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Dear Parents and Caregivers
It has certainly been a busy week with both the Secondary and Preparatory School Open Days. Both days attracted large numbers and great interest, with over 170 visitors to the Preparatory School on Thursday and over 550 visitors to the Secondary School on Wednesday. Our ākonga and kaiako enjoyed the opportunity to showcase their learning in the classroom and co-curricular activities, and student guides did an exceptional job of engaging our guests in the discovery process.
Thank you to whānau for your continued support in promoting St Andrew’s College to your friends and networks. Although interest in places currently exceeds places available, we need people to continue to apply. Both the Preparatory School and Secondary School are currently at maximum capacity, but there is no plan to extend numbers as we are at capacity for our current facilities. Your children remain great advocates for St Andrew’s College, and we are proud of the enthusiasm and pride they have in their school.
The PTA AGM was held on Tuesday evening this week. Thank you, Stephen Higgs (President), Kate Butterfield (Secretary) and Stelios Michaelides (Treasurer) and the committee for the continued interest and support given to our school. Last year the PTA gave $57,682 worth of support to the Preparatory and Secondary Schools. This money is earned through the hard work of committee members, with the majority through the Second-hand Uniform Shop which is fully staffed by PTA members. This year the committee plans to hold some events to engage the parent community and I encourage everyone to support these as much as possible. Being part of the parent community is good for our school.
This week I had a surprise and most welcome visit from the Otaki Scholar from Robert Gordons College, Aberdeen in Scotland, who spent a few days at St Andrew’s in 1968! On his first visit back to New Zealand since that visit as a 17-year-old, Graeme Repper shared some great memories with our Head Prefect Torin Ward and Deputy Head Prefect Lachlan Odlin who will host the 2023 Otaki Scholar. If you don’t know about the Otaki Scholar programme, please click here to read the interesting story!
Today is the start of the two-day Pipe Band Nationals here in Ōtautahi, last held in our beautiful city in 2009. Good luck to our bands who I know would enjoy your support.
Best wishes also to staff and students promoting boarding at the Wānaka A&P Show and those at the rowing South Island Secondary Schools Championships in Twizel.
Ngā mihi nui.
Christine Leighton
Rector
The cast for the upcoming Senior College production, Bright Star, went away for a four-day camp to Hanmer Springs at the end of last week. This provided time to work intensively on the upcoming production without distractions, with the students rehearsing for about 6–7 hours a day. Despite the rain, there was still a lot of fun at the pools, some card games, and a memorable camp concert and karaoke night. Thanks to staff members Laurence Wiseman, Duncan Ferguson and Ginnie Thorner for their time developing the students’ performance skills.
Last Thursday lunchtime, the Community Service team ran a House competition in the Quad to promote the launch of So They Can’s 1HumanRace Challenge. Each House had a rowing machine and a bike, with the aim of covering the most distance. It was a great competition, with lots of students cheering each other on and some good House spirit. Rutherford came away with the win, with Erwin second, MacGibbon third and Thompson fourth.
This month, any student can easily get involved by getting sponsorships from friends and family for a challenge around the number ‘85’, which is the percentage of girls in Baringo County, Kenya, who suffer from genital cutting and child marriage. Students could choose something such as running/biking a total of 85km or doing 85 push-ups every day. The money raised by this initiative will go towards So They Can’s vital education and empowerment projects that support these girls. It’s not too late to start!
The Community Service team raised $600 selling sausages and from Mr Whippy profits during Athletic Sports Day for this deserving cause.
HOUSE COMPETITION VIDEO >As part of the Year 12 NCEA Physical Education course, students completed a safety and risk management assessment ‘On Your Bike’. Prior to the trip students were required to put in place a safety action plan and develop strategies to minimise risks that they were likely to encounter on their mountain biking expedition at McLeans Island and Bottle Lake Forest. Last week students implemented their strategies and had a great day out biking at the two venues. As well as the safety and risk management component, students had the chance to gain NCEA practical credits by competing in a 5km mountain bike time trial around the Coringa Loop at McLeans Island. This week in class the students evaluated the strategies they implemented on the trip and completed the final written component of the assessment.
This week the Year 11 Art students visited the Shift Urban Art Takeover exhibition at the Christchurch Museum. Redevelopment looms at the Museum and it is currently empty – except for urban artists: hardy souls who have braved the cracks, the leaks, the ghosts of long-dead taxidermists to paint, project, paste-up, to shift this venerable institution into something colourful, something new. Students learnt about the stories behind the artworks and were inspired by stories of expression and identity, something they are also focusing on in the classroom.
On Tuesday, the Year 10 Agriscience students had a great day out learning practical skills at the National Trade Academy. Students attempted a range of skills such as handling and grooming horses, basic fencing knots, caring for animals, drafting and drenching sheep, and riding ATVs and side by sides (the highlight for most). Overall, it was a great day of practical learning with students really pushing themselves out of their comfort zones. We would like to thank the National Trade Academy for hosting the group.
On Monday, our Year 12 Geography students went on a three-day field trip to Aoraki Mount Cook. The main purpose of the trip was for students to carry out their geographic research in an alpine environment. The students were a good group to take away and pleasingly the weather was great.
On Wednesday, the St Andrew’s College Preparatory 1st XI and Tennis A team went to Medbury School for the annual Summer Sports Exchange. Due to illness, the 1st XI welcomed our first female student into the team in history – congratulations to Hayley Stowell (Year 8) on this achievement. The team won the toss and put Medbury into bat. They bowled and fielded well to restrict Medbury to 172 runs but were unable to score enough runs to put the Medbury team under pressure in the second innings. The co-ed tennis team put in a dominant performance to defeat Medbury 9–2, with one drawn game between the two top seeds.
Last weekend saw the South Island Long Course Swimming Championships in Invercargill take place. Rylee McBride (Year 11) competed in the 15–16 Women’s category, receiving a total of six gold medals (200m individual medley, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 50m backstroke, 100m butterfly, and 50m breaststroke). Rylee was also the overall Open South Island champion for the 100m fly and 50m backstroke wins.
Sophia Molnar (Year 12) came first in the 12 and Over Women’s 100m breaststroke and second in the 50m and 200m breastroke.
Joshua Exon (Year 10) came second in the 12 and Over Men’s 50m breaststroke and third in the 100m butterfly.
Tayla Eagle (Year 11) has been invited to participate in a Pipe Band exchange with Haileybury College, Melbourne, this month by the Haileybury Pipes and Drums. Tayla will play and perform with the band during the State Championship on Sunday 2 April as part of this experience.
Shey Doerner-Corson (Year 10) competed in the Tasman Honda six-hour cross-country motocross event at St Arnaud last weekend, finishing second in his class.
Two St Andrew’s College students competed at the South Island Secondary School Triathlon held in Oamaru last weekend. Cohnor Walsh (Year 10) came second in the Intermediate Boys’ U16 category with a time of 34.27, and Sophie Lampe (Year 9) won first place in the Junior Girls’ U14 category with a time of 38.39.
Our premier volleyball teams took part in the annual Senior Volleyball Championships last weekend against the top teams in the South Island. This was the first tournament on the calendar and the teams were excited to see how they compared against the other schools.
The Senior A Girls’ volleyball team narrowly missed out on the semi-finals after losing to eventual finalists Christchurch Girl’s High School and St Margaret’s College. The Senior Girls A team finished fifth, after convincing wins against Lincoln High School and Nayland College. The Senior B Girls’ team won Division 3. The team played multiple A teams in their division, including Wakatipu High School, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School and Craighead Diocesan School. In the final, the Senior B Girls beat Central South Island 3–1.
The Senior A boys team also performed well and after the first day, the boys were undefeated. On the second day, the boys were unable to top Otago Boys’ High School and Marlborough Boys’ College finishing sixth in Division 2. The highlight of the tournament was the five-set game against Shirley Boys’ High School on day one, where the boys came home 15–11 in the fifth and final set.
Gemma Thomas (Year 10) competed in the Canterbury Classic Karate Competition this week winning silver in both the Kata (display) 12–13 years Premier and Kumite (fighting) 12–13 years Premier.
At the end of February, two students competed in the U14 Girls’ category at the Oceans ‘23 Junior Surf Lifesaving Festival held in Mount Maunganui.
Amelie Clark (Year 10) placed first equal overall in the U14 category at the Canterbury Surf Lifesaving Championships last weekend.
The 1st XI was in a handy position against Timaru Boys’ High School on day one. Batting first, St Andrew’s amassed 256/9 with Jack O’Rourke (Year 11) 69, Alex Rippin (Year 13) 39, and Jonty Davidson (Year 12) 43 n.o. Timaru at the end of stumps were 130/6 with Toby Smith (Year 12) 2/13 and Jack O’Rourke 2/16.
In other games, William Wiffen Lal (Year 10) bowled exceptionally well for the Colts Blue team taking 7/36 against North West. Zachary Hoshek (Year 9) picked up 4/13 against North West, and Lachlan Sidey (Year 11) made 58 n.o. against Mount Hutt College.
Riley Crampton (Year 9) won a national title in the U15 7.5km points race at the National Track Cycling Championships last week in Invercargill. It was a 30-lap race, with Riley breaking away with 12 laps to go and winning with over half a lap’s distance. He also won a bronze medal in the 500m team sprint with fellow Canterbury team member, George Clark, a Year 8 student from Medbury School.
Penelope Taulafo (Year 13) has been named in the playing squad for New Zealand Māori U21 hockey team, with a heritage tournament over the Easter weekend.
Kiara Bercelli (OC 2022) has signed her first professional football contract with UC Sampdoria in the Italy Serie A League – the highest level of football in Italy. We believe that Kiara is the first female player from St Andrew’s College to sign professionally, which is a testament to her hard work, dedication, and talent. During her time at St Andrew’s, she helped the Canterbury 1st XI team win the championship and also brought home a futsal bronze medal at the national level.
Last year, Grace Lawrence (OC 2022) won the Play It Strange songwriting competition. Part of her winning entry was to have a professional music video made with her song, which you can now enjoy.
Marcus Armstrong (OC 2018) finished 11th and Top Rookie in the season-opening IndyCar race in Florida on Monday.
Teacher in Charge of Digital Technologies, Phil Adams, was in the Master’s Canterbury 45 Men’s touch rugby team and won gold at the Bunnings Warehouse National Touch Championship over the weekend in Palmerston North.
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).
We are looking forward to reconnecting with our Old Collegians and meeting new families at the Wanaka A&P Show this weekend (Saturday 11 March). We are on site E4 next to the Alliance tent so if you are in the area, we would love to see you.
Summer sports teams have now been added to the StAC App. Please update your subscriptions to ensure that you are receiving the alerts relevant to the sports team(s) that your child is involved with.
Subscriptions can be found via the settings cog on the StAC App home screen. For more information on updating your subscriptions, please refer to the StAC App instructional video or download the PDF guide below.
PDF guide >Download the StAC App for iOS >Download the StAC App for Android >
We have made the decision to have all the upcoming Secondary School Parent-Teacher Interviews online. This includes day and boarding student interviews. You will receive further communication to book your timeslot in due course.
Interview dates will be as follows:
As part of our Sports Performance Programme, guest speaker Lea Stening will be presenting a talk on Sports Nutrition. Parents and student athletes are encouraged to attend. This session will provide key tips for growing and supporting developing athletes, including information relating to cognitive function and well-being. Lea Stening has worked with various sports organisations including New Zealand Rowing and has authored multiple books. For more information about Lea, please click here.
Registrations are open now for this second event in our StACTalks event series.
When: Wednesday 15 March, 6.00pm–6.45pm
Where: Centennial Chapel
Exchanges are an opportunity for young people to experience, challenge and grow. The Year 10 exchanges allow St Andrew’s College students to travel to Australia for four weeks. During these four weeks they will live with a host family, have an exchange brother or sister, attend school, have the opportunity to engage in extra-curricular activities, and visit and experience new sights and sounds. The student is an ambassador for the school, Canterbury region and New Zealand. They may be asked to conduct public speaking, engage in activities and situations that are foreign to them. The student and the family will also be required to host either their exchange partner or another student for four weeks.
If this sounds like an experience you would like your child to be part of, please contact Director of International Students and Exchanges, Palē Tauti at PTU@stac.school.nz for more details.
Please get behind the St Andrew’s Basketball Development Programme by purchasing a ticket for the annual iPhone Raffle. Tickets are only $5.00 and are limited to 1500 in circulation. Get in quick!
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.
