. For any absence, whether ill-health or otherwise, the College’s preferred platform for reporting this is via our online form below.
Recording a Student Absence >
If you are not able to report your child's absence using the online form, please report their absence via the relevant email address below. If you cannot get through to us via the form or email, please call our attendance line on +64 3 940 2031 (term time only).
Join us for StACTalks, a new special series of free parent evenings where we will get together for kōrero about issues our young people are facing. Special guests and members of our expert St Andrew’s College Guidance team will present and lead discussions with parents on topics throughout the year. Drinks and nibbles will be provided, along with opportunities to mix and mingle with other parents and caregivers.
Following the presentation there will be an open discussion, involving a panel-based question and answer session. Parents are invited to submit their questions or discussion point for each of the StACTAlks event topics when registering online.
Registrations are open now for the first event, StACTalks: Well-being and Resilience.
When: Tuesday 28 February
Where: Centennial Chapel, 6.30pm–8.00pm
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
In Weeks 4–5, Writer-in-Residence, Kerrin P. Sharpe will be running half-day student writing workshops in The Green Library and Innovation Centre. This is a rare, free, opportunity for students to work an extended period with an acclaimed writer to develop, complete and submit one or more pieces of poetry or prose. The Years 9–10 workshop will be on Wednesday 22 February, and the Years 11–13 workshop will be on Wednesday 1 March. Interested students should ask their English teacher for a permission letter which should be signed by their subject teachers and returned to their English teacher by the Monday before the workshop.
There is still time to sign up to Performing Arts groups. So far this year:
Students can get more information about any of these groups by coming along to a session or emailing Performing Arts Co-ordinator, Ginnie Thorner at GTH@stac.school.nz.
The Community Business Directory is on our website under Alumni & Community and represents over 100 parent businesses. Please do take a look at how many businesses you can support locally.
The St Andrew's College Community Business Directory >
If you would still like to register your business, complete the following form.
Community Business Directory Registration >
For a full list of upcoming school events, please refer to the fixtures page on StACNet.
